Parent Training Course
$799
Syllabus
All parents want their children to be healthy, happy, and successful. So, when your child is struggling neurodevelopmentally, you will do whatever you can to help them. This course will enable you to see how much neurodevelopmental growth your child is capable of – and provide you with the tools you need to obtain that growth – turning confusion and anxiety into clarity and hope.
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Welcome to the Family Hope Center
We are grateful to be part of your family’s journey. We believe that teaching you about the brain and how to implement brain-based therapies with your children at home is the most effective and enduring way to help them reach their potential. The Parent Training Course is the first step on that path: it contains foundational knowledge that guides you through the completion of a neurodevelopmental assessment of your child and the development of an individualized treatment plan based on the results.
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The Family Hope Center Approach and Methodology
An introduction to who we are, the principles that guide our approach, and our core mission: to partner with parents like you from around the world by sharing the practical science of neuroplasticity and brain development, and support you in designing and implementing individualized, home-based treatment plans that will improve your child’s neurological and functional abilities.
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How Brain Injury Happens
There are many different (and sometimes quite complex) ways a good brain can get hurt. In this lesson we outline the basics of how the brain works and discuss the different ways brain function can be improved or injured. We also discuss how understanding the effects of an injury is hard if we only pay attention to its symptoms. We discuss how brain injuries should be defined and measured, and how assessing a person’s abilities (rather than disabilities) using a neurodevelopmental framework leads to a far greater understanding of them and how best to support them. We also address seizures: what they tell us about the brain, common misconceptions, and proven strategies to eliminate them. Finally, we describe how understanding the brain and basic neurology allows you to do two important things: to pinpoint the areas or systems in the brain that need support, and to develop a comprehensive and individualized strategy to directly stimulate the brain and improve its function.
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Measuring Your Child’s Brain Development
Dr. Carl Granger, a pioneer in the field of rehabilitation medicine once wrote, “if you cannot measure it, you cannot manage it.” To figure out how to get somewhere, you need to start where you are. In the same way, developing a successful strategy to heal the brain first requires understanding what your child’s current capabilities are. This contrasts with the medical model of disability, in which the focus is on identifying and remedying deficiency – on what the brain can’t do. However, it is only possible to build on abilities, not disabilities. Measuring the developmental and functional abilities of your child is the first and most vital step towards building a successful plan to help them. In this lesson, we introduce a comprehensive assessment tool, the Integrative and Developmental Progression Chart (IDPC), to help you do this. The IDPC maps abilities in each developmental domain to the neurodevelopmental stages in which they typically emerge. Next, we guide you through using this tool – in the FHC app – to assess your child and help you interpret and understand the results. By the end of this lesson, you will have a holistic developmental picture of your child and will be able to pinpoint the exact areas in which your child needs the most support. You will also know the degree of your child’s injury, the extent of that injury, and the regions of your child’s brain that are most affected. This assessment will form the foundation of your child’s individualized plan and will be critical information for you as you complete the rest of the course.
Review Your Child’s Assessment 0/1
Clinician Support Call 1
Now that your child’s assessment is complete, you are ready to schedule your first individual support call with us so we can help you make sure it is an accurate representation of your child’s neurological capabilities.
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Neuroplasticity: How the Brain Grows
Many people are confused about the brain: it seems intimidating, incredibly complex, and a great mystery. In this lesson, you will begin to learn about how this magnificent organ operates and the basic principles of brain development. One of the most powerful properties of the Integrative and Developmental Progression Chart is that it helps pinpoint the areas of the brain that have the most significant challenges. In this lesson, you will learn how neuroplasticity works, and how you can use it in conjunction with your child's assessment to create lasting, sustained brain growth and healing.
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Getting Yourself and Your Family Ready to Help
Your child needs help in so many areas. There is so much you could do but deciding what therapy to spend your precious time on is hard. Traditional therapy is led by a multidisciplinary team of experts who, despite their expertise, do not – cannot – have the same knowledge of and commitment to your child as you, the parent. In this lesson you will aggregate what you have learned from previous lessons and use it to begin formulating an effective plan for your child and family. We discuss best practices for home therapy and how to set yourself up for success: creating structure, setting long term goals, and approaching each day with joy.
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Respiration, Nutrition, and the Fundamentals of Healthy Living
Our physiology has a huge impact on the brain's neurochemistry and, consequently, its ability to grow and heal itself. Our respiratory and digestive systems play particularly important roles in neuroplasticity and overall brain function. The gut, for example, is known as the second brain: it has its own network of more than 100 million neurons and can perform many functions without input from the rest of the central nervous system. It also creates a significant proportion of the brain’s neurochemicals, including an estimated 50% of dopamine and 95% of serotonin. This lesson details ways to optimize the physiological systems of the body to create the best environment for the brain to thrive.
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How to Develop the Sensory Pathways
We experience the world through our sensory pathways; however, for children with sensory sensitivities, certain sounds, textures, smells, or tastes can be incredibly overstimulating. For others, visual and auditory processing issues make taking in information harder and learning confusing. In this lesson, you will learn how to improve the areas of your child’s brain that are critical to sensation, sensory integration, and information processing.
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The Principles of Learning
Children with sensorimotor challenges often have strong cognitive abilities, but either struggle to process information or to demonstrate what they know. As a result, they are often underestimated or taught in ways that do not support their specific needs. In this lesson, we review the different ways we learn and express information, from early visual and language development to higher order functions such as reading, writing, mathematics, and self-directed learning. We also discuss social-emotional development, from early bonding with a primary caregiver to the social intelligence needed to successfully navigate complex relationships and different social groups. Finally, you will learn to use your child’s assessment to identify, create, and adapt activities to address their needs in areas such as learning, communication, and social development.
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Mobility: The Key to Brain Development
Motor activities are the most important pieces of a comprehensive neurological treatment plan. They are the most effective way to stimulate and develop lower, more foundational areas of the brain (such as the brainstem) and to integrate brain areas (such as between the two hemispheres). Overall, research has shown that different forms of mobility improve memory, cognition, learning, sleep, relieve stress, and increase levels of neurochemicals and proteins important for neuroplasticity. In this lesson, you will learn about the importance of mobility to neurodevelopment, how to use your child’s assessment to identify the areas of the brain that need support, and the motor activities that will strengthen them.
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Successfully Implementing Your Child’s Treatment Plan
Completing your child’s assessment helped you understand the areas of the brain that need to be focused on. The last 4 lessons taught you about therapeutic interventions that can stimulate the brain to develop higher function. In this lesson, we discuss basic principles for organizing your daily life so you can begin implementing a neurodevelopmental treatment plan at home with your child and family. We discuss motivation, creating structure, and how to measure progress and track your child’s results as your child develops and improves.
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Clinician Support Call 2
You are now ready to schedule your second individual support call with us so we can present you with your child’s treatment plan, which has been generated by the Family Hope Center app based on your child’s assessment. In the call, we will answer any questions and help you get organized, prioritize areas of need, and guide you so that you can begin implementing your child’s plan consistently and successfully.
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Course Resources
About this course
Over 40 years of experience working with families has taught us that for all parents, a basic but comprehensive understanding of child development, neuroplasticity, and nutrition is foundational to your child’s future success.
That is why we created the Parent Training Course – as a fundamental first step towards helping your child.
In the course, you will learn:
- How injuries and poor function in the brain show up as developmental delays, learning disabilities, communication / motor / seizure disorders, and other traditional diagnoses (e.g., ADHD).
- How to use the Family Hope Center’s Integrative and Developmental Progression Chart to assess how your child’s brain is developing and find out which neurological pathways and physiological systems need the most support.
- How to build a customized set of exercises and a nutritional protocol that will promote your child’s brain growth and maturation.
- How to implement these exercises and the nutritional protocol in your home, and personally oversee your child’s progress.
Finally, in addition to the course content, you will receive:
- An Assessment Review Call with us to make sure your child’s assessment is accurate and complete.
- A Treatment Plan Review Call with us to make sure your child’s plan is accurate, prioritize the most important activities, and get off to a successful start.
- Access to weekly group calls hosted by our team to answer questions and support you as you implement your child’s plan at home.
Lessons
Lesson 1: The Family Hope Center Approach and Methodology
– Introduction to the Family Hope Center
– The Reality of Brain Plasticity
– Parents Are the Best Healers
Lesson 2: How Brain Injury Happens
– Causes of Brain Injury
– Seizures: Medical Disorder or Symptom of an Injured Brain?
– The Injured Brain: Source of Your Child’s Challenges
Lesson 3: Measuring Your Child’s Brain Development
– Introduction to the Integrative and Developmental Progression Chart
– Medulla Oblongata and Limbic Brain
– Pons and Midbrain
– Cortex: 8 to 36 Months
– Cortex: 36 Months +
Lesson 4: Neuroplasticity: How the Brain Grows
– The Principles of Neuroplasticity
– How to Make Neuroplasticity Work for Your Child
Lesson 5: Getting Yourself and Your Family Ready to Help
– Helping Ourselves Before Serving Others
Lesson 6: Respiration, Nutrition, and Fundamentals of Healthy Living
– Enriching the Brain with Oxygen
– Providing Your Child’s Brain with the Energy It Needs to Heal
– The Gut and the Brain: Nutrition and the Plate Method
Lesson 7: How to Develop the Sensory Pathways?
– Improving Sensory Abilities with Stimulation
Lesson 8: Principles of Learning
– Early Learning and Language Development
– The Regions of the Brain Involved in Reading and Learning
– Social and Emotional Development
Lesson 9: Mobility: The Key to Brain Development
– Learning to Crawl and Creep
– The Brainstem is the Foundation of Human Development
– How We Unintentionally Sabotage Neuromotor Development in Children
– Teaching Children with Severe Motor Challenges to Move
– Crawling and Creeping to Improve Your Child’s Cognition, Language, and Behavior
Lesson 10: Organizing Your Child’s Treatment Plan
– Successfully Implementing Your Child’s Treatment Plan
Reviews
Help other families learn about this course by leaving a review.
Erin Smith
There really aren’t words to describe what a blessing this course has been in my life. It’s worth every penny.
My oldest son has a very rare genetic mutation that among other issues has given him severe autism. For years I was looking for someone to tell me something I could do to truly help him. The conventional therapies only seemed to frustrate him and not help the root cause of his issues leaving me feeling helpless and hopeless.
From the moment I was introduced to The Family Hope Center I knew that this was the answer I was looking for. I flew out to PA and took the parent training course live and loved every second of it. I cried so many times learning about how I could truly help my child. Now that it’s available online I can watch it with my husband who wasn’t able to go and I can refresh my memory since there’s A LOT to learn.
It’s overwhelming but very doable if you take it one step at a time!
They describe so many different issues all of us face and where in the brain it stems from. There were many things I didn’t even think were attributed to the brain. You’re guided through a brain progression chart so you can pinpoint exactly where there is a brain injury based on abilities. Then they walk you through creating a concrete action plan on how you can stimulate and grow that specific part of the brain to help it heal and grow.
This training has been such a blessing in my life. I now have 5 kids and each child gets an evaluation even though they are what you’d consider normal. My 9 year old was able to help her ability to focus and not wet the bed. We’re helping my 6 year old with his anxiety and ability to regulate his emotions and connect with his peers. We’re also helping my 3 year old’s speech delay. My oldest with autism is still working on his plan, but I have seen many improvements that other therapy hasn’t even come close to achieving.
After going to doctors, therapists, and IEP meetings I would feel like an inch tall with no hope. The Family Hope Center focuses on abilities and how to grow instead of disabilities and how to cope. This training is a breath of fresh air that truly lifts and empowers you.
Don’t let anyone tell you what your child can’t or won’t ever be able to do. You love your child for who they are and we don’t need to accept their brain injuries as part as their identity. You don’t need to live with, “this is as good as it gets so get used to it” or “let’s celebrate our differences” as if that makes everything better. There is hope and this course has so many of the answers you’re looking for. I 100% recommend this training for all parents, and not just those kids who are really struggling.
Jim Parker
The Parent Training Course by The Family Hope Center was truly life-changing. It gave me an eye-opening understanding of how my child’s brain works and what influences his development. For the first time, I feel confident and empowered with practical tools to help his brain grow and thrive.
The course combines deep scientific insight with real-world application, making complex ideas about neuroplasticity, nutrition, and development easy to understand and implement at home. The support from the team — through the assessment and treatment review calls — was incredible and helped me create a plan that feels personal and achievable.
I can’t recommend this course highly enough to any parent who wants to better understand their child and actively support their growth.