The human brain is amazing.
As a child grows, their brain development alternates back and forth between the right side and the left side depending on the stimuli it gets from the environment and the sensory information it gets from the body.
A child’s environment and the sensory input available to their brain at specific times is vital to their brain development. The brain goes through developmental cycles and it’s normal to see behaviors that are characteristic of both sides of the brain during these cycles.
The sensory system runs the brain and brain development. The brain controls all areas of development on a set clock: Physical, Emotional/Social, and Cognitive.
These areas of development must be in rhythm with the brain’s timing, we call these times of development in our children, “Developmental Milestones”. We’re having a Facebook Event called Magnificent Milestones where we’ll talk even more in depth. Click here if you’d like to learn more.
Developmental milestones are things like…
Bonding,
Holding their head up,
Sitting,
Walking,
Talking,
Potty training…
As parents, how do we know when a behavior is normal or when we should be concerned?
When talking about milestones, hundreds of other parents like you, ask questions such as…Is my child gonna have a good life? Are they gonna have a label like autism, ADHD, or Sensory Processing Disorder forever? Will my child be able to play sports? Will they grow out of this? Will they be able to have friends? Will they grow to be able to live on their own? Will they have a family?
One of the questions you may want to begin asking about a specific behavior in your child is:
What side of the brain is the behavior originating from and how can I tell if this is a normal behavior or something that I should be concerned with?
When a behavior presents itself and doesn’t leave, often there is an imbalance between the hemispheres (sides) of the brain, one hemisphere being under-stimulated and the other being overstimulated.
What behaviors are indicative of Right or Left Brain Imbalance?
Right Brain Deficient Behaviors:
- temper tantrums,
- meltdowns,
- obstinacy, and
- disobedience
Left Brain Deficient Behaviors:
- withdrawal,
- shyness,
- compulsivity, and
- oppressiveness
No worries. All of these behaviors are absolutely normal…if they’re occurring at the appropriate time in brain development. Behaviors only become abnormal when they hang around too long and/or present at the wrong age.
At any given time, you can know that your child’s brain is working the best that it can with the information it’s being given.
If anything feels “off”…like you notice that some milestones are early or late…trust your intuition. Listen to it. When milestones are early or late – it’s a signal to you as a parent.
Take a 2 year old for example… it is developmentally normal – and important – for a 2 year old to have “bad” behaviors.
It’s when the behaviors continue past the expected end of the cycle that we start to suspect an imbalance between the hemispheres (right side/left side) of the brain.
For the untrained, it can be difficult to tell when a bad behavior is a good thing and vice versa… especially for parents of children with FDS (Functional Disconnection Syndrome including things like ADHD, Dyslexia, Autism and other learning disabilities).
Displaying positive and negative behaviors is critical to normal brain development.
Balanced behavior is defined as the ability to respond and act appropriately in a given situation. The brain must be able to jump back and forth between positive and negative behaviors and the child must be able to understand what behavior is appropriate in order to behave properly. This is one of the ways we can gauge a child’s ability to regulate their own behavior.
For our kids with FDS this is extremely difficult. When the brain is imbalanced the child’s behavior will be out of balance too.
Chiropractic care is not about ‘fixing’ a ‘broken’ child.
If the brain doesn’t get the correct stimuli at the correct time then the brain slows down the development of that side of the brain results in a missed milestone.
On the flip side, one side of the brain can be overstimulated and milestones can be reached early, which if the opposite side is not then properly stimulated, will also result in an imbalance.
The earliest sign of a potential developmental disability is when a child is late reaching or never reaches a certain milestone.
Remember – the spine gives 80% of the sensory information to the brain and the sensory system runs the brain and brain development. So if the sensory system isn’t working properly then brain development will either come really, really fast or be really, really slow.
Here at Radiant Life, we use a neurological scan so we can measure how well the sensory system is functioning.
The sooner a potential problem is identified, the sooner corrective action of the spine and sensory system can be taken and the better the long-term outcome will be.
So, keep in mind that some behavioral and physical regression is likely when the brain goes through growth spurts (such as language skills, handwriting, or bed wetting).
Don’t sweat the regression, it will pass – unless there is an imbalance. But take heed, behavior changes are both good and bad. They’re almost always a sign of positive change in the brain.
Call us. Get a scan. Get answers.
For more on milestones and the questions you may have about how normal your child is behaving – join us for a FREE Facebook Event called Magnificent Milestones where we’ll be talking about developmental milestones…what is fast, what is slow and what that could mean down the road. Click here check it out. Then click More to save your spot and let us know you’re coming.
