Vignette # 6
The patient is a nine year old female who is in the third grade and diagnosed as learning disabled. She reportedly experienced developmental delays physically and mentally. At age six her physical symptoms revolved around a lack of coordination. She could not find her mouth with her hand when eating , had a noticeable lack of balance, could not complete cross crawling exercises, and complained she could not do cartwheels like other children her age. Also, she constantly bumped and knocked things as well as missing her glass at the table when reaching for it.
She constantly moved with restlessness (excessive body movement) when answering questions appearing unable to sit still when attempting to think which severely affected her ability to learn. She was unable to learn phonics or spelling and had virtually no reading comprehension. There was difficulty even copying the letters of the alphabet with her pencil both inability to form shapes or remain on the writing line.
She appeared psychologically unmotivated and easily giving up on challenges with an “Oh well” final attitude. She appeared unconcerned with her lack of basic academic skills as if she did not want to make waves, and when criticized she seemed to give in just to keep peace.
She worked with an educational therapist for two years with little progress until CES intervention was employed as part of the process. CES usage began with daily forty-five minute periods when going to bed with noticeable changes after changes after the third week of intervention. She has continued to use the device for almost a year.
From her mother’s perspective the most notable change is her ability to now perform cartwheels while from her teacher’s perspective the more prominent changes are her much improved ability to sit still while thinking and verbalizing, with handwriting described as 100% better although further room for improvement is also reported. A sixth grade reading level is reported and by self report she perceives herself as more intelligent. She is also reported to now express opinions and emotions including an anger which has been an adjustment for her family. Teachers report increased motivation and perseverance even with difficult tasks, increased reading ability, and significantly decreased excessive body movement. Although she has continued difficulties with copying from book to paper (i.e. math problems) and using her fingers for addition and subtraction, she has memorized grade level time tables and has ease of with retrieval with this information.