Healing Your Child's Brain : A Proven Approach to Helping Your Child Thrive

Diagnosis is not destiny.

Autism. ADHD. Learning difficulties. Epilepsy. Cerebral palsy. Traumatic brain injury. From the moment your child is diagnosed with a special needs condition, you are plunged into a world of doctors, specialists, and therapists.

But the most important person on your child's care team is you.

In Healing Your Child's Brain, child development experts Matthew and Carol Newell arm parents with the knowledge, confidence, and tools they need to help their special-needs child flourish. The Newells have treated more than 20,000 children and are the parents of two special needs children. They know firsthand, as both parents and practitioners, what works—and what doesn't.

Most treatments focus on managing symptoms but don't address underlying neurological issues. This book guides readers through the stages of brain development and how they affect functioning, showing what wellness looks like at each level and how to identify—and tackle—problems.

In these pages, parents will learn:

The seven key developmental areas that contribute to how well your child functions in daily life.

How to evaluate your child's capabilities and challenges.

How to create an environment tailored to your unique child, meeting them where they are, rather than where they are "supposed" to be.

With insight into how your child's unique brain functions, you can move beyond managing symptoms to establishing a home regimen that fosters neurological growth. It is possible to transform the structure of your child's brain—from the cells themselves to the connections between them.

By harnessing the brain's ability to grow and change slowly and steadily over time, your child can and will make progress.

Matthew Newell has dedicated his life to helping children with special needs and brain injuries. As founder of The Family Hope Center in Greater Philadelphia, he has assembled a team of doctors and therapists and developed neurologically based therapy programs for over thousands of families, guiding parents through the process of healing their children. His rate of success with these children is unparalleled in the field. Over the past 35 years, Matthew has lectured and initiated child development programs internationally, working with parents and specialists in more than two dozen countries. He is the recipient of many international awards, including The Founders Award from The International Academy for Child Brain Development, which is the highest honor given by the academy.

Carol Newell has dedicated her life to helping children, particularly those with special needs. She began her career as a Certified Nursery Nurse in the UK, where she worked with healthy children as well as those with varying degrees of health problems. After becoming fascinated by the advancements made with brain-injured children by the Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential, Carol contacted the IAHP about a position. She was accepted into a four-year program that brought her to the United States, where she later became certified in Child Brain Development. Carol ran the Early Development Program for IAHP for 10 years. She has worked in a clinical setting with special needs children for 35 years.