Sally goddard blythe biography
Interview with Sally published at www.abetterducationblogspot.com
Interview originally published at:
Sally Goddard Blythe is the author of several books on child development, including “The Well Balanced Child”, “What Babies and Children REALLY Need” and “Attention, Balance and Co-ordination – the A,B,C of Learning Success.” She is also a consultant in neuro-developmental education and Director of the pioneering Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology in Chester, England (INPP). Her work and the work of the INPP has shown a connection between the retained primitive reflexes we are born with and neuro-developmental delays that affect reading, writing, hearing, and attention issues among others.
What I loved about the title of your book, “The Well Balanced Child” is that it had more than one meaning: not only balance in a literal, physical way, but balance in the sense of harmony of the whole child. In all senses of the word, this is lacking more and more in the lives of today’s children. How does balance help a child?
Balance is about much more than the ability to stand on leg or walk across a tight rope. It is the first of the sensory systems to mature and in an essential player in how the brain interprets information from the other senses. How a child sees, hears and feels the world around him is all intimately connected to the functioning of balance. This is because balance is the only one of the sensory systems that does not have a special sensation of its own. We only become consciously aware of balance when faced with a particular challenge or when something goes wrong; motion sickness, dizziness, disorientation, visual disturbances and ringing in the ears are all examples of symptoms of disturbed balance. In other words, feelings associated with balance are hidden from view and “speak” through the other senses.
Balance provides the platform for the development of coordination, stable eye movements and visual perception – or how a ch Sally Goddard Blythe MSc.(Psych) trained at the Institute for Neuro-physiological Psychology (INPP) and became a member of its staff in 1988. Since that time she has assessed thousands of children using the INPP assessment protocols and directed them through the INPP programmes. In 1996 she developed the INPP screening test and developmental exercise programme for use in schools, which has been introduced into many schools worldwide and been the subject of independent published research. She has authored numerous articles for the general public and research papers based on children's physical development. Her book titles include: A teacher’s window into the child’s mind Reflexes learning and behaviour 2002 The well balanced child What babies and children really need Attention Balance and Coordination. The A B C of Learning Success Assessing neuromotor readiness for learning. The INPP screening test and school intervention programme. The genius of natural childhood Raising happy healthy children Neuromotor immaturity in children and adults. The INPP screening test for clinicians and health practitioners Movement – your child’s first language Reflexes Movement Learning and Behaviour 2023 2nd Revised edition of Assessing Neuromotor Readiness for Learning 2024 She has been the Director of INPP since 2001 and in addition to working in private practise has been responsible for developing, standardising and delivering training courses in the INPP method. Training in the method is currently available in 15 countries throughout the world. She has also lectured extensively throughout Europe, parts of the USA and delivered talks to working groups in the European Parliament and Westminster. She lives in north Wales and when asked what she considers to be her greatest achievement says, “the miracle of my own children and the seven grandchildren they have given me”. Interests: Music Art Landscape Life issue problem solving Director of the Institute for Neuro-Physiological Psychology (INPP) from 2000 – 2024, Sally is author of 8 books on children’s motor development, the first of which has become the “go to” book on the role and impact of childhood reflexes. INPP was established as a private research, clinical and training organisation in 1975, dedicated to the development of assessment procedures to identify underlying physical factors in specific learning difficulties and underachievement. Sally’s primary work has been in clinical practise supervising INPP programmes with children and their families. In 1996 she developed the INPP screening test and developmental movement programme for use in schools which has been used extensively in schools in the United Kingdom and many parts of the world making the programme accessible to children in the public education sector. She has also led the standardising of training materials used in INPP approved courses in the application of the INPP method throughout the world. Training in the method is available in 14 countries with the practitioner course recognised in 2018 as being equivalent to 60 post graduate credit points. Sally has lectured and provided training on the role of infant reflexes in development and later learning problems to many different groups throughout Europe including to a working party on child well-being at the European Parliament in Brussels, a cross party committee at the House of Commons and to professional groups in different parts of the United States. She has authored a number of research papers on the incidence and impact of immature neuromotor skills on development and educational achievement Her current work focuses on private practise, lecturing, interviews, research and consultancy. .