Take Time

Movement Exercises for Parents, Teachers and Therapists of Children

with Difficulties in Speaking, Reading, Writing and Spelling.

 

The activities in this well-established, highly-regarded and widely-used book can assist with a wide range of conditions, including diagnoses of Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, or Attention Deficit Hyper-activity Disorder (ADHD). Following a valuable introductory background, Take Time provides a series of thoroughly tested and purposeful exercises that tackle fundamental developmental problems behind learning difficulties.

The number of children who are hampered by language impairment in speaking, reading, writing or spelling is surprisingly high. Provided that appropriate action is taken, however, such problems will not usually inhibit a child's long term progress. Professional advice and involvement is important, but parents themselves can actively participate in the process of helping the child to overcome difficulties by using this book.

The main features of Take Time are:

• 'Pointers' to clarify areas of difficulty, including timing and rhythm, direction, spatial orientation and movement, sequencing, laterality and fine motor control needed for clear speech and successful wiritng and reading.
• general exercises for co-ordination and body awareness.
• specific exercises to help with particular areas of difficulty and invidual situations.

The book also contains details of useful resource equipment, books and contact addresses.

The authors, Mary Nash-Wortham and Jean Hunt, developed these exercises whilst working respectively as speech and language therapist and as curative eurythmist - a unique combination of skills – in the Learning Difficulties Clinic at St Thomas' Hospital, London. In Take Time, they tackle some of the root causes behind difficulties in speaking, reading, writing, and spelling – especially where there is a lack of co-ordination, rhythm and timing.

The main aim of the range of innovative movement exercises and other activities described in Take Time is that they can be tailored specifically to individual situations. The book acts as a step-by-step guide for parents, teachers, therapists and helpers by pin-pointing and encouraging the use of particular exercises to help develop motor control, co-ordination, directional awareness, balance and rhythm, yet in an enjoyable and holistic way.

It is this process which has resulted in the enormous popularity of the book, especially for use by parents. It is recommended by many centres concerned with dyslexia, dyspraxia and other difficulties. (Take Time has been made available in other languages.)

Author's Commentary

"The Award-winning film, 'The King's Speech', has highlighted one aspect of a modern day Speech & Language Therapist's work. Like the audience world-wide, I loved this film, and how it portrayed both the value and the rewarding nature of work in this area!

"Unlike Lionel Logue, who specialised in stammering, my speciality was to work with Specific Learning Difficulties, and particularly with the bright dyslexic or dyspraxic child. Very often, in these situations, there's an inherent speech or syntax difficulty in vocabulary, sentences and grammar which needs to be addressed alongside the often more obvious problems with 'shaky' reading, 'wobbly' writing and 'not-a-clue' spelling!

"I have always enjoyed working as a qualified, registered 'SALT' - a Speech and Language Therapist. (The training for this rewarding profession is now, unsurprisingly, somewhat over-subscribed.) My career has taken me off the beaten track, away from more traditional lines, interacting in new realms of creativity, colour, music and art, developing a feeling for speech and language, all ultimately to help children find their own 'voice'. Based on our work, both Jean Hunt and I have subsequently lectured in many countries."

Mary Nash-Wortham

"To my mind no therapist or remedial teacher should be within this edition by their side."

From the Foreward by the late Dr Béve Hornsby PhD Consultant Speech Therapist and Clinical Psychologist.

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