15 Sep The Movement and Learning Centre – Specialising in Neurological Development

Welcome to the world of movement, learning and behaviour! Given plenty of opportunities to move naturally, most children pass through early stages of development perfectly well and acquire bodily control satisfactorily. The child’s inner drive to move – together with the opportunity to move in response to sensory input – results in the development of a fundamental general understanding of their body and the environment, gained from self-motivated, effortful, independent and pleasurable early play. This represents the foundation of all future learning, in particular formal school education.

Ian McGowan of The Movement and Learning Centre

Not all children of the same chronological age will demonstrate appropriate and satisfactory levels of functioning in the full range of abilities required for life and for school, including the development of coordination, balance and postural control. This is referred to as delayed neurological development. The key point here is that the presenting difficulties in learning and behaviour are delays rather than a permanent state of functioning.

At the Movement and Learning Centre, I work with children and adolescents who have a range of learning and behavioural difficulties that adversely affect their lives and schooling. The school-aged children identified as having some form of learning and/or behavioural difficulty, and for which they may be receiving additional support in the classroom, present with a range of similar symptoms – for example, delays in motor and language development, short attention span and distractibility, fidgety behaviour, misinterpretation of questions, confusion of similar sounding words, difficulty following sequential instructions, poor posture, clumsy and uncoordinated movements, poor fine motor skills, poor organisational skills.

This may result in a child failing to achieve their potential to become a successful learner.

The good news is that with appropriate non-invasive physical intervention problems with coordination, balance and postural control can be resolved and presenting symptoms alleviated, which in turn better supports learning and behaviour, in and out of school.

A tailored exercise programme can have significant positive effects on learning and behavioural issues.

At the Movement and Learning Centre, I see children and adolescents who may have a diagnosis of a specific learning difficulty (dyslexia, developmental coordination disorder, attention deficit disorder/attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, ASD), though many have less pronounced but still challenging difficulties with learning and behaviour. In all cases, through appropriate testing of neurological developmental delay and a tailored programme of developmental physical exercises, significant improvements can be achieved that improve the quality of life of the young person concerned. In many cases this can be life-changing! Seeing the difference that my programmes have made to children and adolescents over the years has brought me immense professional and personal satisfaction.

You can find out more about my bespoke programmes at www.mlcscotland.com. Or, if you’d like to discuss any difficulties that your child may currently be having, please call me on 01506 825400 or email ian@mlcscotland.com.

Ian McGowan B.Ed. (hons), M.Ed.

Director of the Movement and Learning Centre