Carolina is helping challenged children overcome problems

MILLIONS of children each year are classified as having special educational needs, and many are subsequently diagnosed with a learning disability, such as ADHD or dyslexia.

For parents, dealing with such a diagnosis can be hard to bear, and many do not know where to turn.

But one Exeter woman could offer a solution with an effective treatment that has already helped thousands of children around the world

Carolina Read is a physiotherapist and natural health practitioner, who has worked in the NHS and private practice for 16 years.

Two years ago she came across The Sunflower Method, a new technique to treat children with behavioural difficulties. Impressed by the efficacy of the method, Carolina trained to become a qualified practitioner, and is now helping many city children overcome their problems.

"The man who pioneered the Sunflower Method was a very dyslexic child himself with learning difficulties," said Carolina.

"He is an osteopath but looked at other treatments to determine what helped the child the most.

"Then, over the last 15 years he took the concept and created a very effective training method."

When Carolina first qualified as a physiotherapist she focused on working with children.

"I had problems at school and I wanted to help children who had problems too and make a lasting health difference," she said.

"Often parents don't know what is wrong with their children, but they know that something is not quite right. I am positive that what I do can help.

"If you help the child, you help the adult that child becomes."

The Sunflower Method uses a combination of different aspects of medicine, including osteopathy, physiotherapy, kinesiology, and neurolinguistic programming.

The programme of treatment matches the individual health needs of the child, and teaches children how to take control of their behaviour and education.

"It can treat a number of problems, such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD, clumsiness, anxiety, and aggression," said Carolina. "It is a way of treating the whole child."

The method is based on a triangle of health, looking at the physical, chemical and emotional sides to the child.

On the first visit, Carolina conducts 78 tests to pinpoint problem areas.

"The key is to get children to enjoy coming, so I tell them that I am like a mechanic for their bodies, looking at their circuits, and that sometimes we have got little bugs in our systems that need adjusting.

"We start with the basics, looking at the structure of the child. Among other things I check their reflexes. With dyslexic children, for example, these reflexes have not been integrated.

"Then we do the chemistry testing."

Carolina has a kit full of tiny vials each containing samples of different kinds of foods, vitamins and allergens, and she tests the child's reaction to selected compounds.

"Many children have major food groups that they lack and their problems can stem from that," she said. "Or it could be an allergy.

"I put a magnet on their bellybutton and then put them in contact with the specimen and look at the physical reaction. The body is extremely sensitive to things that are near it."

After the tests, and finding suitable ways to remedy any problems, Carolina finds out what stresses the child and helps them manage problems by teaching training techniques.

"I help children understand how they can feel differently about learning, understand their feelings and their behaviour," she said.

"I teach children how to anchor a positive state and feel as if they are in control.

"From there, I show how they can learn to spell and do maths differently and tell them to treat their bodies as geniuses."

After just a few sessions, Carolina says she can get dyslexic children to spell eight-letter words backwards.

"Kids are often taught to learn through writing, left to right, and that doesn't often help dyslexic kids, so we use the whole body to learn through movement," she said.

Carolina will show a child a word and tell him to visualise it. Then, she teaches him to spell using the whole body, often jumping or waving an arm to each letter, or spelling the word from the outside in, rather than from left to right.

"I teach children to be their own coaches," she said. "For kids with confidence problems we create power moves that they can do to restore their self-esteem."

The method takes six to eight sessions over six months, and at the end the child is re-tested..

"I like putting my energy into kids who need help and this method categorically can deal with the underlying problems," said Carolina.

"If children don't get the help they need early on, they go through their lives dysfunctional and don't know why. It is about finding who you are in life and being your best."