Neural Integration
Within our new model, three things are required for learning to take place:
• Access to specific brain functions,
• Ability to integrate these brain functions,and
• Ability to maintain integration of these functions under varying degrees of stress.

Learning Disorders are caused by:
NOT being able to access the functions,
inability to integrate these functions, or
inability to maintain integration under stress.

What is Neural Integration?
As adults we are very aware of the fact that we store stress in our bodies, we have all had neck aches or back-aches, tension headaches or upset stomachs when we have been under stress. Children however store stress in their brains. Unfortunately the individual may lose access to many areas or pathways which are crucial to learning. One area that is commonly affected is the Corpus Callosum, which as we mentioned before is crucial to ability to think clearly and learn new information.

Neural Integration is a way of opening up the communication pathways in the brain that may have become blocked or shut down because of stress. Using acupressure and a system of applied physiology, a practitioner can access various areas of the brain and determine whether or not they are functioning at their optimum level or if there is a blockage. The acupressure is a very light touch and the child who is being worked with need not participate in any way other than to be present. The practitioner uses the Chinese Meridian system to communicate with a very specific part of the brain, starting from the basic areas of function and working upwards to more complicated areas. The practitioner can not only discover which pathways in the brain are not functioning to their fullest, but can also open them up and allow them to be available to be used.

Because the brain would like to take the path of least resistance, once a pathway is restored, it is then available for use and the changes can take place very quickly. Think of the difference between a winding stream that takes many twists and turns and an aqueduct that takes water straight to a specific place. The more twists and turns a message in the brain has to take because of pathways being blocked or not available, the slower and more stressful functioning is for the brain.