Equipment Description Page

The Complete Learning Breakthrough Kit

1. Belgau Balance Board

2. Visual Motor Control Stick

3. Pendulum Ball

4. Target Stand/Target Pins

5. Bean Bags

6. Toss Back Board with 4 Super Balls

7. Program Instruction Handbook

8. Program Activity Work-along DVD

Belgau Balance Board

The Belgau Balance Board is the most important piece in the LBP and is the cornerstone of our superior sensory integration approach. The board sits atop two rotating rockers allowing the user to increase the difficulty level. Because neural involvement increases at higher levels of balance difficulty, this unique board allows for precise adjustments and incremental increases in brain processing speeds. A grid on top of the board provides a mechanism for keeping the body centered allowing both sides of the brain to be equally involved. These features make the Belgau Balance Board an excellent tool for addressing a variety of brain processing issues. Activities on the board improve the integration and timing of both hemispheres of the brain as well as the integration and resolution of the vestibular, visual, audiological, kinesthetic, and tactile functions. As the brain becomes more efficient, learning problems like ADD/ADHD, dyslexia, CAPD, sequencing for mathematics, language processing and reading are dealt with at their source.

Visual Motor Control Stick/Pendulum Ball

The VMC Stick and Pendulum Ball combine to provide a very powerful brain process organizer. The VMC Stick is designed to provide for a variety of different activities at differing levels of difficulty. Using the VMC Stick helps to develop the ability to structure space, visualize motion in space, track objects, do pre-motor planning, execution, feedback/evaluation and then executive function planning as the user anticipates the next cycle of movements. It also improves the brain’s ability to effectively process information from various senses and use that information to plan and execute motor movements effectively. The VMC Stick is held horizontally in front with both hands. Because both arms move in unison as the Pendulum Ball is struck, the VMC Stick serves to integrate both sides of the body and, consequently, both hemispheres of the brain. As this happens the timing systems between the two hemispheres of the brain become synchronized and brain processing efficiency increases. Used with the Belgau Balance Board, the VMC Stick and Pendulum Ball are highly effective sensory integration devices.

Target Stand/Target Pins

The Target Stand and Target Pins are used with the Pendulum Ball. By introducing targets into the activities, the precision requirements are increased. As the precision requirements increase, the neural processes in the brain must become more resolved. The VMC Stick can also be used to add variety and effectiveness to the activities. Games that include patterns and sequences are provided which help address sequencing difficulties experienced by many people with learning problems. Like other parts of the LBP, the Target Stand and Pins improve the integration between the senses.

Bean Bags

Set of three colored bean bags of different weights. The Bean Bags are an effective way of developing brain function. They are valuable in refining and extending the integration of the two brain hemispheres and of the various brain components that deal with spatial relations, timing relationships, visual processes, movement, gross and fine motor skills development and balance. Activities involving Bean Bags require the user to process information from the tactile, motor, vestibular and visual processing systems. Because many of the activities use sequences or patterns, Bean Bags, used in conjuction with the Belgau Balance Board, can be helpful in resolving the sequencing difficulties that are evident in a variety of brain processing disorders like ADD/ADHD and dyslexia. The Bean Bags can be used alone or with a partner.

Super Ball Toss Back

The Toss Back Board is 16”x16” and has a numbered grid with nine squares on the top. It sits at an angle to the floor providing a surface suitable for returning a ball that is tossed to it. Throwing, catching, and controlling the motion of either one or two super balls while standing on the Belgau Balance Board stimulates the development and enhances the function of brain processes. Maximum brain performance depends on precise inputs through the vestibular, tactile, motor, auditory, and visual systems. Activities with the Toss Back stimulate the integration of these senses vertically, from the brain stem to the cortex, and horizontally, from one hemisphere to the other. This device addresses a variety of brain processing issues by engaging the user in a series of activities that improve brain timing, sequencing, proprioceptive control and body synchronization.

Pendulum Ball

The Pendulum Ball is used to stimulate the timing between the two hemispheres of the brain. The ball can be adjusted to different heights allowing the period of the swing to be adjusted. Because the period of the swing is constant at any given length, activities using the Pendulum Ball aid the brain in sensing, developing and refining the sense of timing. Controlling the motion of the ball requires the user to make mental plans, execute those plans, collect feedback and then process the results. When the ability to execute the movement matches the plan devised in the brain, the brain processes employed in conceiving the plan are validated. When the execution of the movement does not match the planned result, the brain engages in a recalibration process that serves as a basis for improving the neural efficiency of the process. Because the ball moves relative to the force applied, it is a valuable feedback device for developing brain structures that process visual space and the motor control of objects in visual space. By incorporating the Belgau Balance Board with the Pendulum Ball, integration between the two hemispheres of the brain as well as the tactile, visual, vestibular and motor systems is achieved.