TESTIMONIALS
Experiences of progression after the HANDLE Level 1 and 2 Course...
“I would like to thank you again for what I learned during the course. It really helped my son. He has made huge progress since last summer. He is less clumsy, he has better coordination. He learned to swim (!!!), he is able to jump rope and he even started to climb trees. His behaviour is also changing, he is more flexible, hasn’t had a meltdown for weeks now and he is going better at school. Of course we are trying a lot of things to help him, but including HANDLE® exercises and massages in his daily routine has made a huge difference.”
An Occupational Therapist’s testimonial
“Finally, reasons and answers. I’ve waited over 15 years to discover HANDLE but it’s been worth the wait. Can’t wait to spread the word, especially to all those families with ‘Tourettes’ members, that there is hope and alternative approaches to drugs are available with wonderful folk here in the UK.”
“My four year old daughter has Rett Syndrome, she clenches her hands constantly at the same time as pulling her index finger across the inside of her palm. Gradually, over the last couple of years I noticed that her index finger was beginning to bend through all the pulling and clenching. I raised my concerns about the health of her hands to numerous occupational therapists and physiotherapists on many many occasions. They never seemed to be able to give me any answers or any direction. I attended the HANDLE Introductory course and learnt the “Hug and Tug” activity. After three weeks of daily “Hug and Tug” I noticed that all her fingers had grown and more importantly her index finger had started to straighten out. Absolutely amazing! I couldn’t believe it!
On our next visit to my daughter’s Osteopath, without prompting, she also noticed her fingers had grown and that they were less bent.
The only thing I had done differently during this period was “Hug and Tug”.”
Families' HANDLE Programme experiences...
A mother’s testimonial
HANDLE for an adult
“Thanks to HANDLE I started to look at my child with different eyes, understand more underlying issues and constantly learn how to interpret behaviours to address them (these issues I mean). We worked with ABA before we started HANDLE and I was so grateful for every little progress Alex has done. At the same time I was a bit disappointed that he is not one of those wonder children that overcome autism in a no time... After 2 years of ABA training he could say 400 words, but still has not used them to communicate. It was impossible to teach him prepositions. I could not imagine that there is something wrong with his motor skills, balance etc... He walked, ran or jumped as any other kid.
It was thanks to Sean and HANDLE that I understood that Alex’s vestibular system is so challenged, that he has such weak hands that it is just impossible for him to draw or write, that he does not play with his toys because he simply cannot find them in his room, that all the problems with eating originate in his mouth and he does not feel what he eats, cannot chew etc... Now after just nine months Alex uses not only speech, but also eye contact, gestures and mimics to communicate, he seeks contact with other kids, he plays with his toys adequately and can find them! He solves problems and recently he started to build pretty complicated train tracks. His eating has improved by far, he sleeps better. Yes, he does awful plenty of things better... I used to say “in a normal way”. And do not ask me when it all has happened, because I don’t know.
We still have a journey ahead of us, and he is not yet on the level of his neurotypical peers, but he improves literally every day in a seamless way. Yes, we do “work” every day for 10 min (if only strict HANDLE activities) to 2 hours and more if we count in all the play. But it is so fun and he loves it and asks for more! So different from demanding ABA training, which we still use for all the school skills that he needs to automatize.”