Printed in The Rocky Mountain Times 1999
Interviewer’s Note: In my 22 years of experience with numerous different therapies in the field of Alternative Medicine, I have found no other form of treatment with which I have been as impressed by its consistent and dramatic results as I am with this treatment that Susan McCrossin developed in Australia. This treatment that Susan McCrossin recently brought to the U.S. actually helps improve the functioning of the brain. I believe it is so imported that this form of treatment become available to children and adults throughout the world with learning difficulties, for the future of our planet is dependent on the education of its people. And the ability to learn is a critical factor that must be addressed for the process of education to be effective, which means for us to be able to think clearly and process information efficiently in order to make sound decisions and be creative with our lives.
Interview with Susan McCrossin
Interviewer: For what type of problems is the work you do helpful?
McCrossin: This treatment helps all kinds of learning difficulties such as attention deficit disorder (ADD) both with and without hyperactivity, sensory integration, dyslexia, poor coordination, closed head traumas and brain injuries, autism and nervous breakdowns. It enhances learning abilities and improves reading, comprehension, spelling and coordination for children as well as for adults.
Interviewer: What makes your form of treatment different from what is currently available?
McCrossin: Most treatments involve medication (such as Ritalin) and changing the format of how material is presented to the student. The work I do actually changes the functioning of the brain. I work with the electromagnetic flow of information in the brain. That involves making sure that information comes in through the eyes and ears and is directed to the correct location within the brain with the correct timing. This then being established, function is restored.
Part of this treatment may involve ensuring that the right and left sides of the brain are able to process information simultaneously across the corpus callosum that connects them (as many academic functions require both hemispheres to be active at the same time). A typical person with learning difficulties will have very limited communication through their corpus callosum. An individual may therefore have to rely mostly on one hemisphere for all their processing of information. For example, learning difficulties commonly involve a lack of access to the Logic Hemisphere’s functions. These individuals will often display the following characteristics:
- difficulty concentrating
- no sense of time
- poor reading comprehension (despite being a fast or fluent reader)
- attention and focus can not be held for long
- difficulty spelling (putting letters together until it “sounds” like the word)
- difficulty with mathematics (concepts as well as times tables)
- tendency to be impulsive
- not understanding consequences or relation between cause and effect
- difficulty budgeting time (thus projects are often left incomplete)
It is precisely because of the above symptoms that people displaying Gestalt-dominant processing (versus Logic-dominant) are found to have ADD which is assessed by having a person perform a series of sequential tasks, any one of which the person can do easily. However, people suffering from ADD will not be able to complete the series of tasks, not because they can not perform them, but rather, because they lose concentration or are easily distracted.
Interviewer: I’ve always been amazed at how many children who have trouble in school are so readily labeled as ADD with hyperactivity and given Ritalin. I read your academic paper describing the research to date on the effectiveness of such medication and it appears there have been very few studies showing enhanced academic performance and yet it is prescribed so readily. Can you comment on this?
McCrossin: The only consistent finding in all the research, which dates back to 1937, is that there is a reduction in activity level, distractibility and impulsive behavior with Ritalin. However, there does not appear to be any substantial impact on the academic performance of hyperactive adolescents. After years of medication, the studies showed that these adolescents are approximately two grade levels behind their peers on core subjects such as reading and mathematics, which is no better than hyperactive adolescents that were not medicated.
Interviewer: What kind of results do you get with the work you do?
McCrossin: We consistently improve learning ability of the individuals we treat. They are able to read with high comprehension, learn and retain spelling words, understand mathematical concepts, become physically coordinated and modulate their emotional responses. Thus Ritalin is not needed after treatment in the majority of cases.
While we give them the ability to learn, the amount of improvement is still dependent on them participating in school. If there is organic brain damage there is still improvement but it will be limited depending on the location of the damage. However, even those that were suspected to have damage (i.e. Autistic tendencies) often improve significantly enough that the suspected damage is no longer evident.
Interviewer: Do you have any research to back up these claims?
McCrossin: Yes, I wrote several research papers from my research at the University in Melbourne which involved very sophisticated EEG studies of the brain as well as our extensive clinical experience seeing profound results with many thousands of cases over the past eleven years.
Interviewer: Do your clients need additional types of treatment?
McCrossin: That depends on a few factors. For example if I see a student who is 16 years old and has missed a few years in their mathematics knowledge they will probably need tutoring to catch up to their grade level. If a student is very young the normal practice of reading and/or spelling in the classroom may be all they need.
Interviewer: What is your background? How did you develop this?
McCrossin: I have degrees in Neuroscience and Psychology and have been in practice since 1988. I also received a Diploma in Applied Physiology from the International Institute in Arizona. Since 1988, the Brain Integration Technique was originally developed my clinic in Melbourne, Australia. I brought this work to the U.S. in January 1998 establishing the Learning Enhancement Center in Boulder, CO and teach the Brain Integration Technique in the USA, England and Scandinavia.
Interviewer: So exactly what do you do in a treatment session?
McCrossin: In a given session I will assess the electro-magnetic activity in the brain using muscle monitoring and acupressure. The correction technique involves very light touch on specific acupressure points to re-establish electro-magnetic integrity within the brain. Thus brain functioning is improved, specifically in learning ability, creativity, and physical co-ordination which is done by pinpointing stress in the brain that affects learning and relieving these individual stress patterns.
Interviewer: Finally, can you give us any examples of how different people have responded to this work?
McCrossin: Besides the many thousands of children we have helped over the years with ADD, there are several other cases that come to mind.
One is a lady that I recently treated who was a gifted learner until an auto accident a few years ago. She had a “low-impact, closed head injury” and consequently could not even put a shopping list together. She now is at college completing a degree.
Another is a 14 year old boy who was about to drop out of school. After the treatment he completed high school and went on to study photography. He has received the only Certificate of Merit awarded by his faculty for his innovative work in professional film developing.
Interviewer: Thank you so much for participating in this interview.
McCrossin: It has been my pleasure in sharing about these techniques as I feel that there is a great need to raise the level of consciousness on the planet and I see this work as helping to do that.
Click here to download a printer-friendly pdf of this article.