Evaluation
That may not even qualify as a correct noun.  The HANDLE Practitioner conducts an observational assessment.  That is, there are no
"right" answers or behaviors being looked for, but rather the Practitioner wants to see whatever a task challenge elicits.  It's how the
client responds that provides the relevant information.

In every way possible, the assessment structure accommodates client needs more than the clinician's.  This may require the
Practitioner to select and/or modify tasks to allow the client to demonstrate how he/she:

(1) receives, perceives and processes sensory input,
(2) performs motorically,
(3) orients spatially, and
(4) integrates input and output
for such functions as language, visual-spatial organization, auditory sequencing, problem-solving, etc.  

The main purpose of the assessment is to learn about weaknesses that limit function, and strengths that may have compensated
for those weak areas.  If any aspect of the assessment induces stress, that fact actually adds to the information the client
spontaneously gives the clinician; but at all times this will be closely monitored, and immediately relieved.

Nothing about the evaluation is "standardized," so that no "score" or other means of comparing the client with "norms" constitutes
the result of the assessment activities.  

The entire purpose of everything the Practitioner explores with the client is to lead to the appropriate course of action.  To identify
what that should be, the assessment of strengths and weaknesses provides the basis for -- or is summarized into -- a
Neurodevelopmental Profile of the client.  That Profile demonstrates the hierarchical nature of how all the systems of the body-mind
interact interdependently.  

That is, a shaky foundation wobbles everything "above" it.  Then all those "higher" functions (such as vision) must work harder to do
their job, maybe to compensate for what's not happening elsewhere.  That in turn taxes the individual in ways not likely to be
recognized, heaping fatigue and frustration onto an already burdened person (of any age) and translating into clearly inefficient
function.  Efficiency means each part of the whole dynamic works without undue stress, interacting smoothly with all the other parts.  

The Neurodevelopmental Profile points the Practitioner and the client/family into a course of action.

Therefore, the result of the evaluation is the therapy plan.  GET ABLE does not offer a stand-alone evaluation. The contract is for a
6-month therapy program, initiated by the assessment on Day One.


Therapy plan
Specific to the identified needs -- which hierarchical priority suggests how to sequence the treatment plan -- the Practitioner instructs
the client/family in each aspect of the recommendations.

1.          Movement-based activities.  These are simple in their demands, but very complex in their neurodevelopmental rationale.  
Just as a baby's crawling is "simple," its relevance to how the brain and body communicate and coordinate all sensory input for safe
function is not only complex, but crucial.  All HANDLE activities are rooted in sound neuroscience and designed to address multiple
functional components.  

To understand what that means, think about speech.  What are its functional components?  Start with jaw and lip and tongue control.
 Include breathing.  Add words.  Consider the ideas to be expressed.  Then put them all together: the integrative process.  And then
introduce stressors like the environment, social and emotional complications, nutritional deficiencies, or hypersensitivities.  Nothing
stands alone.  Nothing is simple.  But the HANDLE activities may look very simple!

2.          Neurological "massage" or stimulation.  There are several specific techniques developed for HANDLE that engage cranial
nerves or interhemispheric brain function; that address muscle tone and proprioception; that calm the autonomic nervous system for
a de-stress effect.  Any or all of these may be included in the individualized therapy plan.

3.          Related advice. Nutritional factors affect many neurodevelopmental disorders; in fact, nutritional deficiencies affect every
aspect of how the body/mind functions.  The body may store toxins that detract from effective or efficient performance, and there are
many methods to detoxify.  Internal organs react to stress, and by using Reflexology mapping of the body, we can "access" those organs in an entirely non-invasive way.  Other therapy approaches may complement or support the HANDLE program, or vice versa, the HANDLE
program may reinforce or cause a more lasting effect for other programs.  Examples of such include Craniosacral Therapy,
Hypobaric Oxygen treatment, vision therapy, and others.

4.          Gentle Enhancement®.  Guiding every detail of a HANDLE program is the neurodevelopment-based principle that everyone's
body will accept and use only what stimulation (or stress) it can tolerate at any given time.  Some professionals consider this
"readiness."  In the hands of a HANDLE Practitioner, Gentle Enhancement means consistent and diligent attention to subtle signs
that an activity or task exceeds the client's tolerance at that moment.  It may mean that, at an integrative level, the mind/body isn't
ready to process (or can't use) the input.  Stressed systems do not get stronger, they shut down; they avoid the intolerable input.  
This protects the individual.  So each HANDLE activity must gently enhance the weak area, to create tolerance that moves the client
ahead.

5.          Home implementation.  All therapy supplies are inexpensive or may even ask for independent construction (such as
adhering bent pipe cleaners to a sheet of cardboard, in the pattern of a croquet game!) and need absolutely no special equipment.  
The Practitioner carefully assures that the client/family understands why and how to proceed with each aspect of the therapy plan.  
Verbal and demonstrated instruction is augmented by take-home printed explanations and descriptions, and by the video of the
in-person demonstration.


Video'd sessions
As part of the contract for services, each client (or responsible party for the client) consents to having a video tape made of each visit.  
Two copies of the tape will be made at the time.  Their purposes are:

1.          The one for the client to take home:  for personal use.  Often other members of the family, who did not accompany the client,
want to know what happened.  When the Practitioner demonstrates an activity, and/or explains any aspect of the program and its
rationale, there's often more information than you want to try to remember.  The video helps remind you.  And as a bonus, you have a
kind of before-and-after comparison of behaviors and skills.  It's amazing how quickly we forget what used to be the status; sort of
like the marks on a wall show height growth, because day by day we're not aware of the small increments of change.

2.          The one retained by GET ABLE: for the Practitioner's review in planning, and for possible contributions to educational
programs related to The HANDLE Institute's needs.  If the latter proves appropriate, additional, separate consent forms will authorize
such use.

Note that these video tapes reinforce a premise basic to all HANDLE programs:  the only comparisons made are with the
individual's own accomplishments, not with any "norms" or "standards" for performance.