Dore effect sends confidence soaring: Programme aims at alleviating learning difficulties
Settling into his new school was never going to be easy for Ryan Terry.
To start with, the nine-year-old and his parents had just relocated half way around the world to Howick in Auckland from West Yorkshire in England. Rather more significantly, Ryan suffered from a range of learning difficulties, with symptoms suggestive of dyspraxia, ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) and Asperger’s Syndrome.
“In those days, Ryan didn’t have much confidence. He seemed very intelligent but unable to concentrate in class or apply himself. His writing and his maths were poor and there were lots of simple things, like tying his shoe laces or doing-up buttons, that he couldn’t quite manage,” says his mother, Alison Terry.
“He was also a bit ‘full on’ and tended to take an obsessive interest in topics, such as dinosaurs or Star Wars, before totally dropping them and moving onto some new obsession.
He didn’t make friends easily, his thought processes seemed sporadic and it was as if he was on a different wavelength to everyone else,” she adds.
Now aged thirteen, Ryan is coping increasingly well with life both inside and outside the classroom, thanks largely to a year on an exercise regime, known as the Dore Programme.
Currently enrolled at Farm Cove Intermediate School and due to transfer to Pakuranga College next February, his school work is much improved, his once fragile confidence has soared and he’s hugely enjoying the friendship of his peers.
The Dore Programme is based around the complementary roles of two distinct areas of the brain, the cerebrum or ‘thinking centre’ and the cerebellum or ‘skill development centre’.
When conditions such as dyslexia, dyspraxia, ADHD or Asperger’s Syndrome occur, the cerebellum will not be operating as efficiently as it should be. As a result, the cerebrum has to work much harder, making it a struggle to process information and perform tasks automatically.
Sufferers can experience difficulty remembering how to do everyday tasks and can take longer than others to complete them. This, in turn, can impact on concentration, co-ordination, confidence and behaviour.
Dore exercises are aimed at stimulating the cerebellum and training the brain to speed up and automate the information flow, so as to dramatically improve the ability to learn and retain skills.
The Programme is tailored to the needs of individuals and is not intended to displace or interfere with the crucial educational role of teachers in schools. Instead, Dore aims to complement their work, by enhancing a child’s ability to learn.
Alison and husband Richard already knew about the Dore Programme when living in the United Kingdom. However, they did nothing about it at that point, as they were focussing on their plans to move to NZ. They were also sceptical about the effectiveness of a regime of ostensibly simple exercises, such as throwing a small bean bag from hand to hand, balancing on a wobble board, focussing on an eye chart or playing with tennis balls.
The couple recognised that Ryan had learning difficulties. But it was only when they had put roots down in Howick that they discovered he also had high functioning Asperger’s Syndrome. Following the diagnosis, Ritalin, was prescribed to stimulate Ryan’s central nervous system. This, however, seemed to make him even more withdrawn and depressed.
He lost his appetite and, as Alison recalls, didn’t look at all well.
One of the Dore Programme’s attractions was that it was completely drug free. When, in the aftermath of her son trying Ritalin, Alison again investigated Dore, Ryan jumped at the chance of taking part.
“It was at Ryan’s insistence that we decided to use some of our savings to enrol him in Dore and not on our long awaited holiday on the Gold Coast. We were so proud of him for putting his future ahead of all the fun we might have had in Australia. It was a very mature decision for a boy of his age!” says Alison.
Positive results were not slow in coming. Just a few months into the Programme, Ryan’s parents took him out to a restaurant to celebrate their wedding anniversary. Whilst waiting for their meals to arrive, Alison suddenly realised that she wasn’t having to spend her entire time focused on Ryan. Instead, the three of them were just talking and relaxing “as a family should”.
A few months later, Ryan, whose physical awkwardness had led him to hate most sports and who often feigned illness to avoid them, amazed himself and his family by finishing second in a sprint. Even his old difficulties with ball games started to recede and he now regularly and enthusiastically lobs a basketball into the hoop erected in the Terry family’s garden. His newfound sporting ability has become an important factor in increasing his confidence and breaking down his social isolation.
Ryan has also shown his maturity by persevering with his exercises for ten minutes, twice every day. His own description of the Dore Programme is simply that it’s “the best thing in the world”.
“Before I started on the programme, my self-confidence was minus ten and now it’s positively one hundred and still soaring! I’ve started talking to people in public, helping out more at school and taking part in more activities, including Judo, where I’m heading towards my Green Belt.
“Previously, I’d felt that I didn’t belong anywhere and was somehow different to everyone else, because of what was going on in my head. I was a bit of a control freak, was always being bullied by someone and didn’t have many good mates, whereas, now, I’ve got lots of really good friends.
“When I was younger, I didn’t know I had special needs and I just hated school, particularly maths which I thought was just evil,” he says, adding that he now finds school enjoyable, and even maths reasonably tolerable.
As Ryan is quick to point out, he and his parents have also managed to have a holiday on the Gold Coast, although they had to wait nearly a year longer than planned before taking it.
“It was really worth the wait. I’d recommend that anyone with learning difficulties investigates the Dore Programme. It could make a difference to their entire life,” he says.