VIANNEY ACADEMY
Therapies
Our daytime students get an excellent education and take part in a range of therapies and programs during the school day that help them overcome their learning challenges.
Therapies and programs are assigned based on each student’s progress and any changes to their IEP (Individual Educational Plan). They help students:
- improve concentration
- retain new information faster and longer
- increase their processing speed
- improve self-regulation
- improve reading and writing skills
Neurodevelopment Through Movement
Created by Canadian neuropsychologist Suzanne Day, this therapy builds and corrects the pathways in the brain that affect how children take in information. Many learning challenges come from the central nervous system not working as it should, which changes how a child processes what they see, hear and touch.
The therapy is a sequence of thirteen movements, based on the movements children do naturally in their first year. Repeating them over time builds new pathways and strengthens them, while the old ones that caused pain or learning challenges start to fade. It gives your child a “second chance” at the early stages of neurodevelopment, and can improve processing speed, working memory, coordination, behaviour and emotional self-regulation.
Free monthly workshop. Learn the sequence of movements and do the therapy with your child right at home.
The 13 movements
- The Hammock
- The Bomb
- The Lizard
- The Cross-Pattern Lizard
- The Roll
- The Lizard Forward
- The Army Crawl
- The Tiger Walk
- The Elephant Walk
- The Frog
- The Cross-Pattern Walk
- The Cross-Pattern Skip
- The Hammock #2
Stages of brain development and their connection to movement
The central nervous system develops in stages. Growth is fastest from before birth to one year old, and continues rapidly until age seven.
Step 1: Pons (1–5 months). Crawling on the belly
- Helps the hands to open out, integrating the grasp reflex (essential for writing)
- First time the baby moves forward on their own (attention and motivation)
- Horizontal eye-tracking: eye muscles working without the head moving (essential for reading)
- Develops eye muscles to converge: two eyes but one image, preparing to focus on each letter when learning to read
- Tactile perception of the body in space
Step 2: Midbrain (4–13 months). Creeping on hands and knees
- Hands open and close to support body weight (essential for writing)
- Eye accommodation: switching from near to far point vision
- First experience of moving forward with speed
- Connects vestibular, proprioception and visual systems
Step 3: Cortex (8–72 months). Upright walk with cross-pattern
- Refining binocularity
- Awareness of three dimensions (touch, vision, sound)
- Both hands working together but independently
- Controlling impulsivity: learning to problem-solve while staying calm
Stage 4: Prefrontal cortex (6–25 years). Refined skills for performance
- Executive functions: planning, organizing, starting and finishing a project
- Cognitive and emotional self-regulation
- Delaying gratification for a higher cause
- Working memory
- Consolidation of brain laterality
NILD Educational Therapy
NILD Educational Therapy® is a direct, language-based intervention for students with learning difficulties. It addresses the underlying weaknesses rather than simply treating the symptoms. It supports students with dyslexia, dysgraphia and dyscalculia, as well as those with ADHD, auditory processing disorder, autism spectrum disorder and more.
Each session is individualized and aimed just above the student’s current level. Techniques build basic skills in reading, writing, spelling and math, and the reasoning skills to apply them, so students come to see themselves as competent, confident learners.
Karen Uschold, Vianney Academy’s founder and principal, is an NILD-certified educational therapist. This service is only available to registered part-time and full-time Vianney students.
Source: NILD Canada
For availability and pricing, or to learn more about adding educational therapies, contact our office.
Have questions? We’d love to help.
Book a free one-hour consultation, or call us at 905-822-0897.