Sargent Goodchild with Ben, Michael and Kiara at NR graduation
As any parent would say…they want the best for their children. When they are struggling, you look for answers to help them and leave no stone unturned until you find the right answer. As a mom to 13….well, just say I've flipped a lot of stones!
Last March, my husband and I were having a discussion about the daily struggles of one of our children. Later, that evening, one of our older boys came and shared that he was afraid for his future…a powerful conversation for us to hear and it was something that had also been recently discussed. He had been identified the previous summer with having dyslexia….which came late in life after being adopted from China at age 14. That evening as we listened to him share his heart, we all purposed to sit and pray together. We also committed the next three days to prayer over an answer to his concerns.
Exactly three days later, while on an adoption website, I found an article on Neurological Reorganization (NR) and the benefits for learning disabilities, trauma from early childhood and other benefits. We saw the name Bette Lamont and that she was out of Washington. We began to research and plan to travel with two of our kids knowing full well that some of the others would also benefit…but we needed a place to start. Through our research, we discovered Bette came to Cincinnati, Ohio…we had been to the Creation Museum and knew it was about 1 1/2 days hard ride from our house on the east coast. As we were in discussion and plans about travel…we then discovered a NR practitioner right in Beverly, MA—one hour from our home! We made calls that day, scheduled an initial evaluation for our two identified kids. We left knowing that our kids would benefit from this program.
We identified 7 of our kids who would benefit from an NR program. We knew it wouldn't be easy but had stepped into a three year program previously called Conqured by Love. I believe that program had paved the way for us as a family and thinking outside the box. The basic elements of Conqured by Love were in NR. A week later, we had evaluations for all 7 kids and brought the other 3 along for support on the younger three who had experienced so much trauma from their early years in going through foster care. Tailored programs were made. It was now spring and we packed up our school books and dove into figuring out our new daily routine and unschooling in the rest of our day. It was intense. As with everything in our home, we approached it as a team and everyone helped everyone else….we spent the summer doing daily exercises while traveling, attending camp and other summer activities…we will just say we had awesome days and we had days where we cried but we continued to encourage one another and keep our program moving forward.
In the fall, we picked up our home school program which added many hours of work to our days. There were nights where we were finishing Chemistry at 10 pm. Some days our schedule seemed daunting and we had to prioritize each and everything we did as a family…some things went by the way side….we made time for family nights, volunteering weekly, our kids dance, Alert Cadet and Bright Lights. By Christmas, we were tired and desperately needed a break. We took our usual two weeks off for Christmas but mom decreed one week off from program to catch our breath…I am sure some would agree and some would disagree but we had to do what was right for our family.
In January, we dug our heels in a started back in…late nights at school and full schedules with NR. We encouraged one another…even on the super hard days. We cheered on the great days….we began to see progress….trauma kiddos could stop and think before flight and fight took over. The children with learning disabilities started to have more success in school. It came easier and didn't require so much time. We could sit and do an entire lesson without a ridiculous amount of behaviors like before ….these gains came slow and were not daily. We sometimes would see an amazing thing then watch it slip away not to show up again but we were greatly encouraged!
Just last week, we had four of our NR children reevaluated….three graduated and the other is close. Such a blessing and feeling of satisfaction. For those that graduated….we have big plans in place for them…exciting plans. For my son with dyslexia, he is slowly continuing to build confidence that yes, he can read…and in his second language! My son with learning disabilities is doing awesome and seeks out things that before he would have avoided…like reading for pleasure. Our daughter is doing awesome on so many levels. We are so grateful for finding this program, making it work for our family and seeing the changes.
I can't begin to tell you how much I look forward to the other four being done! First of all, we will have so much more time in our day…I pray it finds new learning opportunities for each of my children and they stretch themselves with new possibilities….
As a family, things that were thought impossible before have been opened up to us…how amazing is that…that gives each of us great hope!
Until then, you will find us each morning…crawling, creeping, doing work on the table or mats and pushing through, cheering one another on and looking to the future!
