The Family Hope Center- TOS Review

The  Family Hope Center exists to provide hope, support and real life help for families with children who are hurt or disabled in a variety of ways. Whether suffering from profound trauma, mild autism, ADHD or a host of other symptoms, the Family Hope Center has over 90 years of combined expertise in the area of child brain development. This clinic, located in Pennsylvania, operates from the belief that you know more about your child than the experts and that the brain has an amazing capacity to heal itself. If you are eager for the information and hope offered by The Family Hope Center, but don't live in PA, don't despair. The clinic offers some GREAT resources, along with workshops facilitated by clinic professionals around the world.



One of these resources is the  15 chapter DVD Understanding Child Brain Development. Dr. Dh and I both sat down to watch; being the neuropsych nerd that he is, he couldn't stay away.  This 2 hour video did not disappoint. Clinic Director, Matthew Newell does a great job explaining the neurology of the brain, some of the methods used in healing the brain and the fact that there is hope available for those with ADHD, Autism, traumatic brain injuries, reading disabilities, and much more. For instance, at the Family Hope Clinic, they believe that a coma is actually a sign of hope because it's the body's last ditch effort to live.  This sort of paradigm-shifting way of thinking is part of the reason why The Family Hope Center can look at seemingly hopeless situations and hack them. They utilize a number of different methodologies, including nutrition, clean water and prayer. Love that!

In addition the focus is on treating the brain, not the symptoms; working smarter, not harder. This clinic takes a holistic, approach to treating difficult and seemingly  hopeless situations.

My first Master's Degree was in Human Development - which is all about ages and stages. One of the things I think we overlook today is that developmental stages need to be successfully completed to insure success in the next developmental stage. For instance, the developmental task of crawling was addressed. Many children nowadays are in walkers, jump-ups, swings, etc and perhaps not on the floor enough to really fulfill the developmental task of crawling. Crawling is important in brain development and specific disabilities and injury can be helped by re-learning to crawl. The unique approach the Family Hope Center takes is to treat the actual problem. In other words, the parents aren't the problem. The child isn't the problem. The problem is the problem. The focus on treatment is not on symptoms but on a wholistic approach to healing Love that.

I believe that one of the best investments you can make as a parent and as a homeschooler is to get educated yourself. I am always on the look-out for information that will help me understand and educated my kids in more effective ways. This DVD is a great resource for parents everywhere as it is a great introduction to some basic information about the importance of brain development. I could definitely see this being used for a homeschool Mom's meeting- watching the DVD together with discussion following.

For those families who are dealing with some of the following symptoms, "Stories of Family Hope," are from the Center from Family Hope web-site:      

• ADD/ADHD
• Autism & Brain Trauma
• Down Syndrome
• Cerebral Palsy
• About FHC

The web-site also hosts several informative videos here.

Cost for the DVD is $19.00. To order please call 610-397-1737 or you can order Understanding Child Brain Development from IEW.