In the past two episodes we’ve talked about ADD and ADHD and the history surrounding these diagnoses as well as the medications used to treat them. Today we’re going to continue the conversation on ADD and ADHD. This topic is so broad that I couldn’t possibly cover everything, but I really want to help you understand the complexities of these disorders. It worries me that society has come to a place where attention issues are considered normal. If your child is struggling with any type of focus and attention, this information is for you.

When it comes to children, I think we’ve really missed the boat because there are many reasons why people have attention issues. Today we’re going to look at one of these “causes” of ADD and ADHD – diet and nutrition. I have seen cases where children act like they are never full and eat an incredible amount of food at a time. Afterwards, they appear extremely hyperactive and it would be easy to assume that they have ADHD or just had too much sugar, but we need to go back and look at what is causing the immense hunger. It could be that the child has nutritional deficiencies that aren’t being met, and after eating a large amount, it appears they have ADHD because their body isn’t able to properly process the nutrients in their food. On the flip side, we might think a child has ADD but in reality their metabolic needs are not being met. In some cases we would see a child’s ability to focus drastically improve if they were able to eat more frequently. As we go through the episode, I’ll talk about brainwaves and what is actually going on in our brains when we’re hungry and how diet can actually alter our brain chemistry leading to problems with paying attention, impulsivity, social interactions, and motivation. I’ll also talk about what we do at Connect My Brain and how we can help you and your child.

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Today we are jumping into part two of “The Truth about ADHD”. If you haven’t already, make sure you go back and listen to part one. In part one I covered some of the history around ADHD and some of the problems with ADHD medications. Today we are going to look at how stimulant medications actually work, things to consider when stopping or starting stimulant medications, and how too much screen usage is actually linked to symptoms of ADHD in children and teens.

The number of kids being diagnosed with some form of attention issue is growing every year. I believe that parents have the right to make decisions for their kids, but I believe that those decisions need to be informed by research and facts that many parents are not aware of. It is your job as a parent to research and learn so that you can make the best decisions for your child. My hope is that this podcast will be a helpful and encouraging starting point for you.

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This is the first part of a two part series on ADHD. ADHD is a condition has become more and more common and unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation out there about it. My goal in these two episodes is to really give you an overview of what ADHD actually is, the history surrounding it, and what the medications used to treat it are doing to a person’s brain. I recently listened to a podcast focused on medications for kids with ADHD and how these medications were generally okay for kids to take. However, when kids are taking this type of medication during open windows of development, this will impact their cardiovascular, digestive, and immune systems, as well as their brains!

In part one we dive into the history of the ADHD diagnosis - when it first came to attention, how it’s classified, and how the perception of it has changed. We’ll also take a look at ritalin, one of the most common ADHD medications out there, and some of the incredibly dangerous effects of ritalin withdrawal. If you or your child are being treated for ADD or ADHD, please take the time to listen to this podcast. Education is power and in order to really make the best decisions about your care it is essential that you understand how the medical system is designed to work and what some of the issues are with how ADD and ADHD are handled today.

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SHOW NOTES: https://connectmybrain.com/episode83

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Phone the office: 678-501-5172

Today we’re going to be talking about autoimmune issues, vaccines, and informed consent. This can be a sensitive topic for some and any content around vaccines that goes against the mainstream narrative is highly censored and hard to even find. The goal of this episode is not to change your mind or shame you for your decisions or views. I simply want to present you with a different side of the story and help empower you to make educated decisions about the health of yourself and your children. At the end of the day, whatever decision you make is right for you and that’s okay.

I believe our bodies have been incredibly designed. I believe medicine is also a wonderful tool to help our bodies when they need it. But I don’t believe that everything coming from the side of “medicine” is true or safe. In this episode I share some of the things I’ve seen in my years of practice and my own personal experience with vaccines. I talk about how our immune systems are designed to work and how vaccines are designed to work as well as some of the myths and misinformation that is out there regarding vaccines and informed consent. My hope is that by listening to this episode you will have a glimpse into the whole picture and feel ready to do your own research in order to make your own decisions.

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SHOW NOTES: https://connectmybrain.com/episode82

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Phone the office: 678-501-5172

Have you ever heard someone say, “kids are so resilient”? This is a phrase I hear all the time, but as someone who has worked closely with children for over twenty years, I really question this phrase. Are children actually resilient? And what factors impact a child’s resilience? In my practice, I’ve noticed that many children are so hard on themselves when it comes to the smallest things. When a child makes a mistake (even a small one) they are full of disapproval and disappointment towards their own self and when they do do something correctly, they can’t even allow themselves to feel excited.

We need to break this pattern or it will eventually penetrate every aspect of that child’s life. This self-judgement that kids are experiencing may just start as an academic issue, but can eventually impact a child in other ways including their social and emotional well-being. Ou brains are designed to love learning. If a child is so hard on themselves that they don’t enjoy learning, this should be a red flag. What has happened to them that they are pulling away from learning rather than running towards it? In this episode I’ll talk about some of these factors and also share some hope for the parent whose child is struggling to enjoy school and seems to be beating themselves up for the smallest things.

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SHOW NOTES: https://connectmybrain.com/episode81

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Have you ever noticed that your child has certain behaviours that escalate and then seem to calm down again only to reappear a time later? Why does this happen? You might be surprised to learn that the answer lies in your gut (and immune system). Our guts are full of good bacteria, but if we aren’t taking good care of our guts then these good bacteria can be taken over by bad bacteria. And, surprise surprise, our gut health is closely linked to our brain function!

It’s extremely important to understand the connection between our children’s open windows of development and their brain function. When we see a child with a history of illness, especially in their first three years of life while their immune system was maturing, we now see a little body that only know how to be sick and that’s a dangerous place to be. Take a listen to this episode to learn why behaviours occur in cycles of calm and elevated, what factors can hurt our gut biome (and brain health!), and what you can do to change it all.

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SHOW NOTES: https://connectmybrain.com/episode80

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Phone the office: 678-501-5172

In today’s episode we’re going to spend some time on one of my favourite topics – reflexes! If you’ve been following the Connect My Brain podcast for even a short time then this won’t come as a surprise. Today we’re going to talk specifically about the tonic labyrinthine reflex, or TLR. The TLR is extremely far-reaching and is connected to our center of gravity. When it’s not integrated properly, it causes balance issues, proprioceptive issues, and more.

As we talk about TLR, we will also talk about the importance of addressing the root cause of the struggles your children might be having. For example, if a child is having trouble with reading or math we might first try to find them a tutor. If the problem is purely academic, this might help. However, if the problem is related to something deeper (such as a reflex not integrating properly and causing problems in the ocular system), then this will only be a short-term fix and as soon as the tutoring term ends, the child will be back to square one. We cannot try to work on our children’s higher brain function without fixing the lower brain function or they will always be tripped up. We need to get to the root cause and focus on resolution instead of adaptation.

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SHOW NOTES: https://connectmybrain.com/episode79

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If your child is struggling with something such as reading or handwriting, it’s important to step back and look at the big picture. What are the skills and milestones that a child needs to attain in order to successfully read or write? What would happen if those skills or milestones were interrupted?

In this episode we’re going to look at a handwriting sample done by one of my patients, a 7 year old boy and I’m going to tell you what his handwriting tells me about his development. Everything we do is built on a sequence of past events. If there is a problem with something, we need to go back to the beginning and figure out where things went wrong.

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SHOW NOTES: https://connectmybrain.com/episode78

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Have you ever looked at a situation and felt hopeless? Today I want to talk about finding hope in those areas where it feels like hope has been crushed. As we go through our days, we are constantly giving ourselves feedback, whether we realize it or not. This feedback can take the form of positive self talk or negative self talk. If you feel stuck in a pattern of negative self talk, that could have been going on for years. If you don’t change these patterns, life will continue on, but you will not thrive. In order to break this, we need to do a lot more than just try not to think those negative thoughts. And fortunately, there actually is a way to do this.

The same goes for the things going on in the brains of our kids. Many of the behaviours and struggles that we see in our kids are actually the results of patterns that have been created through repetition and it feels like our kids are stuck in them. The good news is they aren’t! At Connect My Brain, we want to be the last stop for kids and families. We want to be the stop where we can actually figure out how to change those patterns. We want to be the stop where you find hope. Don’t give up on your child!

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SHOW NOTES: https://connectmybrain.com/episode77

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Today we’re going to talk about retraining your child when their neurological development has been disrupted. When a child arrives at Connect My Brain, I begin to notice many actions by the child that will have to be retrained. When I mention this to parents, I think most parents feel like they did something wrong and the state of their child is their fault, but this is not true. You as a parent did not cause your child’s condition. As parents, it can be very easy to blame ourselves, but this will only cause us to become more overwhelmed and burnt out and does not serve us or our children. Parents do play an important role in child growth and development and because of this you actually have the power to help retrain your child. Retraining your child won’t be easy. There might be some hard lifestyle changes that need to be made. You might feel even more tired than you do already. But there is hope and changes can be made. Remember that as a parent, if you’re not taking care of yourself, you won’t be able to take care of your child. If any of this resonates with you, please listen to this episode and please reach out to our office so we can help!

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SHOW NOTES: https://connectmybrain.com/episode76

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Phone the office: 678-501-5172