| Abstract/Notes |
Narrative: This case series discusses 3 cases of students diagnosed with dyslexia and struggling with learning disability who received chiropractic care and functional neurology therapy based on the Melillo Method™
Hemispheric model theory suggests that the left cerebral hemisphere is associated with language development. It is therefore important to identify areas of inconsistency in the left cerebral hemisphere that may be associated with developmental delay. Therapeutic stimulations may yield hemispheric balance and enhance language development, equipping students to improve their academic performance. (17, 35)
The improvements of reading levels and academic performance in these 3 cases provided the practitioners, parents, educators and students themselves with direction to approach learning disability and dyslexia. The common presentations shared across these cases were inattention, poor memory, slow processing, poor comprehension, difficulty following instructions, inability to multitask, lack of motivation, delayed speech, spelling and reading difficulty, and poor handwriting.
Inspired by Melillo Method™ the main strategy was to follow bottom-up, the developmental trajectory that begins in the brain stem, followed by the vestibular system in the rhombencephalon, then the sensory and motor cortices and eventually the prefrontal cortex. (26) A comprehensive assessment was designed to examine the maturity of the central nervous system from the brain stem to the cortical level. This included a hemispheric checklist, vital signs, primitive reflexes, vestibular assessment, ocular motor assessment and neural timing assessment.
The treatment plan aimed to promote neuroplasticity by building networks in the targeted brain functional areas, the left hemisphere in these patients. The treatment modalities included Chiropractic Adjustments and 24 brainbased therapy sessions over 12 weeks using photobiomodulation, digital therapy, dynamic balance training, neural timing training, ocular motor training with co-activation of colour, auditory, olfactory and sensory-motor stimulation during the above-mentioned training protocols. The program was also reinforced by an individually designed home exercise program to integrate primitive reflexes and maintain the intensity and frequency of brain stimulation daily. In the 12-week period, the student subjects show improvement in their reading and academic performance as well as their work ethics, motivations and emotional stabilities. Objective functional measurements also displayed marked improvement across the board in most post-program physical and neurological assessments.
Author keywords: Chiropractic - Adjustment - Melillo Method - Dyslexia - Reading difficulties; NeuroImpulse Protocol
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