B6 | THE CITIZEN | WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 28, 2009
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Matthew Breedlove at the beach with his family, before coming to Brain Balance. Photo/Special.
Kansas family sees results from Brain Balance
(Editor’s Note: The Breedlove
family moved to Peachtree
City temporarily so that their
son could receive therapeutic
services at Brain Balance.
Following is an account of
their experience written by
Leslie Breedlove, mother of
Matthew.)
By LESLIE BREEDLOVE
Special to The Citizen
It’s hard to believe that it
was only about nine months
ago that we got a call from one
of my husband’s aunts tell-
ing us about Brain Balance.
She had attended one of the
center’s monthly information
sessions and was impressed by
what she heard. After several
conversations with the staff at
Brain Balance we decided to
have Matthew evaluated. The
only problem was the center
was outside of Atlanta and
we lived in Leawood, Kansas.
However, we were intrigued
by the new hemispheric brain
theories that Brain Balance
talked about. We knew this
was going to work for Matthew
and decided to begin our first
session of “Pre-Brain Balance”
in June 2008 in Peachtree City.
The decision to relocate, tem-
porarily, for this program was
not as difficult as you might
think. Let me give you some
background on why.
Matthew, our oldest son
who is now seven years old,
was diagnosed with moderate
Autism at the age of two and a
half. Like so many parents with
children like ours, we began the
process of hours/days/weeks
of social skills classes, speech
and occupational therapy and
intensive ABA sessions. All
of these treatments helped
Matthew cope academically
and socially, but we still felt
that he was somehow trapped
inside this robotic presence.
When we learned about Brain
Balance, the simplicity of the
concept was comforting to us.
We were encouraged by their
philosophy to “re-sync” the
brain to alleviate the imbalance
New technology, Dual, ‘wows’ the hearing impaired
Feeling unconnected with
family, friends, colleagues and
many essential conveniences of
modern life such as cell phones
and TVs is a concern voiced by
many people who come to Dr.
Andrew Waits office in Fayette-
ville seeking help.
“Even a mild hearing loss
can make it challenging to
distinguish speech and other
sounds in the environment,
so that it becomes difficult to
understand what is going on,”
explained Dr. Waits. “The result
is that people with untreated
hearing loss often end up feel-
ing flawed and isolated.”
One possible solution is
Dual. The small and stylish
Dual is available in 14 attrac-
tive colors from tasteful but
bold fashion colors to shades
that complement natural skin
tones. The Dual family of
hearing devices can accom-
modate over 80 percent of
hearing losses and a broad
range of listening preferences
and budgets.
“Even before people come
to appreciate the consider-
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that exacerbated Matthew’s
autistic behaviors and not just
treat the symptoms of Autism.
Don’t be misled. Moving to
Peachtree City was difficult.
Trading our big , lovely home
for a small apartment, being
separated from dear family and
friends in Kansas City, and ad-
justing to life in a new place was
not an easy decision. However,
it was something we felt com-
pelled to do for Matthew. We
packed up enough supplies
to last us six months as we
headed south. Luckily, I have
a home-based business that
is flexible and can move with
me. My husband, on the other
hand, is a high school teacher
who loves his job. We made
the decision that he would be
with us as much as possible in
the summer and then return
to Kansas in August to resume
teaching. Throughout this
time, we balanced the sessions
at Brain Balance with lots of
outdoor activities. We bonded
during our long walks around
the lakes in town and spent
countless hours at “Jumping
Jelly Beans” where they have
inflatables for kids to release
energy and a mom’s room for
me to read, make lists, meet
other moms or work on my
computer. We enrolled Mat-
thew and his younger brother,
Ethan, in the local elementary
school where they both made
fast friends.
The first three months we
saw lots of regressive behav-
iors, just like Mandy, the di-
rector of Brain Balance had
warned. However, at the three
month mark, our little man who
rarely ventured out of his inner
“conversations” began asking
questions. Simple phrases
like, “What are YOU having
for dinner? Where are we go-
ing? What day is today?” were
music to our ears. We had
never experienced a Matthew
fully participatory in the world
around him. Along with the
questions, Matthew began
showing much more interest
in playing with his little brother
and other kids at the play-
able benefits of Dual’s ad-
vanced technology, they are
‘wow-ed’ by its small, sleek
design that fits discreetly and
almost invisibly behind the
ear,” said Dr. Waits. Dr. Waits
advises patients not to think
that the new hearing solution’s
light, comfortable fit make it a
‘lightweight’ when it comes to
delivering a closer-to-natural
listening experience.
“Dual helps people with
hearing loss to hear better
and understand more spoken
words in any listening envi-
ronment, even in challenging
listening environments like
restaurants and social gather-
ings,” he points out. “Two Dual
hearing devices actually ‘talk’ to
each other, simulating the way
the brain naturally processes
sounds coming from different
directions.” By operating as a
virtual “sound compass,” Dual
enables wearers to more easily
identify who is talking, espe-
cially when voices or sounds
come from different areas of
the room.
For more information about
ADVERTISING SECTION
ground. In fact, just tonight we
came inside from our day and
Matthew immediately turned
to me when he heard the kids
from downstairs playing ball
outside, “Mommy…can I go
play with my friends?” This
is huge!
Yesterday I took him for the
first time to the local gym and
put him in the kids’ room with
his brother. We brought several
of his books to help him stay
busy. While I was signing them
in, Matthew walked up to a
little girl about his age in the
room and said, “Can you read
this to me?” I said, “Matthew,
introduce yourself.” “What’s
your name?” he asked. I was
grinning wildly as Matthew
said, to his new friend, “I’m
Matthew!” This type of simple
interaction would never have
occurred before Brain Balance.
We have seen such enormous
changes in Matthew since we
began the program. Even his
diet has changed as Matthew
has become more willing to
accept new tastes and flavors.
Brain Balance has made a
world of difference to our son.
Jeff and I feel like we are
throwing a life preserver to our
little man who was drowning
in the diagnosis and cloud of
Autism. With the protocol at
Brain Balance, in concert with
Matthew Breedlove, alert and aware of his surroundings, with
his father and brother, after receiving services at Brain Balance.
Photo/Special.
hearing loss and the new Oti-
con Dual, contact Dr. Waits at
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the dietary and nutritional
interventions, we feel like our
move to Peachtree City has
been a minor sacrifice that is
paying off huge dividends.
We have ended our six month
stay in Peachtree City but will
return for summer program-
ming. What a journey this has
been. It has not been easy, but
with the support of our family
and friends back home and our
new Brain Balance family in
Georgia, we feel like we would
make this choice all over again
because of the tremendous
response we are seeing in our
son. Brain Balance was the
right choice for our family and
for Matthew.
About Brain Balance
Brain Balance Achieve-
ment Center, 357 Hwy. 74 N,
Peachtree City, uses a unique
Hemispheric Integration Pro-
gram to resolve or improve
ADD, AD/HD, dyslexia, learn-
ing disabilities, autism, As-
perger’s, Tourette’s syndrome,
and other neuro-behavioral
disorders. The Brain Balance
program has helped children
with neuro-behavioral deficits
improve their academic, social
and behavioral functions using
a proprietary, non-medical ap-
proach. For information, call
770-631-3033 or visit www.
brainbalancecenters.com.
770-461-0043.
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Your lack
of sleep may
be killing you.
by
Coral Benge, PA-C
Insomnia is the number one sleep disorder. Over the past
40 years sleep duration in the United States has decreased by
two hours a night. Interestingly, studies have shown over the
years that people who sleep less than seven hours have a
higher mortality than the people who get seven to eight hours
of sleep. Insomnia is defined as difficulty in initiating and /
or maintaining sleep despite adequate opportunities to sleep
with the presence of daytime impairment. A person is
considered an acute insomniac if their lack of sleep has
persisted for up to three months. While 40% of people fall
into the acute insomnia category 10% are chronic insomniacs
who have had insomnia more than six months.
The prevalence of non-restorative sleep increases with age
and is more common in women. Fifty percent of women
experience sleep disturbances during menstruation, seventy
nine percent during pregnancy, and thirty six percent during
menopause. Some symptoms of insomnia may seem obvious:
fatigue, mood disturbances and irritability; while others we
may not associate with our quality of sleep: decreased
motivation and energy, social or functional problems,
proneness to errors at work or while driving, muscle tension,
headaches, elevated blood pressure, and even gastrointestinal
problems.
There are four main patterns of insomnia: 1. Difficulty
initiating sleep; 2. Difficulty maintaining sleep; 3. Awakening
early and unable to sleep again; 4. Consistently non-
restorative or poor sleep. Patterns of insomnia frequently
change; however, many patients with depression may have
sleep onset and maintenance insomnia, whereas both caffeine
and alcohol cause insomnia in the second half of the night.
Several different types of medications can cause insomnia with
just a few being: antidepressants, bronchodilators, beta
blockers, corticosteroids, decongestants, and stimulants.
Circadian disorders (abnormalities in the body’s internal
“clock”) are caused by jet lag, shift work, and an irregular
sleep schedule.
If you suspect you have insomnia see your doctor for a
thorough physical examination and diagnostic evaluation to
confirm that insomnia exists and to identify medical
conditions, psychiatric illnesses, other sleep disorders,
medications, or substances that may be contributing to your
insomnia.
Treatment for insomnia varies; however, first line
treatment is always good sleep hygiene. Ten basic steps you or
your loved ones can take to good sleep are: 1. Don’t stay in
bed too long; 2. Make sure you maintain the circadian cycle
(avoid jet lag, shift work, irregular sleep schedule); 3. Avoid
day time naps; 4. Avoid stimulants after lunch; 5. Don’t take
a toddy (alcohol) before bedtime; 6. Don’t smoke; 7. Exercise
regularly and earlier in the day; 8. Don’t go to bed hungry; 9.
Don’t watch TV or read in bed; 10. Keep the noise down and
keep the bedroom at a comfortable temperature.
AIM Alpha Internal Medicine
745 South Glynn Street • Fayetteville
770-719-5490