Nathaniel was 4.5 yrs old when we first took him to the Advance Centre. Linda pointed out his ribs were not developing correctly and diaphragm was functioning poorly which contributed to his slouchy position when seated and poor breathing (he would often pause with each intake of breath). When Nathaniel spoke the few words he knew it was like a whisper, you hardly knew he was around, his sleep was awful, sometimes keeping us awake for 4/5 hours at night as he bounced around his room. In fact, he spent the whole 2 hours during our first visit to the Centre in his pushchair.
After 2 days of carrying out the breathing exercises Nathaniel slept through the night and this has continued ever since – we were astonished and we knew that something extraordinary was happening. After 2/3 months of exercises we noticed a change of posture – he could now keep his head upright and look out of the car window. His voice got louder and he started to make more sounds. When we attended the centre 9 months later it was a totally different experience. He was wandering around exploring, was more sociable and smiling, calling over to us when he was hungry and making eye contact with the staff.
We are using other interventions as well, but we are certainly convinced that the breathing techniques have played a crucial role in getting Nathaniel to where he is today and underpins all the other techniques we are using so they are more effective.