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Nonspeaking Autism and NeuroFit Connections: A Holistic Approach to Child Development with Dr. Timothy & Jackie Beck · Inchstones with Sarah | Autism Advocacy & Caregiver Stories

• 0:01
  Speaker A: Hey, everyone. Welcome back to the latest episode of the Inchtones podcast. I have today the team at NeuroFit Connections here, Dr. Timothy Beck and his lovely wife, who I've only met for quite literally four seconds and feel so simpatico because there's something very primal about a woman and mother's love for children, especially those of us that have children with profound special needs. I am thrilled to have them here in conversation today to share about what their practice offers. But their why? Because I believe that so many of us that get to experience the therapists, the educators, the clinicians that support our children, the why behind it and the heart behind the soul of their work is so important to us, entrusting practitioners to work with our children. So, Dr. Timothy, and thank you so much for being here today.
• 0:50
  Speaker B: Absolutely.
• 0:50
  Speaker C: It's a pleasure.
• 0:52
  Speaker A: Well, before we press record, I said, what is your favorite thing to answer? And I'd love for. For us to jump back into that, to have the listeners hear this. What is your why behind why you started NeuroFit Connections?
• 1:04
  Speaker B: Well, I can speak for me, my why is that? I was working for another company doing something extremely similar, but there was newer practices being put into place that they were not doing. And I felt like I cannot in good conscience. And I loved my job, I loved the company I worked for, but I couldn't treat those children without updating the protocols, which I knew working for another company would not happen. So that's when I went to Tim and said, we gotta open our own business. We gotta do this on our own, because they deserve the best. If you're not giving them the best, then why are you even doing it? They deserve everything you've got. And my big, big why is because every child has this desire to be something in the world and give back no matter what. Even if they're not verbal, they are very, very intelligent and they should be able to be whatever they dream of being. If they have developmental delays, some struggles, learning disorders, sensory issues that are keeping holding them back, I want to get those barricades out of their way so they can be whatever they dream of being. It's heartache to see a child not be able to become what they want due to a developmental delay that should, that can easily be corrected.
• 2:26
  Speaker A: You know, I think, I mean, you hit so much just as a, you know, as a provider on this, but as a woman and mother, we, as mothers, we see that so innately in our child. We just want them to become the best versions of who they're meant to be without those barriers. Yet the barriers are so there and they're, they are so pervasive into every bit of home life, into school. I always say, I mean, I can't even let my son walk down the four steps to get to his transportation without eyes on him and guidance. Cause he's in the road. He's in the middle of the road. And yet when he looks back and checks in with me as a mother, I go, that little boy's in there. That little soul of that little boy. And so I think knowing that there's providers out there that see that in our children as well is a such a grounding point. So talk to me more. I know before you said, Dr. Tim, you said she could talk about primitive reflexes all day long. I could listen about primitive reflexes all day long. So tell me about this and why it's such a passion of yours.
• 3:22
  Speaker B: Because that's really the root cause of, of most all developmental delays and they should not be there after a year old. So what are we doing? What are we missing? And why do I have a 15 year old in my office with primitive reflexes? Should not happen. And so to do them correctly is very specific. And a lot of people don't understand that. They'll see things on Instagram or Facebook and they're doing it and they're like, oh, that's all I have to do? No, there's a specific stimulus and movement pattern that has to happen without doing it properly. They could have those prems for years and still struggle. And that's what we need to get rid of.
• 4:02
  Speaker A: What does that look like? Like you said, for any child coming in their age, their gender doesn't matter. These are things that have to be worked through in a very scient and modular form. How does that, how, how does that translate from the office then into real life? Is this something that parents can learn to do at home as well? Or do you find that it. Ben, it's really beneficial in this like deeply intensive therapeutic sense and therapeutic environment?
• 4:26
  Speaker B: Well, actually. Right. It has to happen on a very consistent basis. So I teach the parent how to do them correctly. I watch them do it so I know they're doing it correctly. And they do that on the days they're not coming in to see me. When they come in to see me, I might do different things, but I'm also, I'm always going to do the primitive reflexes, but then also coordination and balance and all those other components. The mother is going to do the primitive reflexes. And some core and eye work at home. We don't like them to have a lot to do. That's why we want them in center on a consistent basis. Those prems need to be done every day, a couple times a day to get them going.
• 5:04
  Speaker A: And you know, it's, it's so interesting. You know, general generalization is a word that's just so pervasive for a special needs parent. Right. Cause it's like, well, what you see in home and what do you see in school and what do you see in therapy settings? And I think there's there, there with that comes an intensive weight for the parent and caregiver. Cause it's like it's a sole, it's a separate job. Right. To just keep all these therapies and the progression of it going along. You know how I know as a practitioner, you said at the beginning, you know, you see such value in the humanity behind each of these kids. I always like to say that happens with the parent as well too. And when they are met with a practitioner who sees that same humanity behind the eyes of the child. Those small, what I call inch stones of developmental wins do add up in the long run. And they really do. They can make the weight of the role that a caregiver has for a child that's developmentally delayed. It can feel lighter because if you notice those small little ones, what are some small inch stones that you might see in practice through children that you treat?
• 6:06
  Speaker B: Usually at first it's going with an autistic child. The first thing I notice, and the parent does too, they don't know how to articulate it typically is that, that, that fog or that glazed over look in their eyes. Suddenly they're looking around like they're really looking at you and they're really looking at something and observing something. It's like that fog's been lifted. And that's the first thing that we notice is they're actually looking. I have a 2 year old I work with and she will do sit ups with me and she will really look at me. And her dad even said, whoa, she's really connecting with you. Because she's non verbal through her eyes. She's really looking at me and I make very expressive faces. When she does a sit up, we celebrate every single one of them. And she's like, wow, that's an interesting face she's missing. And that's the first thing in imitation is observing. So she's really starting to get there.
• 7:01
  Speaker A: Yes. Um, you know what? So what that's a great segue. So what would a typical one on one session look like? Um, how long are they in your center? And you know, like you, you shared that there are expectations to carry throughout the home. But, but that, that the best of work comes from those one on one sessions. You know, is it an intake process? What does that look like for your practice? And how can my listeners understand more about, you know, specifically your work?
• 7:26
  Speaker B: Well, it starts with an assessment. So it's a two, two and a half hour assessment depending on the child. Now that's a very high functioning child will go through auditory, ocular, vestibular. All of the systems get tested. So we can pinch. Yeah. So I can really pinpoint where the developmental delay is because when you meet one autistic child, you've met one. Right. You know, very many that even having,
• 7:53
  Speaker A: even having a boy and a girl that are siblings, you still have only met one.
• 7:56
  Speaker B: Still completely different.
• 7:57
  Speaker A: That's right. They are siblings, but they are not the same person.
• 8:01
  Speaker B: They're so different. And I do work with a lot of ADHD and dyslexia as well. Where was I headed?
• 8:11
  Speaker A: Well, you know, actually stop right there though. Talk to me about those, those, the vestibular and the proprioceptive pathways. Because I think a lot of my audience and listeners sometimes need a refresher on that. So could you talk about that first?
• 8:22
  Speaker B: Right. Well, the ocular and the vestibular work beautifully together. And testing them, you have to test them separately, but you also want to test them together to see if their intake is coming in. Is it slow processing? Is it the output that they don't have a grasp on? So we do a lot of vestibular testing, cerebellum testing, just by doing different things. And it does depend on the age of the child, how much and how deep I can go. So for vestibular, I'm going to check all the canals in different head positions to see where that issue is.
• 8:55
  Speaker C: So what is vestibular impact?
• 8:57
  Speaker B: Okay. Do you want to. You go ahead. I don't, I wasn't going to go there. The impact would be, you know, a child that doesn't have sense of where their body is in space. So when they close their eyes, do they want to fall over? Do they lose track? We do the Fukuda test, the most fun test. They love doing that test because they end up in a different spot. Like, wait a minute, did you. I had a little boy do this. He did the Vakuda and he made a sharp left turn. And I'm like, you can open your eyes now. And he's like, did you move me? So, yes, we're looking at a vestibular issue there, but his balance was pretty good. So I'm not going to concern myself too much with balancing with eyes open. I'm going to work on eyes closed. We're going to work on spinning. We're going to work on other vestibular exercises to help strengthen that area, depending on, you know, which canal it was and all that. So we do that. We do a great auditory system done by Acoustic Pioneer, which will tell us, are they struggling with tone? Which kind of tone is it sided, right sided, speed filtering, all of that stuff that needs to help a child be successful in school. Where is the problem? And it's interesting because most every child with development delay, almost every single one, has an auditory problem. The parents will tell me they've been to a doctor, they've had the hearing testing, but then I find a problem. So it's very thorough testing we do here because we really want to help all the systems work together. So we have to check all systems.
• 10:35
  Speaker A: That's something that's. I hope that is going to arise more and more in the autism and neurodiversity, you know, diverse, divergent community is that there's so many systems here. And I know that so many parents want these solid answers of like, what is it and what do I solve for first and how do I. And I'll solve for one thing and I'll solve for the next. And I. And I love that you just hit on that because there, there are multiple systems that work here, just like there's. So it's so good to have multiple eyes on your child. You know, my internal maternal intuition on my children is data for sure. But the data that practitioners like you and your and your, you know, counterparts intake is also really very real data. And I think we need to take in those systems as well, because if we don't, we are doing a child a disservice. Right. There's so many things that are going into each part of that system, but to break it down, we have to just be solving it in the moment for what that practitioner knows through all the information that's taken in about that child.
• 11:35
  Speaker B: Yep, I agree. And to do less than that is not serving them at all.
• 11:40
  Speaker A: That's right.
• 11:40
  Speaker B: They're still going to have struggles, and we don't want them to have any struggles. We want to, I like to tell them that they're going to be unstoppable. Because they'll be able to do anything they want when all their systems are high functioning and working together.
• 11:53
  Speaker A: And I, and I believe too that the belief in the child is so important. And I can tell just by even just seeing your faces right here that the belief that you have in every child that comes into your office also creates the reason that there's such success. And I think that it's such a, it's such a breath of fresh air in this community where our children are seen as so less than or so uncapable that we lead with what they're, what they're, what they're not capable of doing instead of what they are. You know, having a boy and a girl cannot divorce primal male versus primal female. Like I, I'll be the first to explain, you know, I'm the first to, you know, openly pronounce. You don't have children a boy trying to be a girl or a girl trying to be a boy when there's profound autism in the case you are a boy or you are a girl, period. And I'm telling you right now, when I see the differences of how they have slowly developed, even in that very, very marginally smaller delayed sense, there are, there's a belief that's behind that, that comes from, from their therapists. And I think that you guys are setting such a great example of that.
• 12:59
  Speaker B: Great. Well, thank you. We do believe in each child and you know, every child, you've got two autistic children. I like to say to you that you have two geniuses on your hand.
• 13:11
  Speaker A: Do you see that?
• 13:11
  Speaker B: At times?
• 13:12
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 13:13
  Speaker B: You know, you really do. And the more you take them out of the fog or give them some skills that they can work with, strengthening that right hemisphere, which is what needs to be done with an autistic child. You get to see they have a sense of humor or they have a photographic memory. They have skills beyond their years. And it's really, it's really only fair to say all of these children have it's diagnosis, functional disconnect. But what that's really talking about is an unevenness of skills. So you've got one hemisphere way be above their age level geniuses, then you have the other side which is below their age. So it's an unevenness of skills. And what we want to do, let them keep all their gifts and their specialties and bring that right brain up to meet it and then get the two hemispheres talking and do some horizontal integration as well as going up. That's what it's all about that's really the crux of everything.
• 14:13
  Speaker A: See current. Do you see current therapy settings or the forward progress? Really starting to talk about that right and left brain. I feel and see it in a really positive way for my kids in sort of the holistic child approach that. That. That their school takes for them. But actually discussing that their left brain is so flooded in greatness, right. But they. They need that right brain and those skills. And that bridge is going to take very, very conscious and curated time. That's gonna be different for every child. Could you give me an example of. Of a. Of a. An incredible breakthrough that you might have had with a, you know, obviously without naming names, but with a patient that you've seen that bridge form and what that gave to that child from an independent or agency sense? Because I think that when I've seen the bridge happen with my kids, either one of them, the independence that it gives and the joy that it brings to my children when they have that bridge happen after years of therapy and education is such a luxury, I always say there's nothing you can purchase that is more luxurious than your child bridging a skill. So is there. Is there any examples that you can share with us about children having aha moments or those bridges happening?
• 15:29
  Speaker B: So, yes, we had. I think it was angering to me as well as gratifying. So that's why I like to use this example, because it was said, it put me in a mood. And I was like, that just really aggravates me. But yay, she did well. And what happened was we had a teenager, so it's a tough age anyway. And she was diagnosed Asperger's and adhd. She was not doing well in school. And she wanted her goal because I love to ask the kids what their goal is, because that matters just as much as mom and dad's goals. That's how they're invested. And so her goal was to get out of what she called the dumb math class. We all know all been there, right? I'm in the remedial reading or whatever. And they know you can call it A and B. They know. So she was really wanting to prove herself. I don't need to be in that class anymore. And I said, okay. So we worked through the program and it was time to take finals for that semester. And she was really excited because she really felt like, I got this. I feel really smart these days. I'm going to. I'm going to do well. She was the second child completed in the test. She handed her test in to the teacher and, and the teacher handed it back to her and said, there's no way you could have done that. Erase your answers and redo it. Yep, you feel my pain. And I was like, they did what? Yeah, I was a little aggravated for the child and how humiliated she was at 14. She's going to be embarrassed.
• 17:08
  Speaker A: The shame factor at a 14 year old is already so high. It's already so high.
• 17:13
  Speaker B: There's no need to add to it. Right. So she redid the test and aced it the second time. And I said, yes, she's out of that class, but I was so aggravated. But also, she doesn't, doesn't qualify for an IEP anymore. She doesn't fit the diagnosis anymore. She's off and running. She's a perfect now 15 year old going on with her life and gets to be whatever she dreamt of being because she now can be completely unstoppable with all her gifts. And then that strong right brain as well now.
• 17:44
  Speaker A: Well, I also have a typical 13 year old, right. So I've got a typical developing 13 year old with, you know, two children with profound needs. And what I have always said throughout my course of learning about Millie and Max educational and therapeutic learning environments is that it would also have helped my typical older developing one too. Because the skills that you, that y' all are teaching in your practice are not something that are just for children with, you know, high support needs. They are things that are so universal. I mean, I always say, like, I wish I could go back and do ABA sometimes. ABA therapy. Like, I'm sorry, the more modern ABA is phenomenal. It's wonderful if it's, if it's, if it's with a team that's, that's deeply, you know, loving and supportive. There's reason behind all of these therapies that are so beneficial to anyone. And so I love that you shared that even about a more higher functioning, you know, child with Asperger's that no longer needs the support of an IEP but still benefited so deeply from the work that you're doing of bridging those things.
• 18:44
  Speaker B: Yeah, it was a happy and gratifying day.
• 18:47
  Speaker A: Yes.
• 18:47
  Speaker B: After I got, after being mad at the teacher for doing such a horrible thing to a 14 year old.
• 18:53
  Speaker A: Well, so can I, can I ask on a more personal level, what brought you into doing this kind of work?
• 18:58
  Speaker B: It's really a boring story, actually. I was working at a gym at the front desk and one of the athletes that was that I used to work out with said, hey, you should apply it my work. And because she knew I like kids. I had four, and I did. And I thought, I. I still do.
• 19:14
  Speaker A: Yeah, you still do have four children. But.
• 19:19
  Speaker B: And. And after she said, just come observe. See if it's something you might like. I was sold. I was like, are you gonna pay me to do this? I get to do this. And then I really learned what I was doing, what it was doing for them. And I couldn't get enough of the reading. Anything they had on the shelves, I would grab and read and read. I was just taken back. And the. For the first couple months, I never even saw a paycheck. They just got directly deposited. I had no idea what they were paying me. I really didn't care. He asked me, he goes, so, what are you making an hour? And I said, do they pay me?
• 19:54
  Speaker A: I don't know.
• 19:55
  Speaker B: I don't care. I was really loving my job. So, yes, it was a weird thing. It wasn't something I went after, but, boy, am I sure glad I did.
• 20:06
  Speaker A: That's awesome. And Dr. Beck, how about you? What's your. What's the origin story of you in this field?
• 20:12
  Speaker B: The day I went to him and said, we gotta start our own business.
• 20:17
  Speaker C: It was a little bit before that, though, because during COVID our offices were back to back, so I could hear her talking to the kids, working from home. Working from home.
• 20:26
  Speaker A: Yeah.
• 20:27
  Speaker C: And it would always start out with, I don't know if I can be able to help this kid via. Via Zoom. I don't know. I don't know. I didn't. You know, I just go, I'm sure you can. It'll be fine. And then a couple weeks later, be like, oh, my God, this kid is so awesome. And that it was success story after success story after success story. And when she came to me and said, we need to do this, I was like, okay.
• 20:48
  Speaker B: And that was his response. He's like, okay, okay, let's do it.
• 20:51
  Speaker C: Yeah.
• 20:52
  Speaker A: Well, I think that, like you said, there are amazingly beautiful things that come out of a really wild global pandemic. Right. And whatever we feel on that. But being able to sit so closely to the work of your partner, I can only imagine was very beneficial and under. And probably one of the best things that probably happened for you guys as a family is that you got to literally be right outside the wall of the work and hearing that. That's a wonderful story. If you could share with everyone how any listeners around the country can find your work, I know that y' all are based in North Carolina. But is there anything you'd like to share more openly about your practice and how people that are in the area that you serve can find you?
• 21:35
  Speaker C: The easiest thing is we have a toll free number, 833 NFC kids. You can also find us on the web@neurofitconnections.com you know, honestly, you can contact us. We'll answer any questions. I've had people reaching out to us from all over the world, India, you know, Australia, all over the world, who reach out and we'll help them the best that they can. And if they want to come here, we're happy to treat them here. Ideally, we'd have an assessment in person and the rest of it can be done remotely. It's better in person, but it can be also done remotely.
• 22:09
  Speaker A: Fantastic. Well, thank you guys so much for what you do. And I really believe that we are all just standing on the shoulders of giants to promote and continue to grow the understanding and the broadening of awareness to what the gifts are within children that have developmental delays and autism and neurodiversity. And you two are clearly so, so deeply a part of that. So thank you so much for what you do.
• 22:35
  Speaker B: Well, thank you.
• 22:36
  Speaker C: Thanks for having us.
• 22:37
  Speaker A: Of course. Well, we will list all of NeuroFit Connections, details on the episode summary here, and thank you all for listening and taking the time to take in this wonderful journey of this one company into what is deeply within each child that we have and continue to grow alongside them as the parents and caregivers. And until next time on the Inch Jones podcast.
• 22:58
  Speaker B: Great. Thank you.