Dear Betsy Fowler & Friends,

Many thanks go to you and your fellow volunteers at the Chamber of Hope.

Here is a progress report on James. James is formally diagnosed as ADHD with many sensory issues. He is in an EBD class at school and has an IEP. Each day he has several goals to meet, (last year’s goals include: Write legibly, take turns and interact appropriately, leave area no more than seven times, follow directions, this year’s goals are: Complete work as directed, take turns appropriate voice, On task 15 min with two reminders, Leave area less than eight times and follow directions the first time.)  his total score for the day could be 100% if he follows direction and a few other things. Prior to his first visit in August 2011, James rarely received 100%. Most scores were 70-80 and sometimes we would see less.

(From January to May [five months] he only received eight – 100% cards, from August to November [nearly three months] he has received seven – 100% cards. The majority has been in the 90% and 80% and very few scores have been In the 70% or less. Starting in August we did approx 30 out of the recommended 40 visits due to the time slot available and school hours. The beginning of school was a slight rough start with determining boundaries, but, it was obvious that his concentration was better. We started our second round of visits in October. During treatment time is when the scores were the best. We did have one 72% score during this time, but we are considering the fact that he was coming down with a cold. When the cold was gone, the score went back up to 90% range. So far, we are seeing more 90% scores and if he is slightly under the weather we have an increase in behaviors which has equaled lower scores. We are now on our third round of treatments and have seen even more improvements. James’s daily points are mostly 100% with a few scores in the high 90% range.

James has also been receiving Occupational therapy since he was five for fine motor skills. I just learned a few weeks ago, that for an eight year old their strength should be around 50 pounds. James is approximately 11 pounds in right hand and nine pounds in left. I’m not sure what we will do about that, but hopefully, with a few more visits with you, maybe that will unlock whatever is blocking his strength.

Meanwhile, here is a statement from his current OT therapist:

I am James Scott’s occupational therapist at Alf Children’s Hospital Outpatient clinic. I have known James since February of 2011. Since participating in hyperbaric oxygen therapy, I have observed James increase his body awareness and decrease his impulsivity, which is associated with improved sensory processing and modulation skills. With James’ improved sensory processing and modulation skills, he is able to sit and focus to attend to tasks in a minimally distracting environment, which is important for school and extra-curricular activities.

Vanessa Fox OTR/L
All Children’s Hospital

At the end of last year, I asked James’s teacher, the teacher assistant and Social Skills teacher to fill out a questionnaire. I am waiting till April to ask them to fill this out again. Once I have compiled the results I will forward on to you. For those with similar children that border on the line of Aspbergers, I highly recommend Hyperbaric Chamber treatments. What I would state is that, one should not make a full opinion until you have done at least two rounds of treatments. After our first round, I did notice that James’s gears did slow down.  That was it. It wasn’t until the second treatment that the gears had slowed down even more and his speech and writing had improved. We look forward to our next round of treatments.

Thank you for your dedication and assistance.

Warm Regards,
The Scotts.