Patients' Stories

The following is an excerpt from a letter written to Mr Clive Lindley-Jones regarding one of his recent Sunflower patients:

Heather's story

Our daughter, Heather, was six years old. She had been diagnosed with Autistic Spectrum Disorder, Receptive Aphasia, Cognitive Disorder and severe speech and language delay. We were told by an Educational Psychologist to ‘put her in a special school and forget about her’, and concentrate on her older sister. OUCH! Her attention span could be counted in seconds rather than minutes; she was hyperactive, had virtually no eye contact and only her close family could understand her poor speech. She was isolated, withdrawn and fearful of any new person, environment or experience. She also had digestive problems, which aggravated her behaviour. Going on a simple shopping trip or a short holiday were virtually impossible, as her behaviour made them extremely stressful. We were desperate to help her, and us, as our lives were almost intolerable. Then we found Clive Lindley-Jones.

The first consultation consisted largely of Heather marauding around the room in her usual uncontrollable manner, refusing to cooperate with even basic requests, and talking her own special brand of gibberish - whilst Clive tried to establish her medical background. It was a very stressful hour. Clive was not sure if he could help, but was willing to try. So were we.

After a one-hour break we embarked on our second session. Heather was feeling a little more at home and agreed to lie on the couch, but only on top of Mum. Amazingly, she allowed Clive to touch her. He proceeded to assess her cranium, spine and pelvis. Lots of things were ‘in the wrong place’. Clive manipulated her head, neck, spine and pelvis. She gradually began to look and feel more relaxed. Her eyes looked clearer and her face looked less stressed and happier. The journey home was quiet and calm, a novel experience for us.

A few days later Heather touched her forehead and the back of her neck and declared ‘the hurt is gone’. We did not know she had had ‘a hurt’ as she had never told us, but we did know she was calmer, sleeping better and speaking more clearly since her treatment. Her teachers had also noticed improvements in her attention span, level of cooperation and eye contact. This was after just one session. We decided to carry on and see where it might lead.

On subsequent visits Clive worked on her using osteopathy – which was still administered whilst lying on Mum. He also started treating her with homeopathy. Heather was unable to cooperate with him directly so Mum was used as a surrogate – a new approach, which was a learning curve for us all, but produced the desired results in finding the right treatments for Heather. She continued to improve over the ensuing months. It has been a long and bumpy road at times, but we have never doubted that the treatments were hugely beneficial to Heather, and therefore the rest of the family too. Today we have a very different daughter.

Heather is now 12 years old. She is physically very robust and well. Although still Statemented she is in a mainstream school, which she loves, and has been elected class vice captain. She is popular, friendly and outgoing, loves new experiences and learning new skills. She has been on a residential outward-bound course, where she tried abseiling, canoeing, gorge walking and orienteering. She has also been on a 4-day school trip to France. Her speech is clear and her reading has improved enormously. Family holidays are great now; she is very enthusiastic about travelling and is the first to whip out the suitcases and pack.

We still see Clive about 4 times a year, to keep Heather balanced. She tells us when she needs to see him. What does she think of him? She speaks as she finds and says, quite simply, ‘Clive has magic hands. He takes the hurt away and makes me feel better’.

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15 Warwick Street, Oxford, OX4 1SZ, UK | 01865 243351