Chris Evans says ‘revolutionary’ treatment helped son’s learning difficulties

Chris Evans has discussed how his son Eli has been helped with his learning difficulties after undergoing 'revolutionary' treatment.

The radio DJ has spoken about the 'miracle' progress his seven-year-old has made after the syndrome impacted his ability to read and write.

During his Virgin Radio show on Wednesday, the 53-year-old dad updated his listeners on Eli's progress after being diagnosed with retained reflexes – a condition that means the primitive reflexes remain active beyond the normal developmental period which can interfere with the progression of voluntary skills or motor skills.

Chris shared: "Our little boy, Eli, who's seven. Right. So he loves school. He loves life. He really loves life. He's a really bright kid. But he couldn't read and he couldn't write.


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"And he is 7, you know and at the start of this year, his new year at school, he couldn't really read and he couldn't really write. He could read a little bit, but not much….. But he's creative, such genius. The kid is obviously a genius. You know, he's a shining star in our world. So was he dyslexic? How was he with his maths? Not very good."

The former Big Breakfast star shared that his wife Natasha Shishmanian began researching therapies to help their son and that she came across a clinic that "focus on a link between all these learning issues and potential issues of communication or spacial awareness."


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Continuing to explain, he added: "And they're all linked to something called retained reflexes. And retained reflexes is a phenomenon that means is that we're all born with these reflexes that are designed to keep us alive in the first few months and the first year and may be second year of our lives. And there are about 19 of them.

"They are they are sort of superpowers in our first year or couple of years of our lives. But when we no longer need them, they're supposed to leave us. Okay. But if they don't leave us, they can cause massive issues."


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He detailed over the airwaves: "OK, so here we go. We're born with a set of primitive reflexes which help the nervous system develop. By the time a child reaches their first birthday, these reflexes should have been inhibited. However, sometimes they get stuck in place, never completing their work locking the nervous system in an immature state."

"Key neuro movement therapy uses simple, precise exercises to inhibit the primitive reflexes, overcoming blockages, creating new neural pathways in the brain by maturing the nervous system and changes the neuroplasticity of our brain.

"And of course, the longer these reflexes remain locked, the more hard wired our neuroplasticity becomes and the more it is becomes an accepted a normal state when it really, really isn't."

He praised: "And this is revolutionary."


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Opening up on an exciting breakthrough for Eli, Chris told: "But yesterday we were asked to go to school. My wife and I, because Eli has gone from in a year of doing this, from not being able to read to four stages above his expected reading level for his age.

"He can also do jointup writing. He reads books now for fun. His whole personality has changed. He's become less anxious."

Chris went on to tell how the treatment takes ten minutes in the morning and at night and they have to be done properly as the purpose of them is to rewire the brain.

The personality also told how during the excercises he and wife Natasha discovered their other son Noah, eleven, and Chris himself have got retained reflexes.

Exclaiming joyfulness at Eli's progress, he added: "Eli, you know, he's not sorted, but he's getting sorted. I mean, it's like a miracle. It's like a blooming miracle. It's unbelievable!"

* Tune into the The Chris Evans Virgin Radio Breakfast Show with Sky weekdays from 6:30am

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