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Dear Ingrid,

Michel and Mathieu are 17 year old twins who were born very prematurely and as a result of their early birth both suffered a lack of oxygen that resulted in them both having cerebral palsy and low vision, being legally blind.

Matt: Attends a regular high school within the parameters of a special needs classroom. He has been mainstreamed in to regular French, history and science classes. He requires additional help with the subjects of math and English. He is most likely functioning at between a grade 7 and a grade 10 level. With his strength being science and his weakness in abstract math.

Matt is diagnosed with spastic diplegia cerebral palsy ( tight muscle tone with only legs involved) and severe visual impairment. He walks with an uneven gait and usually on his toes, it is difficult for him to strike his left heal to the ground when he walks. He is functional in every way however his body movements are rather stiff and sometimes uncoordinated. He is well spoken and has a wide range of knowledge and interests from hockey, to coin collecting, to rock and roll history, he reads the news paper most days and is informed on current events. He excels in the area of electronics and computer technology.

Michel: Attends the same high school as Matt however Michel is mostly in the special need classes and attends and participates to a degree in a regular French class and a leadership class.

Physically Michel has spastic quadriplegia cerebral palsy ( all four limbs involved) and uses a wheel chair for mobility. Michel's movements are very uncoordinated and stiff . He has a lack of fine motor skills and is unable to write, although he tries very hard and practices regularly. He is able to feed and dress himself and provide the very basic self care skills. I believe that academically he is mostly functioning at a grade one level overall with his social interests being that of a young teen interested in computers, I Pods, music, sports, cars and girls!! He also has a great memory and can easily recall people and events.

A few months ago I attended a most enjoyable lecture hosted by Stepping Up Resource Centre. I work in the allied health field with brain injured patients every day and, having two sons with brain injury, I am always seeking new knowledge and or therapies and programs that can help us move to the next level. Brain plasticity is a fast evolving field of understanding the brain and how it functions.

I found myself in total awe listening to Ingrid and Dimitri as they were speaking of the Cellfield program. The same thought kept running through my mind " could this intervention help children like Michel and Matt who have brain injury and visual impairment" ?

After much thought and some google research I called Ingrid and arraigned to visit her centre to explore Cellfield further. I was willing to give it a try if Ingrid and her team were willing to take us on, fully realizing that they had never worked with children like mine and understanding that they would have to work "outside the box" so to speak and adapt the program to some degree to meet the boys individual needs.

What we found was amazing, Ingrid, Kevin and Habiba all worked together, and one day at a time adapted the program to our needs in a way the helped the boys to succeed with the tasks at hand. At first both boys were exhausted after the sessions and fell asleep in the car on our way home. By day three I noticed something very curious, Michel who has very tight muscle tone in his entire body including his neck and face was much more at ease. I noted a huge difference in his facial tone when I helped him brush his teeth and shave that night. His hands also opened up in a more natural way than usual. What does all this mean?? Could this be a result of Brain plasticity? We were seeing important outward changes in his body as a result of the computer component of the Cellfield program. Next we noticed better hand function as well as improvements in hand eye coordination and by the second week noticed the reduction of spasticity in his arms and legs. He had also begun to master many of the Cellfield computer exercises and was no longer exhausted after the sessions. Just a side note: we had not made any other changes our daily regiment during this time frame.

With Matt we noticed that his walking improved within the first week with his left heal getting closer to the ground when he walked. He himself noticed that he could track better and was reading faster. Both boys enjoy the experience of participating in this program and although we still have many weeks to go with phase ll we have seen certain improvements in reading and comprehension with several very nice " side effects"!

So far we are very please with every aspect of the Cellfield intervention and have the highest regard for Ingrid and her team.

Sincerely,

Claudine Lanoix, Michel & Mathieu Nadeau

Dear Ingrid,

I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for everything you have done for our family. Since Steve completed the Cellfield program our whole families dynamics have changed including Steve's outlook on learning. Going to school and any school related work was always a battle and we fought every morning and every evening and it was exhausting. Within 3 days of the Phase I Cellfield sessions we started seeing a difference. For the first time in 5 years he did not argue about going to school. I WAS SHOCKED. From that day on it was just up hill. I can't explain what happened, but now there is a calm in our house and Steve does his homework at the same time as his siblings with no fighting. His reading skills have improved tremendously and he now is opening up and asking all sorts of school related questions (which is something he never did before). When I first heard about Cellfield it sounded to good to be true and I was very skeptical. I am so glad that I took the chance on the program as I don't know how we would have continued on the path we where on. Once again thank you! I will be forever grateful.

Sincerely,

Maria

Dear Ingrid,

I came home from being out on Wednesday night and the sitter had asked Sam to go to bed. When I opened the door he was sitting in bed reading a book on his own. This is the first time he has ever done that. I felt he was reading better at bed all week. Much faster and with less struggle. It amazed me that I am seeing this in the first week and can’t wait to see the results after the second week. But I know it is helping. I feel very blessed that we crossed paths with you. I can only imagine where Sam would be right now without your help. I hope you know how much we appreciate everything.

Sincerely,

Claire

Dear Ingrid,

The transformation that the Stepping Up Centre and Cellfield has had on Matteo is unbelievable. When he entered your centre in July as you know, he was a very disenchanted boy. My biggest concerns were his lack of esteem and self confidence but he was really behind in reading and math also . It was if the light had gone out on our little boy. Even his body language showed how he was feeling. After a few days with the Cellfield program, the results were very visible. The child I know and love was amercing from under the dark cloud. Matteo was actually excited to be doing school work and seeing his daily achievements, I believe was key for him. When I heard him say that "he never thought learning could be this fun", I knew we had him back. I get teary eyed when I think of that moment when he said that. To see him embrace learning and wanting to read a simple novel is an indescribable gift. You have no idea what this has done for us as a family. To see our son run out of school proclaiming "this was the best day ever...we did math and I really got it mom" ! I can't explain the joy I felt on that day... it was incredible ! I needed to share this with you because you and Habiba made this happen for him.

Thank you,

Colette

Dear Ingrid,

My daughter never liked to read and it broke my heart. I was a voracious reader and to see my child struggling was difficult. Ingrid, who has been working with her for several years, introduced us to the Cellfield program – in trusting Ingrid I took a leap of faith and enrolled her. What a difference! It is as if something was “unlocked” and she had clarity and understanding of not only reading a text, but understanding it. “Mom, I get it” were her words. She is a different child – her nose is in a book and she is reluctant to put it down even for supper or for bed. Her love of reading has flourished! And even better she was accepted into her original private high school of choice after completing the Cellfield program and bringing her grades up.

Thank you to Ingrid – her patience, faith and persistence coupled with the knowledge that Cellfield was the key to unlocking her potential was immeasurable!

Linda

Dear Ingrid,

How can I thank you for what you've done for my daughter! All of your hard work is paying off. The Celfield program has truly helped. She has always been smart and determined but had to always work so hard because of her learning disability. My biggest fear was that she would get frustrated and give up. Also I was worried about her self esteem but thanks to your support and the Celfield Program not only is she thriving but her confidence is through the roof. She can read and it has opened up a whole new world for her. She's like a sponge, absorbing everything and she's so happy. Thank you again because of you and the Celfield program my daughter can reach her true potential.

Forever grateful,

A Proud Mother

Hi Ingrid,

My son thought his two math exams were easy and he believed he had close 100% in one of them. To be confirmed as I do not have the results... French was 84% for comprehension of "Les Misérables" of Victor Hugo... He also at a B for the Provincial Ministry Exam. Pretty good for dyslexia. As far as the neuropsych testing went after Cellfield (In April) the diagnosis was dyslexia with ADD component and recommendation s according to findings in the school setting (which is close to nil for him since the policy for his school only applies in close to failing situations). Confidence-wise I would say: a major improvement close to quantum leap. This also impact his mood. He is more assertive with us which is a good thing. Hope all is well with you and your Cellfield Canada project. Conclusion Cellfield help a lot for school and to reduce the amounts of headache related to his left eye. I have not retested him but I know he has more tolerance to visual efforts. Thank your for your wonderful work. I send people your way - don't know if they go... Wishing you a Great Summer!

Sincerely,

Lucie