Frequently Asked Questions
- How can HANDLE help individuals with so many different kinds of challenges (labels)?
- Do HANDLE activities work for everyone?
- How soon can I expect to see positive changes?
- Will I have to do HANDLE activities for the rest of my life?
- How to I fit HANDLE activities into my already busy life?
- HANDLE is a non-drug approach. Should I (my child) stop taking medication in order to do a HANDLE program?
- I / my child is easily overwhelmed. What if I/my child can’t tolerate doing the activities?
- How do I decide what level of service is right (screening versus full Assessment) right for me?
- Will my health insurance cover HANDLE services?
- My child is a teenager, what if I can’t get him/her to do the activities?
- I want to schedule a HANDLE Assessment but there aren’t any service providers in my area. What are my options?
- I am an adult. Can HANDLE still help me?
How can HANDLE help individuals with so many different kinds of challenges (labels)?
HANDLE is a paradigm, a way of looking at conditions and the functional limitations associated with them. It is not a technique that is the same for everyone. It is an approach that individually and uniquely addresses neurodevelopmental irregularities. Behaviors are communication from these systems as to their individual and inter-related levels of organization. Regardless of how the irregularities manifest (which in turn generates a set of behaviors that are grouped into a diagnosis), the same systems are involved. A HANDLE program works with these underlying systems. Therefore, HANDLE activities effectively address the root causes of the situation, independent of diagnosis. When the neurodevelopmental systems and functions are regulated and organized, functionality becomes more efficient.
Do HANDLE activities work for everyone?
There are three conditions under which the HANDLE activities do not produce positive results:
- If the activities are not done consistently or correctly
- If the activities are over done, producing stress
- If the client (and/or) their community isn’t able recognize and /or support the increased functionality, no matter how desired it is
How soon can I expect to see positive changes?
Some clients see significant results right away, within the first few days of doing their program. Others notice changes over a number of months. Each individual responds uniquely to their program of activities depending upon the complexity and severity of challenges they face.
Some clients do not easily notice the changes in themselves; they just live their lives with new capabilities and ease. Frequently clients first take notice as relatives, teachers, employers or friends make positive comments about the changes they observe.
Some of the first commonly experienced changes are:
- Feeling more calm and less easily frustrated
- Feeling more emotionally stable and recovering from upset more easily
- Feeling more focused, with an increased to stay on task
- Sleeping better and waking up rested
Will I have to do HANDLE activities for the rest of my life?
No. Once your systems are organized and integrated and you become more efficient , the HANDLE activities become “tools in your toolbox” , which can be used to give your systems “a tune up,” as needed.
How to I fit HANDLE activities into my already busy life?
Clients experience the most success when they distribute the activities throughout the day, incorporating many of them into their daily routines. Rather than seeing them as “one more thing I have to do today” or approaching them as a whole routine, ” it’s time to do my HANDLE program”. A parent can do an activity or two as he/she puts the child into a car seat, help with dressing or self care. Adults can do some in the shower or even while waiting for a light to change while driving. Because most activities use little or no equipment and take only a few seconds they can be done virtually anywhere.
HANDLE is a non-drug approach. Should I (my child) stop taking medication in order to do a HANDLE program?
Although HANDLE is a non-drug approach, we cannot/ do not offer medical opinions about medication. If the medication is for ADD or ADHD, HANDLE practitioners usually ask you to check with your doctor and ask if there would be any harm in not taking or delay taking the medication on the days of your appointments, especially on the day of the evaluation.
Frequently, clients who take different kinds of medication to control behavior or modify moods discuss a decrease or discontinuation with their doctor after doing their HANDLE activities for some time. Many find, after doing their HANDLE program, that they no longer need medication.
I / my child is easily overwhelmed. What if I/my child can’t tolerate doing the activities?
How much input any given system can take in and use on any given day or time depends on many factors, including what you have eaten, how well you slept, what stressor are or have been present that day, and many other factors. Gentle Enhancement dictates that we give the body and brain as much as it can use and no more. Even if that means you only do a second or two of a HANDLE activity, you/your child will still benefit.
How do I decide what level of service is right (screening versus full Assessment) right for me?
Individuals with mild learning or behavioral challenges are well served by a HANDLE screening and a shorter individualized program of HANDLE activities. If you are not sure to what degree neurodevelopmental irregularities impact your daily life, you can call the Institute or contact a HANDLE Practitioner in your area for guidance.
The HANDLE screening was not designed for individuals with complex needs. Neurological systems have to be strengthened gently (slowly) and sequentially in order for the changes to last. Follow up appointments are crucial. As the client experiences changes the HANDLE program is changed to build on those changes, so that the body/brain/whole learns how to use the neurodevelopmental integration it has attained.
In some cases finances dictate the choice. While the HANDLE activities offered at the screening level may not resolve all the issues that individuals with complex or multiple challenges face, it is a good start in the right direction.
Will my health insurance cover HANDLE services?
Our program is a non-medical and does not require a licensed health professional to implement, so most health insurance companies do not cover our treatment. If you have a formal “mental health” diagnosis like Autism, ADD, OCD and such, some insurance companies cover our services as a part of “mental health” insurance.
Flexible benefits, sometimes called Cafeteria plans, governed by Section 125 of the Internal Revenue Code, provide eligible employees the right to allocate salary dollars - pretax - towards payment of out-of-pocket medical, dental, vision, alternative medical care, child care and other kinds of expenses. Clients can use these “flex dollars ” for HANDLE services.
My child is a teenager, what if I can’t get him/her to do the activities?
Frequently, when a client hears the presentation of the results of a HANDLE evaluation, he/she feels like they have been understood and appreciated for the first time. The non-judgmental nature of the experience usually opens the door to at least try the activities, which do not take that much time to do.
I want to schedule a HANDLE Assessment but there aren’t any service providers in my area. What are my options?
You can travel to a service provider in a location that is close or convenient for you/ your family and contact them directly for appointment details or you can email or call the Institute to see if arrangements can be made to have a practitioner come to your area.
I am an adult. Can HANDLE still help me?
Our neurological systems continue to change throughout our lifetime. That process is called neurplasticity. It is never too late to effect a positive change in functioning.
