Sally Goddard Blythe

Sally Goddard Blythe is the Director of The Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology in Chester (INPP).  INPP was established in 1975 by Dr Peter Blythe to research into the effects of immaturity in the functioning of the Central Nervous System in children with specific learning disabilities and adults suffering from Agoraphobia and Panic Disorder.  The INPP compiled protocols for identifying and assessing neurological dysfunction and  has devised physical remedial programmes to correct the underlying dysfunction.

The INPP Programme is used clincially with children on an individual basis and Sally Goddard Blythe has also adpated the clinical programme for use in schools with groups or classes of children.

She is the author of several books: "A Teacher's Window into the Child's Mind", "Reflexes, Learning and Behavior" and "The Well Balanced Child". She has published a number of research papers and regularly contributes articles to the Times Educational Supplement and other popular and professional journals.

INPP is now an international training centre for professionals wishing to practice its methods.

 

Releasing intelligence through movement


The paper  is in 2 parts:

Part 1 presents in introduction to: (i hour)

  •  Signs and symptoms of immature primitive and postural reflexes in the classroom - visual, auditory and postural.
  • Comorbidity in specific learning disorders - Neuro-Developmental Delay as a common underlying factor.
  • The effects of abnormal reflexes on the functioning of the vestibular-cerebellar, vestibular ocular and vestibular spinal systems.
  • The importance of postural stability for perceptual coherence.

Part 2: (1 hour and 15 minutes)

  • Links between Autistic Spectrum Disorders and Neuro-Developmental Factors
  • Results of the INPP Programme in Schools. This is a summary of findings from a series of independent studies that have been undertaken separately. The studies used a specific developmental test battery (The INPP Developmental Test Battery for use in Schools) with a total of 810 children, the object being to assess whether Neurological Dysfunction was a significant factor underlying academic achievement.

All children were tested using the INPP Developmental Test Battery together with additional standard educational measures to assess drawing and reading at the beginning and end of the programme. The progress of 339 children aged 4 -5 years of age was tracked through the school year to see whether children with higher scores on the INPP Developmental Test Battery (indications of neurological dysfunction) performed less well academically at the end of the school year. A smaller number of children (235) aged 8 - 10 years undertook a specific programme of developmental exercises  (The INPP Schools' Developmental Exercise Programme) for 10 minutes a day under teacher supervision over the course of one academic year. 205 children also underwent the INPP Tests but did not take part in the Developmental Exercise Programme.  The third group acted as a control group.

One study included a fourth group of 31 children who were given non-specific exercises for the same time period each day as the experimental group (INPP exercises) to see whether daily exercises were as, more or less effective than the specific INPP exercises.

The results showed that the children who participated in the daily INPP exercises made significantly greater improvement on measures for neurological dysfunction, balance and coordination.  Children who had scores of more than 25% on tests for Neurological Dysfunction and whose reading age was less than their chronological age at the outset, also showed small but significantly greater progress in reading than children who did not take part in the programme.