Unbiased Review of Brain Balance
What I hope to accomplish here is give an unbiased review of Brain Balance. I know all too well the energy spent trying to do what is best for your child. I have spent hundreds if not thousands of hours researching things to help my children, especially my middle child, who completed the Brain Balance program in 2015. Back in 2014 when we were considering the program and saw the price tag, we did our due diligence to look into the program. It was not cheap (around $10,000) and not covered by insurance.
This post contains affiliate links through the Amazon Associates program and any purchases made through such links will help defer the costs of maintaining this website (at no extra cost to you). This is absolutely separate from the Brain Balance franchise.
Is Brain Balance a Scam?
It was frustrating to find that most people labeled Brain Balance a “scam”. Those comments did not come from other parents whose children completed the program. I wanted to hear from parents… Did they see an improvement in their child with the program? Did they think it was worth the hefty price tag? Was Brain Balance the “golden ticket” to helping their child?
Hard to find Unbiased Reviews
The few reviews I discovered from other parents revealed that most saw improvement, though some not as much as they would have liked. What I have done in this post is given an objective review of Brain Balance by laying out the benefits and drawbacks to the Brain Balance program in an unbiased fashion, as well as offer some other tips. If you are a parent or care-taker looking into the Brain Balance program for your child, I hope you find this helpful.
Some Background
My son (now 8), was diagnosed with developmental, speech and gross motor delays around the age of 2. We did see signs of delays before that, but my daughter (now age 10) was also a late walker and talker (she had an explosion of both at 18 months) and we thought that might be the norm for our children. My son didn’t crawl until 11 months, walked at 16 months, and didn’t really talk until age 3-3 ½. He had and has motor planning difficulties. Now we have an official diagnosis from a neuropsychologist of Dyspraxia, which is a brain-based condition that affects one’s ability to coordinate and plan motor tasks. (we got this diagnosis a year ago when he was 7).
We heard about Brain Balance shortly after his 4th birthday.
Much of what we heard was new to us. We had never heard of primitive reflexes. Learning how retained primitive reflexes can be the source of blockades to normal everyday functioning and cause your brain to stay in a “baby brain” type state was fascinating to us. We had heard about Brain Balance through a homeschool convention and the evaluation was actually free for anyone who had attended the convention. Due to that, we decided we had nothing to lose by doing the initial evaluation.
Following the evaluation, we learned that our son had retained 5 of the 8 primitive reflexes that Brain Balances tests for. This blew us away but also gave us hope. There was a reason things were harder for him. After doing our research, we decided to bite the bullet and immerse ourselves in the program. We emptied our HSA and college savings for the kids and made it happen. Our thought was there would not even be college in our son’s future if we didn’t remove these hurdles first.
The Nuts and Bolts of the Brain Balance Program
Our son was recommended to complete 6 months of the program(or 72 sessions). He went every Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday and completed one hour sessions with his “coach”. We were recommended to adhere to a Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, Soy-Free, processed sugar-free diet. We did do this and were strict about it for those 6 months.
Some supplements were recommended. The main one I remember is probiotic.
As part of the program we did his exercises at home on the days he did not have a session with his coach.
Do I recommend the program to parents considering it?
That depends on your situation.
If you have an older child who you’ve already tried a lot of interventions with, this may be a good option for you.
If money is not a problem, I would say sure, do it. You will able to accomplish a lot in a short order of time. It isn’t a magical pill though. Know that the exercises at home do take time. And the diet changes take work and preparation, not to mention an increased grocery bill and possible resistance from your child. Also, if you have a younger child, motivation could be an issue. This was one of our biggest hurdles. Getting our son to do the exercises with us at home was hard work.
If you’re thinking “How can we possibly afford this without getting a 2nd mortgage on the house!?”…
I have some suggestions of other things to try first:
1) Primitive Reflex Integration:
Find an OT (Occupational Therapist) who can help with primitive reflex integration. You will have to ask around and do your research to find an OT who will work with your child to integrate primitive reflexes. We had 3 OT’s before we have the one my son has now. His current OT takes a more integrative approach and it’s covered by insurance. If I had found her before Brain Balance, we probably would not have done it. It’s important to remember that OT’s are not all the same! Do your research!
2) Diet:
Try some diet changes at home first. Diet can be huge for some kids, especially kids with sensory issues and digestive disturbances. I will warn you this can be overwhelming to navigate. This is our favorite gluten and dairy free cookbook!
Update: There is now a nutrition plan book put out by the man who started Brain Balance. I haven’t read it, but if you’re considering the Brain Balance program it’s probably worth checking out!
3) Vision Therapy:
Look into Vision Therapy, which is sometimes covered by insurance. A huge part of Brain Balance, at least for us, was the vision exercises. As far as I know, Vision Therapy does the same type of exercises and more extensively (and under the care of an optometrist). *We are actually currently in the process of looking into Vision Therapy, as it has been recommended by our son’s OT and Neuropsychologist. **Edited to add: Go here to read about our results from vision therapy.
4) Bio-Medical Interventions:
Research bio-medical interventions. Often kiddos with developmental delays or other issues have trouble detoxing and are holding on to toxins, especially heavy metals. Looking back, I wish we had done a detox protocol BEFORE beginning Brain Balance. I think we probably would have seen a more lasting change had we done that first.
For detox, I suggest looking into and researching Advanced TRS. Please know that is also my personal sales link. If you want to learn more check out this FB Group: TRS – A Safe Heavy Metal Detox. There are other detox protocols out there as well. I’m just not familiar with them.
5) Brain Balance Home Program:
Read the book Disconnected Kids by Robert Melillo (Brain Balance’s founder) and try to implement a home program.
One big attraction of Brain Balance is that it encompasses most of the above. It does make it less overwhelming to have a “one-stop shop”.
Edited to add: Another resource worth checking out is Dianne Craft’s Brain Integration Program. You can find Dianne’s website here. 
Brain Balance is a franchise. It is not a medical institution. They classify themselves as a learning center. The “coach” your child will be working with for each session is not a doctor or a certified therapist. They are an employee of Brain Balance. I will say, our “coach” did a great job with our son. We also met with the director (who was very knowledgeable and competent) at the beginning of our child’s six months, once in the middle, and then at the end.
If we could go back in time, would we do it again?
This question is hard to answer and to be honest, I go back and forth about this. Not that it matters because what’s done is done. However, I realize that my answer to this question may be significant to someone researching the program. Usually, I answer “yes” to this question. We did see major improvements in a six-month time frame. Most noteworthy, our son was able to integrate 4 of his 5 retained reflexes (I must point out here though, he gained his Moro reflex back). His listening comprehension when from a 3.5-year-old to a 6.5-year-old, which was HUGE.
We did feel that through the Brain Balance program we were able to get to know our child better, which is significant. However, If I could go back to the very beginning, when we first discovered all of our son’s delays at age 2 or 3, then I would have found an OT who did reflex integration and done some heavy metal detoxing.
Final Thoughts
Finally, I do not think Brain Balance is a scam, but I also do not think it is the only answer. I truly hope this unbiased review of Brain Balance is helpful to parents considering the program. If you have any questions feel free to contact me, through the contact form on my page.
Blessings to you on your journey with your child! And if you’re feeling overwhelmed, please remember this is a marathon, not a sprint.
Disclaimer: The purpose of this blog post is to give an unbiased review of Brain Balance from someone who has had a child go through it. I am not a medical professional. Any advice I give here is my own and based on personal experience.
This was very helpful. I just enrolled in the 36 hour program for our 7 year old daughter who was diagnosed over the summer with ADHD (combined type), Sensory Integration disorder, Learning disorder, and visual deficit. I will say that we have been working with an OT therapist, Speech-Language therapist, and vision therapy for the last 1.5years and have seen improvement however still in search for the additional help. I am not willing to medicate at this time until I have exhausted all other options. Hence, the reason we decided to go with the Brain Balance program. She starts the program on 2/4/19 and we are hopeful this well help bridge the gap.
Hi Dezaree – Thanks for your comment. I’m glad you found the post helpful! And kudos to you for helping your daughter! I hope that Brain Balance helps bridge the gap. Would love to hear how it goes if you get a chance to come back and comment.
Hello Katie,
Thanks for your feedback. I am actually looking online for parents who have tried to sue a Brain Balance Center due to lack of improvements. This is my story: Four years ago or so, I learned about BB and got my son, then 5, evaluated in one of the centers close to my location. They could barely assessed him because he was not cooperating at all so the owner said he needed to mature a little more to be accepted ( he was also not potty trained ), they said that we were just going to throw our money away, he was not ready to get the best out of the program, so she recommended a Chiropractor trained by Dr. Melillo to help my son start integrating some of the primitive reflexes. We did that and after about 6 months with the Chiropractor, my son seemed a little bit more cooperative ( still not potty trained ) but I decided to try with other BB location and this other place evaluated my son and this time he was more cooperative and they were able to assessed him in 99% of the test. He was right weak hemisphere . They said it was not a problem that my son was not potty trained, that some children would even overcome that while in the program. So, there you have 2 different approaches of the same therapy, in different Centers. I was exited that my son was finally going to start the program and after almost 10 months and over 18,000.00 usd and him not making improvements, the owner recommended me to try Craneo sacral therapy! and to give my son a break off BB. In other words, she gave up or proved that this was not doing anything to my son. I was sad, disappointed etc, etc. I felt robbed and betrayed. I felt the center should’ve told me earlier about the lack of improvement so we had just stopped earlier and save time, money, etc. I was very mad but did not understand much after months later looking back, I felt that the Center was not acting with Ethics. I then also understood that the first Center was honest and I should’ve waited longer or comeback to that first Center.
I have all documentation, files that prove my son did not gain in anything, and If I could I would sue the Center, but the years after that experience I was too busy trying to find more therapies to help my son, so I didn’t bother to do anything. I have thought about talking directly to Dr. Melillo and ask for some answers. Time has passed though and I just knew some weeks ago that the two centers owned by this couple are closed now. I remembered at that time they owned only one and they were about to open a second one and they were training their new employees ( about 5 or 6 girls ) for the second center inside same room where my son was taking the therapy ! I thought to myself that was not right, because it could distract my son etc…but never said anything about it. I also, never really talked to any of the other parents that came to the center and that was a mistake, I should’ve communicated to learn others experiences.
The idea of the imbalance in the hemispheres is so well explained by Dr. Mellilo that sometimes I find it hard to believe that BB is a Scam. What I can say for sure is that not all the centers work with the same ethics. I also noticed that in my State Michigan they have closed 4 of the 5 centers that were open 4 years ago. That also, makes me question if BB really works. Why so many of them are closing services?… also in other states.
So, I can’t say it doesn’t work but it clearly did not work for my son at least at that time. I think like Katie says that before you jumped into it you try other therapies OT, etc, even his book. The oils to help with the sense of smell etc, etc. Exercises at home, even pay a girl to come home if yo are too busy to help your child with the exercises in the book. There are now many other things to try. I also, new that now they are using a type of laser to help integrate the primitive reflexes that was used by my son’s OT before Brain Balance. Just my advice. Good luck to everyone!
Did it help your daughter?
The assessment they use to test for the reflexes are just things like tickling the child’s hand with a paintbrush (palmer) and having the child complete a trust fall (moro). In the assessment, kids don’t know how to perform the exercises or respond to the stimuli yet, so most fail and thus almost all come up as having multiple retained reflexes. Throughout the program, they learn to perfect the exercises/respond to the stimuli, and that’s why the progress reports claim they’re improving or the reflexes have integrated, and the parents think “wow this is working, my kid’s gone from a 3 year old result to an age appropriate one”. In reality, after three weeks they’ve just learned not to itch their palm anymore after the paintbrush technique, which places them further up the reflex integration progress scale. An OT is definitely money better spent.
Thank you because my son didn’t gain a bit. I did everything they asked me. Brain Balance is scam
Thank you for writing this. It is very, very helpful. I still don’t know what I will decide, but having more knowledge is always helpful. Blessings to you for being a kind, honest voice in the chaos.
So glad it was helpful!
Thank you so much for your honest review. I know now that brain balance is not the program for us.
You’re very welcome! I wish you the best.
Thank you! Thank you! I don’t know how I stumbled upon this blog , it’s as if you were reading my mind. Last week my son has had his assessment done. He is 8 years old and has not been officially diagnosed with ADHD. I was very hesitant to shell out $8,000, I figured I could do it on my own. My son is well mannered and disciplined, I have had him in martial arts since Age 4. He gets good grades, however he is extremely hyper and impulsive. It’s starting to show that he is not as mature and other 8 year olds. I already own the book disconnected kids and was looking for ways to help him with the Primitive reflexes and improve his visionary test. I was wondering if there is a way all of this could be covered or some of it covered by insurance. You have given me so much hope! Here’s to trying it on my own! Thank you for looking out for other mothers and sharing your experience.
Jessie, I see that you commented several months ago, but if you still need help with integrating primitive reflexes, I suggest that you see if you can find someone who specifically does reflex integration. You could look on web sites such as Masgutova Method or Rhythmic Movement Training for certified practitioners in your area. These methods address more reflexes than other programs that only address 6-8 of the main reflexes. Sometimes that is enough, but often kids need more (such as addressing the Fear Paralysis Reflex, etc). Also, if you are a do-it-your-selfer, you could look into Sonia Story’s training program (Move Play Thrive). There are two levels and I recommend taking both levels. There is a lot to learn and it can be overwhelming, but it is great information and incorporates neurodevelopmental movements from RMT (Rhythmic Movement Training), Brain Gym and Masgutova, as well as others. Good luck!
Thank you for your comment! I wish you the best as you help your son.
This is a great review. Thank you for sharing. I am considering BB program and your insight is very helpful. With time constraints my biggest concern, this seems like better option for us then doing independent therapies. However, I am concerned that 1) treatment seems cookie cutter (although I am not really informed enough to claim that) and 2) results of repeating tests will definately show improvements but will they show improvement in what really matters (anxiety, social skills, behavior). I need more testomonials from parents/kids that have been through program before investing a huge amount of $ and time.
I hope you find what you are looking for so you can move forward confidently. If you do end up doing BB, please come back and update!
Hi,
When you say you emptied your HSA account, was there a particular process required to be an acceptable HSA expense like having Brain Balance sessions written in an IEP? Were there any hurdles having Brain Balance qualify as an HSA expenditure?
I do not remember any hurdles. I think we may just have needed a receipt from the Brain Balance Center we attended. That particular HSA did not have many limitations. If you are considering doing that you would definitely want to check the details of your HSA and the BB center. I know we now have an FSA which is very strict and Brain Balance would have been an excluded “purchase.”
This is super helpful! We just did the BB assessment and thinking of ways to pay for it if we move forward. They said HSA works if the child has a diagnosis but super good to know about the FSA excluding it.
I am very interested in enrolling my 32 year old daughter who has moderate level of autism and when she was diagnosed at age 2, we didn’t have the knowledge of how this “autism” thing worked. So we had very limited therapies back in the day. I am concerned about the cost of BB, as I’m sure Medicare will not cover this, but does anyone know of any other state resources for the state of Wisconsin that may cover the cost of BB? The therapies are so limited for older adults.
Hi Mary. I believe Brain Balance is only for children. At least that’s how it was when we were in it. Here is an organization that might be worth checking out: https://www.hope-future.org.
I am really torn on this. I have a feeling BB is one of those places where you could take the most well-rounded, advanced in every area child and they would still find something to work on. That you and other parents are still doing other therapies that are similar means that, how much did it REALLY help? It may not be a scam but it seem to predatory on parents’ desperation to do anything to help their child.
Thank you for your honest feedback. This was so helpful!!!! You gave me some other avenues of hope!
I’m here, like you, with only the purest of intentions to help you on your journey of finding balance for your beautiful kiddos and give you my experience with the Brain Balance program for my 8 year old son.
His delays or imbalances started showing up early with eczema and allergies in his first year of life. Our Vassar/Harvard trained pediatrician’s answer for this was to Aquaphor the heck out of him and change formulas…told not to worry). I was told nothing else in his development had red flags but I was concerned with they way he was dragging his leg occasionally while crawling and again my Ped said no worries he’ll figure it out.
Then age 3 Nursery school began. He had been friendly, talkative, empathy, athletic, academically and musically strong, good eater, and healthy all through his toddler years but once in a group of his peers that demanded structure and flexibility of mind did the calls start coming in. They would say he is happy to be here but gets more agitated than the others, irritates quickly, tires easily. They suggested an OT eval to help him with modulating the sensory and movement demands of his school day.
Made sense to me, I’m was a NYC holistic chiropractor (only saw adults though) and I thought, “ok good these OT’s see kids all day long, they know what they are doing. Let them strengthen the areas of weakness and get him on the right tract.
I switched OT center’s 2 times after the first year due to slow progress and never getting answers on what areas of his sensory motor systems were they trying to strengthen. They were just all on autopilot pushing him through ball pits and swings and obstacles courses but I never felt it was individualized enough and I was given vague ansers on what they were actually working on neurologically.
We spent 2 years going 3 X60 to sensory gyms where his progress moved at turtle pace, small gains, never transferring into real life situations, no parent support group there, no school intervention visits from his OT team, no nutrition guidance, no home charts/schedules/sensory diet guidance. I added play groups to his schedule to help expose him to the sensory and motor demands of playing/taking turns/sharing/teamwork to see if his skill set could transfer into real life. It was not going well.
So now we have nursery school, OT afterschool, and a social skills playgroup run by a psychologist and social worker afterschool.
His delays were still in Hyperactivity (displayed itself as impatience, trouble taking turns, anxious in his own skin, he would stretch and yawn a lot trying to get settled, fidgety). He didn’t run around and bounce off the walls though it was more internal hyperactivity,
Emotional Regulation (displayed itself as low frustration tolerance, cried more or got mad quicker for his age, sensory overload meltdowns). His academics, warmth, and charm always were his strengths so making friends was easy but keeping them became an issue due to his controlling anxious behaviors and his agitated responses. Once he was 5, my strong on top of the curve boy was falling behind in self regulation skills. OT/ play groups/psychologist/organic, non- gmo, dye free eating/small private school were not the answer to the root cause of my child’s developmental gaps and I was on a fierce mission to find the answer. When I found info. on Brain Balance during one of my hundreds of late night searches, it was the full comprehensive one stop answer I was looking for.
Root cause of sensory motor modulation, huge like minded parent support, nutrition/supplement guidance with a registered dietitian/ subjective once a month progress reports/parent viewing area/ school visits/ home support with exercises and activities/one year follow up assessment after graduation!!! Yes I said graduation, they said there was and end in sight. I was beyond skeptical and it took me 2 years to get my hubby and mom on board and get the money together but it was life changing after 60 sessions and I can’t say enough how this program has helped push his development onto the right tract and got rid of his gaps in such a short time. Every kiddo starts at different developmental levels so if your expecting to undo huge gaps in development in that short time, don’t. It may be 6, 9, 12, 18 month for your kiddo due to more social delays, motor delays, speech delays, etc. but doing this intense one stop program calmed all of our lives and it made the most impactful changes in his skills. He is a happy regulated 10 year old now with a strong regulated nervous system. His neuro systems are age appropriate.. vision processing and perception, auditory processing, motor strength, smell and taste modulation, touch tolerance and interoception( sense for hunger, pee/poop/hot/cold) all on par. What I have learned from Brain Balance and the Harvard research is that these kiddos need ALL of these pieces being trained AT ONCE not in pieces in different locations with different helpers. The brain that fires together wires together. Modulating all the sensory motor pieces of the brain at once is the answer.
Don’t fool yourself into thinking it could best be done separately. It wastes so much precious growth time. Tweak small lagging pieces once done with Brain Balance, it may not be the be all and end all for all of their delays but I’ve seen so many families have great similar quick changes that I talk about it to anyone who needs a new perspective on helping their kiddo get there quickly and efficiently.
Best of luck and healing to all of you warrior Moms and Dads
Lynn,
OMG this is what I needed.
Today we went to BB for the results of my 6 yr old son’s assessment. We found out that he has
“Emotional Regulation (displayed itself as low frustration tolerance, cried more or got mad quicker for his age, sensory overload meltdowns). His academics, warmth, and charm always were his strengths so making friends was easy but keeping them became an issue due to his controlling anxious behaviors and his agitated responses. ” I don’t mind him going to BB, but I was worried that I spend all this money and 6 months later there is no change. I see some of the reviews talking about OT, which sound good because it’s covered by insurance. I just looking for more information to give me the warm and fuzzy about BB. I’m looking for a support group and something.
Thanks so much
Michele, I had my 2 sons taken evaluations tests at BB. After reading many articles about BB, my sincere suggestions are the 2 lowest hanging fruit everyone could do, without paying up huge fees. 1) Diet control. 2) Hand-eye or foot-eye coordinated exercises. These 2 are well known in medical field as the proven scientific approach that can improve the brain cognitive and help with a host of issues.
Diet wise, cut down processed foods and preservatives, and possibly gluten. Exercise wise, basketball, soccer, tennis, ping-pong, etc would help. I could tell the transformation of my kids after work-out, as they are much calmer and respectful. Even a simple running of 15 minutes help too.
The BB creator was well known to have faked research studies with dubious credentials. Big red flags. Diet and Exercise is what BB targeted too, so why bother with paying up huge fees and driving a distance away?!
Did you do it? How did it work for him?
IIAHP therapy center which is currently located in Sector 35-C, Chandigarh. We are providing autism treatment, speech therapy, down syndrome treatment, cerebral palsy treatment, special needs children, etc. We are providing all International techniques under one roof.
https://www.iiahp.com/
Hi Moms and Dads,
I want to clarify for the researching parents that the information that a few of the parents have written on this topic is coming from parents that haven’t been members of the Brain balance family. The program that you enroll in is NOT about intergrating primitive reflexes.
The program is a full all encompassing enrollment that entitles your family to have exercises, activities, and lifestyle changes given to them with a systematic plan to diminish or even resolve most of the problems YOU see in your child’s life. You see the changes, the schools, coaches, and family member see the changes, it’s not that Brain Balance is telling you they are getting results, you are reporting to them that the plan is producing results outside in the community where it counts.
There would not be 120 thriving centers nationwide if this wasn’t happening.
It is a proven method that moves the needle in your child’s development more than any other program out there. Hands down!
Katie I thought you did a good job with unbiased review.
Our son has done the Brain Balance program with success. Years later we are very grateful that we did the program. Our son has been high energy since he was little, like really little—lots of energy! He didn’t sleep like I thought he would and his mind was always going. We could tell he was smart and easily figured things out but was struggling with active social situations and following directions. It was like when he was active his brain could not stop. The problem was he was ALWAYS active! After hearing about brain balance we prayed this was the answer we need. It has almost been 6 years since we finished the program, I can honestly say we know it gave us the child we always knew he could be. He still has a TON of energy (even at 12) but he has more control of it. He is smart, life comes easier for him, and there are not big gaps as there was before. We still continue with diet, he is in multiple sport to help with the energy, he is excelling at school work and is a polite and socially smart kid.
It has not been an easy journey even after the program there has been ups and downs. But even with that said, I would still say it is 100% worth it.
Helpful tips- I would start with diet change before you do the program. Get rid of gluten, dairy, and dyes. Try to do it first so that it is not so overwhelming when you start.
If you feel like OT (or another therapy)would work for your child. Try it first. Don’t second guess yourself with a program that is expensive.
Be ALL into the program when you do it. Do the home exercises. Do the diet. Talk to your child’s teacher. Have them meet with staff at school if that is an option. Get everyone (teachers, grandparents, friends parents) on the same page with expectations of behavior, diet, exercises, etc.
I just wanted to say thank you. Your son and his difficulties and delays, sound very close to what we have going on with my now 9 year old. They have given us diagnoses of moderate ASD, ADHD, SPD, APD, dyslexia, anxiety….but no further information or assistance, other than offers of medication. We tried it, but it mostly seemed to be trading one problem for another. I would love to try out the Brain Balance program but finances just are not available. The information in your post gives me hope. It gives me a starting point and renewed motivation and belief that there is help out there somewhere. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart.
You’re very welcome, Mary. I wish you and your son the best. 💕
It’s so useful to come across an unbiased account of this, and I wondered if I could just ask a couple of questions, as we tried reflex integration and it was a bit of a disaster. The fact that it seemed to make certain things worse told me it was doing something, but the practitioner we saw (in the UK) didn’t really know how to help us move forwards so we gave up.
My questions are, you said “Most noteworthy, our son was able to integrate 4 of his 5 retained reflexes (I must point out here though, he gained his Moro reflex back).” Because I didn’t really understand the evaluation process I couldn’t tell if my son was integrating retained reflexes, or if the practitioner was just saying he was to stop us getting demoralised! – could you actually tell yourself?
Secondly, do you mean the Moro reflex was integrated and became unintegrated again? How could you tell? It was during work on the Moro that we ran into lots of problems (horrific outbursts of rage) so I’m keen to know why this would happen and how you worked through it, if possible!
Thanks! I really wanted to be an unbiased voice. Regarding integrating reflexes, I just went by their word. We did see improvements during the program so it just made sense to me that reflexes were being integrated. I think there are ways you can test at home but I did not do that. And yes the Moro was integrated and then we did another program and it was not integrated. I truly don’t know how this works, but a few professionals I’ve talked to (including the developmental optometrist at Vision Therapy (where they also tested for reflexes) and my son’s OT) said they can come and go. I think this is especially true for the Moro reflex during times of stress.
Hi Katie, I just signed my 6 year old up for BB today and discovered your post afterwards. She was diagnosed with developmental delay. She’s extremely smart when it comes to daily life, directions on how to get places but struggles academically. There is a disconnect and no one can figure it out. Example she knew her birthday for months now she will say the correct month but says the 26th instead of the 27th. She can remember patterns and one day will know her ABC’s and the next can’t recall them. I feel she has the knowledge and information but can’t get it out. She has done speech and OT with no improvement. Do you have any other advice from what I have explained? Do you have a diet plan that you follow or followed? Can you proved any information and directions on how to do a detox for a 6 year old that will not hurt her? Thanks in advance for any information and help you can provide.
If you are proceeding with Brain Balance they should be able to give you some insight. Because you haven’t seen improvement with speech and OT the detox approach could be a helpful thing to try next. There are many different detoxes out there. The only ones we have done are Andy Cutler chelation and TRS. The reason I recommend TRS is because it is the easiest one I know of (it is a tasteless spray and the kids aren’t adverse to using it). The best way to get information on TRS is to join the Facebook group, which has lots of testimonials. We have had no problem detoxing with it but I know some people see more side effects than others. However like I said there are other detoxes out there too. I’m just not familiar with them. Regarding diet, we have done gluten and dairy free (based on Brain Balance recommendations) in the past. Some people see huge change with that, others not so much. Hopefully this was helpful. 🙂
My friend has a daughter who has invisible seizures and her symptoms sound a lot like how you are describing your child. Have they tested for this?
Hello Katie,
Thanks for your feedback. I am actually looking online for parents who have tried to sue a Brain Balance Center due to lack of improvements. This is my story: Four years ago or so, I learned about BB and got my son, then 5, evaluated in one of the centers close to my location. They could barely assessed him because he was not cooperating at all so the owner said he needed to mature a little more to be accepted ( he was also not potty trained ), they said that we were just going to throw our money away, he was not ready to get the best out of the program, so she recommended a Chiropractor trained by Dr. Melillo to help my son start integrating some of the primitive reflexes. We did that and after about 6 months with the Chiropractor, my son seemed a little bit more cooperative ( still not potty trained ) but I decided to try with other BB location and this other place evaluated my son and this time he was more cooperative and they were able to assessed him in 99% of the test. He was right weak hemisphere . They said it was not a problem that my son was not potty trained, that some children would even overcome that while in the program. So, there you have 2 different approaches of the same therapy, in different Centers. I was exited that my son was finally going to start the program and after almost 10 months and over 18,000.00 usd and him not making improvements, the owner recommended me to try Craneo sacral therapy! and to give my son a break off BB. In other words, she gave up or proved that this was not doing anything to my son. I was sad, disappointed etc, etc. I felt robbed and betrayed. I felt the center should’ve told me earlier about the lack of improvement so we had just stopped earlier and save time, money, etc. I was very mad but did not understand much after months later looking back, I felt that the Center was not acting with Ethics. I then also understood that the first Center was honest and I should’ve waited longer or comeback to that first Center.
I have all documentation, files that prove my son did not gain in anything, and If I could I would sue the Center, but the years after that experience I was too busy trying to find more therapies to help my son, so I didn’t bother to do anything. I have thought about talking directly to Dr. Melillo and ask for some answers. Time has passed though and I just knew some weeks ago that the two centers owned by this couple are closed now. I remembered at that time they owned only one and they were about to open a second one and they were training their new employees ( about 5 or 6 girls ) for the second center inside same room where my son was taking the therapy ! I thought to myself that was not right, because it could distract my son etc…but never said anything about it. I also, never really talked to any of the other parents that came to the center and that was a mistake, I should’ve communicated to learn others experiences.
The idea of the imbalance in the hemispheres is so well explained by Dr. Mellilo that sometimes I find it hard to believe that BB is a Scam. What I can say for sure is that not all the centers work with the same ethics. I also noticed that in my State Michigan they have closed 4 of the 5 centers that were open 4 years ago. That also, makes me question if BB really works. Why so many of them are closing services?… also in other states.
So, I can’t say it doesn’t work but it clearly did not work for my son at least at that time. I think like Katie says that before you jumped into it you try other therapies OT, etc, even his book. The oils to help with the sense of smell etc, etc. Exercises at home, even pay a girl to come home if yo are too busy to help your child with the exercises in the book. There are now many other things to try. I also, new that now they are using a type of laser to help integrate the primitive reflexes that was used by my son’s OT before Brain Balance. Just my advice. Good luck to everyone!
I am the mother of a now 18 yr old boy diagnosed with mild autism at age 3, and who is finishing high school. My best friend has a 17 yr old with global development delay and ADHD and she has tried every therapy modality available, including detoxing, gluten free casein free diet, brain balance, electrostimulation, stem cell, etc. When my son was diagnosed, I researched proven therapies and I decided to hire ABA therapists to come to my home 4 hours per day, and the rest of the time, I applied ABA principles myself. I also put myself in my son’s place. He was confused by his senses, didn’t see the point of language, considered people as objects, failed to notice people or to mirror behaviour, had huge issues with solid food, was afraid of noises, etc. I met one neurologist who gave me the best advice: don’t underestimate his potential, push him to his limits, dont coddle him. So, since he was highly sensorial, like an animal, I also decided to apply well established animal training methodologies. I watched Caesar Milan a lot in those days, and I noticed the correlation between dog training and ABA therapy. Well, within 1.5 years, my son had gone from the developmental age of 12 months at 36 months to his actual developmental age in almost every area (was still slightly delayed in speech and impulse control). At the time, I thought friends and academic achievement were out of reach. He went to school with neurotypical kids, got help in elementary school, is allowed extra time for tests, because he gets anxious. He’s been on the honour roll every year since beginning high school, he drives, he has friends, he has a girlfriend, he has been playing water polo competitively, and he has been accepted at university for September in engineering. Conversely, my friend’s son, who went through a whole host of costly therapies, will never be independent. My friend has no regrets because she knows she has tried everything, but I am angry that there is no legislation to prevent profit making companies from selling their quackery. When parents complain that ABA therapy doesn’t work, it is usually one of two reasons: the parents fail to apply ABA principles at home on a 24/7 basis or the child is intellectually disabled, as in the case of my best friend. These special kids need 100% consistency to learn and ABA is the best teaching system to help kids who are neurologically atypical to make sense of the world and to learn what is expected of them. For example, turning on the tap to wash your hands is fine; turning on the tap to watch the water go down the drain over and over is not fine. ABA would be good for neurotypical kids too; it’s simply not necessary because they learn from watching others.
Thank you for your very through and honest review. I’m still on the fence on what we should do and I’m glad there are alternatives that you have mentioned.
Thank you , Katie.
You had mentioned that you had done gluten free, dairy free, and dye free before. Is your child on any special diet post BB treatments? I ask because this is honestly going to be a great challenge for our family. Although, we are willing to try .
We did gluten free and dairy free for a while after Brain Balance. It has now been five years and we are no longer doing the diet. Not because I don’t think it is helpful but just because of how hard it was to maintain. While doing the program and investing so much money into the program I wanted to do it fully so we were strict about it then. My kids were still pretty young at the time so it was more doable.
Thank you for this post. We are starting BB next week. I didn’t pay $10,000 though. I guess they have changed the cost and time because I was told it is a 3 month program for less than $4,000. Their program seems to be an all therapies squeezed into 1 hr a day program, which in my opinion is good. Everything I have read and heard and researched regarding the baby reflexes I can see in my 8 yr old son and a lot makes sense to me. I have take my son through different types of therapies since age 4 when I realized there was something going on because of how he did in pre-k. He has come a long way with those therapies, but I am willing to try everything and hope for the best. Even if the program was $10,000 I would pay it, at least I know I have tried everything. BB is therapy, they never said it is a miracle or it’s guaranteed or anything of the sort. They were not pushy. I will report back to you after the 3 months of therapy.
Hi Sophie! I am in a similar boat. We had a BB evaluation this week and I am strongly considering. Thanks to everyone here for your very helpful comments, and especially to Outside the Box Learners for the original post! I am wondering if you can update us on what you found since you started the program in January.
Sophie!
Can you give me update on how you son responded to brain balance therapy? Thank you so much!
Magdalena
Hi Sophie,
We are getting ready to start my daughter at the Brain Balance Center. Did it work for your son?
Thank you!
My son is 10, diagnosed with Dyslexia at 8. We are signed up for the evaluation as his tutor is asking him to get tested for auditory processing disorder and working memory. He’s been doing the Wilson Learning Program for 2 years and is very slow to advance. I’m not sure what to expect. I appreciate your help and this artical was helpful. I’m with the other lady, Id pay any amount if it would help his confidence, get to grade level reading and wouldn’t feel so frustrated with progress.
Thank you for your reviews! I thrive on reviews like this to help me decide what to do to help my children.
Has anyone tried the cherishedchildrensministry.org its a “curriculum ” to help with the primitive reflexes. It seemed like what some of the brain balance does. I am not shelling out the $ for brain balance. But am considering the other. We have 4 kids. All have different degrees of learning disabilities.
We already spent 6k on brain training nuerotherapy, which I highly recommend checking out! We did it through st. Louis neurotherapy. Dr Rhodes. And it was life changing for one of our daughters.
We also do the trs advanced detox, again I saw very positively results with the same daughter.
But I am looking at the cherished childrens curriculum for the rest of my kids that weren’t as severe..
Has anyone heard of it?
Thank you !
Brain Balance was a game changer for my little guy! He reached all his milestones early and overnight stopped talking and eating after he received a vaccine at 18months. We did every early intervention and researched everything under the son to get him back. At 4 we put him in Brain Balance a few times. We are so proud of him, we got our son back. Brain Balance basically rewired his brain. Our experience has been incredible and our son is thriving socially, academically etc. My family is very thankful. I would rec0mmend it for 100%.
Thank you for the balanced review! I truly appreciate the closing remarks– that it isn’t the only option and reaching out to professional medical resources is a great place to start.
Thanks so much for your honest review. We were looking into this for our 9yr old with ADHD, and your review and the additional resources you provided were great and helpful. Thanks for taking the time to put this out there for free!
To all, please be careful in placing your trust and your child’s life as well as family finances in a mostly unproven area of treatment. Look into the background and development of the founders and their so called specialists. Most of these require exorbitant fees for parents as well as their “specialists”. They have few employees, most are contract workers, with very little vetting conducted . They don’t even conduct a simple drug test prior to signing the specialists on. They charge $$ for classes to learn, $$ for books, $$ for certifications then $$ for parents to enroll their kids and entrust their minds to “ trained?” specialists. This is all my own personal opinion but I have witnessed much of this and inquired directly about the process of employment/contract. Please read the company’s code of conduct and code of ethics. The vague language and continued wording of. “Legal” leads me to suspect something is not quite right. Again, my own interpretation.
We only get one chance to get it right with our kids and each decision we make on their behalf is so important. Conduct your due diligence to the best of your ability and always remember there is no quick fix or golden ticket in this life. As much as you want the best world possible for your child, sometimes we must play the hand dealt and love our children as they are. Each is a precious gift!
We are doing Brain Balance now with my son and I am absolutely thankful we made the choice to do the program. It has been the most helpful therapy out of ALL the therapies my son has been in (speech, OT, PT, feeding therapy). They provide so much information and I integrate everything from a whole child perspective and my son has been progressing so well. I also truly believe in the nutrition portion, which we have been doing and my son who would be considered level 3 Autistic has now been tested again and is at level 1 High Functioning and I contribute a lot of this to be from supplements and nutrition/diet change. They walk you through every step and I couldn’t say enough positive things about how it has changed our family for the better. And bonus points, my son LOVES going to each session. It is a huge commitment, but the results have made it so worth it. I hope another parent considering takes the leap of faith because I’m so glad I did.