I thought it was about time I wrote and explained my interpretation on my daughters final transition from her learning difficuties through the Dore Programme now she is 22 month post Dore.
Leila had many learning problems prior to Dore but was never diagnosed with a learning difficulty, this made trying to find help for her difficult but I did find Dore which was to change all that finally. We did not know what would happen during her treatment we had no one to compare Leila to, it was only a belief in Dore itself that we continued day in day out with the exercises. I had to learn as we went along, it took Leila 7 months to show a change and most of it was to do with co-ordination and balance.Once Leila had been on the treatement for a year and she commenced her mental tasks this was where we saw the most change and this was finally to give me an answer to what Dore are trying to do and how it can totally change a child out of all recognition from a child who had so many difficulties prior o Dore and was to aid Leila's tansition to finally discover her own potential.
You have to understand Leila's main area which worried me originally and how this affected her ability to be able to function normally within school, socially and coping with life itself. I used to say it was as though she had autism but was never diagnosed with it. Periods of being a world of her own, unable to comprehend what was going on around her and unable to interact with peers or adults. I used to watch her in the playground with her few friends talking to her and I could see she did not understand a word they were saying. When we commenced Dore most of those we met had dyslexia and none of the symptoms that Leila displayed so we were in the dark as to how much they could help her.
The commencement of the mental tasks were to change Leila out of all recognition and was to give me an answer finally for what her main issue was. It all became apparent one day on the way home in the car, Leila started relating a memory she had of a holiday two years before and how she had enjoyed it. I suddenly realised that Leila had never spoken of the past before, actually if you asked her what she had done at school that day she could not remember. She had no memories of yesterday, last week a month ago etc. These are the memories which shape the way we are and how we become. We learn at school and from our life experiences, but if you have no memories of those events then how can you possiably mature into happy, confident and secure adults.
This was the turning point for Leila and I came to know it as the lifting of "the fog" which had been apart of her life since birth. It not only affected her memory but also her abilites to interact with life around her. She was unable to comprehend how to function normally she could not remember days of the week, time or retain the information given to her daily. Nothing really had any real meaning for her it was all too confusing so she would slide into a bubble of her own where she felt safe and secure from the woes of the world outside of it. Once the fog began to lift she was finally able to converse on the same levels as her peers, her social life took off and she remembered what went on yesterday, the day before etc and was able to retain it. Her confidence soared in all areas and she went from being ungraded in all subjects at school to level 3 across the board in 9 months.
It was a revelation for me to finally find the reason for a lot of her problems and made me aware that many of our children have the same issue, the Dore Centers call it "Kicking In" but to me it was the lifting of "The Fog" which clouds their brain and hinders their ability to learn at school and to reach their full potential.
For all those undertaking Dore at the present time be aware of the issue which you see in your child which you can't quite understand what it is that hinders their progress in some areas of their life. Do not worry because it will be sorted with Dore and suddenly you will have a realisation as I did of what it is "The Fog". Ellie XXX
Ellie mum to Leila 2 years post Dore who is now finally able to learn on a par with her peers at school and Kieran aged 7 commenced Dore 7th January 2008