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Scotland on Sunday

A programme that works through a series of simple exercises to spark new connections in the brain could offer hope to the millions who suffer from difficulties such as dyslexia and dyspraxia

Published Date: 16 August 2009 By ruth walker LABELLED lazy, stupid and a daydreamer, Melanie Hanlon was bullied at school and eventually left, aged 15, unhappy, confused and feeling like a failure. "It all started during primary school. I would sit at home from 7pm after dinner until late at night – sometimes as late as midnight – trying to do maths homework. "Then at high school they said I was dyslexic and gave me learning support, which didn't help. I just felt I was getting pushed aside."

Now 22 and working as an administrator, she knows she is severely dyscalculic – which is a kind of dyslexia with numbers – but until she was diagnosed, her problems were simply put down to a bad attitude. "I couldn't go into a shop by myself without worrying about it. I would always give too much money," she says. "I couldn't see numbers on billboards, and driving was a big problem because I couldn't see the numbers on road signs. It was like seeing Arabic; I'd never know where I was going."

Because she works with spreadsheets, it was "a nightmare" ensuring all the phone numbers and prices were inputted correctly. "I had to double-check and triple-check before I could submit it. It was a disaster."

Her parents searched the internet for an answer to their daughter's difficulties and eventually stumbled on the Raviv method, discovered by an Israeli woman called Nili Raviv, whose son Barak had severe dyslexia and attention-deficit problems. He left school with no qualifications and, at the age of 20, spent three months surfing in Hawaii. When he returned, his difficulties had almost disappeared and he read Catcher In The Rye in a week. His astonished mother spent the next five years trying to establish how the movements in surfing might have helped bring about this remarkable transformation in her son.

Unfortunately for Hanlon, there were no practitioners in Scotland at the time, and it wasn't until eight years later, when her mother saw a flyer about the Raviv method in the Kelso Co-op, that she was able to finally get the help she needed. "The next week – in February 2008 – I started the programme," she says.

The technique is based around a series of exercises that include doing a figure-of-eight walk for 20 minutes every day for six months. "When you're doing the figure-of-eight walk you're making connections between the left and the right side of the brain," says practitioner Karen Wexelstein, who is based in Earlston in Berwickshire. "With people who have learning difficulties, you have neurons that are firing but not making a full connection. By doing these exercises every day, you're nurturing the growing process of the brain cells and, within about six months, the connections will be established and the older neurons will wither away."

Wexelstein, 45, was born in Edinburgh but has spent the last 21 years working in the fashion industry in London. Her introduction to Raviv came in 2006, after her son Josh, then aged nine, was diagnosed with dyslexia. He began the programme with a private tutor but around the same time she decided to take a training course herself, to enable her to help Josh and to find out more about learning difficulties in general. "But after six months I was totally redundant because he just didn't need my help any more," she says. "He has caught up with all his reading. All the years he couldn't read fluently, now he's bookworm boy.

"He's not cured," she stresses, "because dyslexia isn't a disease, but he has overcome his difficulties."

She might have continued happily in her job – helping out friends' children at weekends – but for a move of her office, which turned a two-hour commute into four hours. "I thought, 'I've got to get a life.' There was nobody offering this service in Scotland, and because Josh was moving up to high school things just fell into place and I moved back in November 2007."

One of her first clients was Hanlon. "When Karen diagnosed me, I felt fantastic. It was such a relief to find out what it was after all these years of being labelled silly and stupid."

Even after just one week, she says, she noticed a change. "It was amazing. I felt more confident, and the numbers just started leaping out in different colours. I was able to do my times tables backwards and forwards, I can see road signs and my reading has improved a lot as well. I can finally get on with a normal life.

"I am starting to see and feel things for the first time. I have been brought to the foreground of my own life to experience everything for myself, instead of hiding in the background, afraid I will fail."

The method can work for those with dyslexia, dyscalculia, dyspraxia, dysgraphia (problems with handwriting) and ADHD, and on those as young as five and as old as 70. However, often parents have to wait until their children are in their mid-primary school years before they are diagnosed with having learning difficulties.

Jacqui Findlay, 44, a hairdresser from Edinburgh, noticed her daughter Aly was still struggling with reading, writing and spelling by primary five, so asked the school to test her for dyslexia. "She's a bright girl, she's very friendly and animated, so I didn't have huge concerns for her." But having an older daughter and knowing how much work she would have to do in later years, she worried. "I thought she would start getting snowed under and that would affect her as a person."

Aly, now 13, began the Raviv programme early last year and, though improvements were gradual, they were dramatic. "It wasn't really until we started getting things back from school that we noticed the change," says Findlay. "She suddenly came home and had done well in her tests, her end of term report was fantastic and she had a commendation for her English work – that was a real confirmation that it had made a difference.

"But what it did for her more than anything was to give her more confidence. She believes in herself more. She was getting to the stage where she was thinking, 'Why should I bother, because I can't do it.' Now she's working harder because she believes in herself."

Wexelstein's dream is to introduce the technique into every school in Scotland. "Because it's focused and efficient, you're finishing it in six months as opposed to maybe 16 years of learning support," she says. "It would make such a big difference to the schools and to the children."

For more information, call 07711 623605 or visit www.ravivscotland.co.uk.

DailyTelegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/3353034/Bring-it-to-mind.htmlBring it to mind Frances Childs
Last Updated: 4:39PM BST 27 Apr 2006 Bruna Mole teaching the Raviv method at Hargrave Park Primary School in Archway, north London Frances Childs reports on a controversial 'cure' for dyslexia Can physical exercise, breathing and relaxation techniques really help children with dyslexia and dyspraxia?Nili Raviv, founder of the Raviv learning method, says they can. She maintains that those who have followed her regime of repetitive exercises have seen huge improvements in their reading, writing and concentration skills.Her method stimulates the brain to create hitherto missing connections, she says. Once these connections are formed, learning difficulties as diverse as dyslexia, AD/HD (Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder) and short- and long-term memory loss can be overcome.It may sound a bit far-fetched, but there are people who will testify that children do benefit from the Raviv exercises.For example, since Bruna Mole, a practitioner in the method, began working with a small group of children at Hargrave Park Primary School in Archway, north London, last year, Nick Walker, their teacher, has noticed "considerable improvements in literacy, self-confidence and behaviour".The method's relaxation techniques are based on common yoga practices. The children are taught to breathe more effectively, enabling more oxygen to reach and stimulate the brain.The physical exercises centre on a specific way of walking. "It needs to be taught by a qualified Raviv practitioner," says Mole. "Done incorrectly, it could re-enforce existing learning difficulties."Founded in Israel 10 years ago, the Raviv method now has centres in London and Dublin, with more than 200 practitioners across the UK, who have treated 2,500 clients with learning difficulties.Among those who are sceptical of claims that dyslexia can be "cured" is the British Dyslexia Association (BDA). "There is no good research evidence proving that these methods work," a spokesman says.However, anecdotal evidence suggests that the Raviv method does help some youngsters. Mike Jones, a special needs teacher, says he always uses it with dyslexic children."I think the method works because it is multi-sensory," he says. "It is a very active way of learning, which stimulates children's senses by encouraging them to move around."Twelve-year-old Kelly Yerrill, from Islington, north London noticed marked improvements in her schoolwork after several sessions with a Raviv practitioner."It was fun," she says. "We played thinking games and it got my mind working. I'm more able to concentrate in lessons now."Dr John Richer, consultant clinical psychologist in the paediatrics department at the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, cautiously endorses the method."What I like about the Raviv method is that it looks at where children are developmentally, then works with them to take them forward. The idea is to rebuild the skills and understanding that a child has missed out on."However, Dr Richer adds that he has not seen any properly-researched studies supporting the claims made for the method and he scoffs at some of the pseudo-scientific language used by its practitioners."Creating new pathways in the brain simply means learning new things," he says. "Every time we learn something new, we create a new pathway."Those trained in the Raviv method charge £35-£60 an hour, and, according to Bruna Mole, most children with learning difficulties would need 20-24 one-hour sessions to reap the benefits.A similar approach to "curing" dyslexia is offered by the DORE programme, which has developed exercises that, it claims, "stimulate the cerebellum".However, the BDA emphasises that what is best for dyslexic children is being taught in mainstream classrooms by well-trained teachers delivering "dyslexia-friendly" - ie active, participatory - lessons.Methods such as DORE and Raviv, it believes, should be seen as enjoyable extras, not as alternatives.· Raviv Learning Society (0800 056 90 48; www.thelearning society.com). DORE Programme (www.ddat.co.uk). British Dyslexia Association (0118 966 2677; www.bdadyslexia.org.uk).

Catch a Wave

By Yafa Shiras: Menta Megasine / Israel

Barak aged 29, looks like an eternal Nature-loving child. He is dressed in white, his hair is sun-streaked and he exudes calm and serenity. When a knock is heard at the door and a 10 year old boy enters the room, Barak smiles at him, apologises for the interruption and leaves with the child. Later, it becomes apparent that this Nature-loving grown-up child treated the younger child, until just recently, for learning difficulties. The treatment is over, but the bond that has grown between them is so strong that they continue to spend time together. This child is not the only client. With some of his clients/friends, Barak Raviv even goes to the beach and teaches them to surf, his favorite pastime.

This friendship is a fated kinship, of sorts. Until just 9 years ago, Barak dealt with the same problems. He was a dyslectic child, who suffered from attention disorders and did not know how to read. One fine day, at the age of 20, he read a book for the first time in his life. Hs mother, Nili Raviv, aged 54, was of course grateful for the miracle, but was not satisfied with simply being grateful. She decided to delve into the matter and research it thoroughly. Her findings brought her to the development of an advanced neuro-cognitive method for correcting and developing learning skills, logic and memory. This method would create for other children, suffering from learning difficulties, the same miracle that had happened to Barak.

Surfing in Hawaii

Barak, the third Raviv child of four, was diagnosed at an early age as suffering from severe dyslexia and attention disorders. An army of private tutors, hours upon hours of “quality time” with his mother studying and memorizing, diagnoses from the finest experts, centres for treating learning difficulties and even medication could not help him.

“The most I could read were 4 words in sequence. Then the letters would start jumping,” he recounts. “To make up for the embarrassment and frustration, I became the class clown. I continued going to school, and I would sit in the hall for hours on end just to be among my friends during recess. In the 3^rd grade, I came across a teacher who took me under her wing. She created boundaries, but also treated me as an equal. She allowed me to fit in with the class. The real horror began in middle school. I just could not fit into the system. The other kids treated me as an outsider, because, with time, I behaved like one. In high school, the situation worsened. I transferred from one school to the next, but it made no difference. I couldn’t sit any exams, so I could not graduate. At that time, Special Education rules were a recommendation at best, so teachers were not obligated to provide the special arrangements that were specified in my diagnoses.”

Barak’s mother was just as frustrated. “I would come to the school every morning to pick up my child, who was just wandering around the hallways. I would ask the teachers for the material they were studying so I could study with him at home. Barak had a private tutor for every subject, but he simply couldn’t study. One of the diagnoses for Barak stated that his dyslexia was irreparable and he would never read.”

Barak’s natural intelligence covered his illiteracy. In addition, the ocean provided a refuge. More than anything, Barak enjoyed surfing. During his senior year at high school, Barak decided to drop out of school officially. He wanted to be drafted into the Army, but his illiteracy once again proved to be his undoing. The IDF would not recruit him. His parents managed to persuade Barak to take some time off and go surfing in Hawaii, where his older brother, Saar, was also surfing.

A year later, Barak returned to Israel after visiting Hawaii and other countries. At the age of 20, he realized that something dramatic was happening to him. A friend lent him his copy of “The Catcher in the Rye” and tried to persuade Barak to read the book. Barak started reading, and to his immense surprise, he finished reading the book within a week! “Mom,” he told Nili, “it’s a great book and it’s not difficult. Do you have any more easy books?” Nili Raviv was shocked. Once the shock lessened, Nili attempted to understand what change had occurred in Barak, and the connection between that change and his stay in Hawaii.

Walking the 8-Track

In 1995, Nili Raviv left her job as an architect and devoted the next 5 years to reading and studying professional literature and updated research on the brain. She came to understand that the brain consists of unique structures, which are responsible for the ability to read. If these structures do not develop correctly, the individual will not be able to read properly. Therefore, expecting one, who cannot read, to learn to read by practising, is similar to watching one attempt to turn on a light by pushing a button that is not connected to the lamp.

“These neurological structures, “explains Raviv, “are, in fact, connections between brain cells, called synapses. One’s intelligence, i.e., one’s ability to solve problems in one’s cultural environment and to express one’s ideas through learning and comprehension, is not determined by the number of brain cells that one has, but by the number of synapses in one’s brain. Recent studies in this field have shown that individuals who suffer from dyslexia and attention disorders have damaged synapses. The good news is that it is possible to train one’s brain and develop these structures. Through stimuli and practice, the brain is capable of creating alternative structures, which will allow cognitive activity.”

This insight was not the only one Nili reached. Raviv learnt that dyslexia is caused by another factor. “In order to decipher words, read them in sequence, remember and understand them, the brain must differentiate between 3-dimensional and 2-dimensional perceptions. When a child reaches 1^st grade and begins to learn to read, s/he faces an obstacle, which is learning to distinguish the two perceptions. Up to that moment, the child based her/his view on a 3-dimensional perception. For example, the child understood that a table is a table, and a kettle is a kettle, and even if the kettle is placed on the table or the table is turned upside-down, they maintain their individual properties. From this moment, the child must learn to use her/his 2-diemnsional perception, and realize that the meaning of letters may change when they are written in the wrong direction. For example, the letter “b” becomes “d” when written backwards. The letter “C” can turn to “U” if the “open end” faces upwards. This is a totally new experience, which requires practice, even for children with well-established 2-dimensional perception. Children who suffer from dyslexia cannot achieve 2-dimensional perception, because their perception is completely 2-dimensional. When these children attempt to read by using this perception, they cannot focus, because the letters seem to “dance” before their eyes. For them, reading from a page is akin to reading from a screen saver text, which seems to appear from within the depth of the screen and moves very quickly.”

Yet another insight Nili reached, was that attention disorders are born from inconsistent attention over a period of time: “The level of electric activity in the brain varies when the brain deals with different tasks,” she explains. “When one undertakes a cognitive task, such as reading or studying, which requires concentration and attention for a long period of time, a higher level of brainwave activity is required. People who suffer from attention disorders experience difficulties in maintaining concentration and attention, because their brains cannot time the duration for which the high level activity is required.”

Many studies Nili Raviv read discussed movement in the shape of the figure 8. It was argued that the type of movement creates a situation in which the sensory systems, in particular the sight and sound systems, work in maximum cooperation. For Raviv, something clicked. She knew that this is exactly the movement that one makes when one is surfing, in order to catch the wave and stay on it with one’s surfboard.

To demonstrate these points, she places two small stools approximately 2 metres apart from each other, and walks between them in a figure 8. She instructs me to follow her steps and not avert my eyes from a surfboard like statue place exactly at the mid-point of the 8. According to Nili, walking in the figure 8, while keeping the gaze focused at a stationary focal point at the centre of the figure, creates the stimuli necessary for the development of logic,, memorizing, comprehension and learning skills. This movement also trains dyslectics to concentrate on an anchoring point, thus assisting them in focusing during their reading. “This is why intensive wave surfing, which is based on the exact same movement in addition to the focused gaze, enabled Barak to read.”

How the Method Works

Raviv gathered all her insights into a method. Her first client was a son of a friend. Afterwards, she treated family members and friends. It was only in 1999 that she came upon the opportunity to try hr method in a school in Haifa. “The success was huge,” she recalls, “and all at once, there was great demand for the method.”

It takes a lot of courage, as well as cheek, to treat children without proper medical training. Weren’t you worried you might cause damage?

“The Raviv Method cannot cause damage, since it does not involve any Chemical interference, which might harm one. The worst that can happen is that the method will not work.”

During the first stages of Nili’s work, her son Barak remained impassive and uninvolved. “I felt that a new world had suddenly been opened to me, and I wanted to express myself. Once, I couldn’t memorise 3 sentences in sequence, and now, all at once, I could recite passages by Shakespeare.” Barak’s impassivity did not last for long. When Nili could no longer accept clients, because her schedule was so full, he came to the rescue.

The Raviv Method treats a wide range of learning difficulties: reading, writing, maths, logical thinking, organizational problems, orientation in space, motor function and time comprehension. The method is based on 4 main neuro-cognitive processes: training the brain to synchronize all the different parts of the brain with the nervous system and creating neurological conditions that allow for effective learning and attention functions; training the brain to control the brainwave activity; training the brain in 2-dimensional perception, in order to decipher letters and words; teaching effective learning techniques and strategies.

“The Raviv Method addresses and treats the neurological basis of learning difficulties, and corrects it,” Raviv explains. “In this manner, it differs from other strategies, which teach the individual coping techniques. These methods are guided by the belief that a learning difficulty is a given that can not be overcome, therefore, the individual must learn ways to work around it.”

In contrast with other methods for treating learning difficulties, which dictate that the child must have assistance throughout her/his school years, the Raviv Method is focused and effective. It lasts only 4-6 months, during which the child attends a weekly, hour-long session and practises at home daily, for about 20-30 minutes.

How is the practice conducted?

Raviv: “First of all, through games, which are useful for assessment, as well as treatment. When a child comes in for treatment, we almost always begin with a simple ball game, such as catch. While we play, I take note of her/his gross motor abilities. If I see difficulty, I will teach the child how to do the movement, until s/he establishes it. The next step is the figure 8 walk. The most important part of the method is the intervention in the pace of the walk. The speed reflects upon the child’s brainwave function. If the child is a slow walker, this might indicate that s/he is experiencing a great deal of physical and mental difficulty in completing the task. It could also mean that the child’s brain functions on low brainwaves, and the child suffers from an attention disorder. On the other hand, a child who suffers from attention disorders, yet walks very quickly, might be suffering from anxiety and stress.

If the Raviv Method is based only on walking, why can’t one practice at home without coming to you?

“Our intervention in the walking pace of the client is the core of the method. Some people need to quicken their pace, and some need to slow it down. Some people walk with their hands bent sideways, and we need to intervene to fix this walking pattern.”

An English Success Story

In the past 4 years, 1,500 children and adults have been treated with the Raviv Method throughout Israel. Many were treated privately. In addition, 500 practitioners have been trained. 2 years ago, Raviv’s friends introduced her to acquaintances in the British Educational System. They showed a great deal of interest in the Raviv Method, and Nili and Barak held their first Practitioner Training Course is London, and later in Newport, Wales.

The Raviv Method's statistics are overwhelming: 80-85% success rate! However, an official study has not yet been conducted and professionals refuse to address the results without official research. Professor Rafi Karso, a neurologist, to whom we presented a summarized version of the method, replied that one cannot know if this method works until research is conducted. In response, Raviv says, “I, too, am waiting for someone to conduct research on the Raviv Method. I will be thrilled when that happens.”

However, in January, 2002, a pilot study was conducted in Newport, Wales. The study was conducted on children with severe learning difficulties, attending St. Joseph’s RC High School. The study examined reading, writing, spelling and mathematical skills. The results showed that 80% of the pupils who took part improved greatly after only 3 months of treatment. They were no longer placed in a special education needs class. They integrated successfully into mainstream classes, with no further treatment.

As a result of the success of the pilot study, the Educational Department of the Newport City Council decided to train 30 practitioners in the Raviv Method. They now practice the method successfully all over Newport. In Israel, the Ministry of Education allows teachers to study the Raviv Method during their sabbatical and receive appropriate funds. However, one cannot say that the Special Education Needs departments show great enthusiasm. Why? Perhaps because Raviv claims to solve learning difficulties in a fixed time bracket, a fact that would harm the livelihood of many others who work in this field.

The Raviv Method has evolved into a family business. Nili’s husband, Rami, and her eldest daughter, Adi, have also been recruited. Adi, aged 36, manages the business in Israel, and Rami, an engineer, manages the business in the UK. Only Saar, 34, and Shai, 22, do not take part in the business. Saar owns and runs a club that trains surfing and water-skiing and Shai is pursuing a career in music.

Alongside his great investment in the new business, Barak also finds time to enjoy the hobby that changed his life – surfing. Lately, he has even begun teaching his hobby to others. His strong bond to his young clients brings many of them to join his surfing courses. “Just as my life changed, I want others’ lives to change, too. I want them to stop experiencing constant frustration,” he says.” . “I want everyone to know that learning difficulties can be corrected and one does not need to learn to work around them. One can study and excel in every profession one chooses. One should never have to make choices by default

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