Click here to read the article on The Sunday Post website
Nikki says KCR training had an immediate effect on Brogan. Any kid can struggle to settle at nursery, but Nikki McGurk knew trouble would lie ahead each day. Young son Brogan has ADHD, and nursery – and just about everything else – was a real trial. Now, though, Nikki, from Alva, Clackmannanshire, says the fortunes of four-year-old Brogan have been transformed.
It’s all thanks to Scots physio Hugh Gilbert who reckons he can stretch away the agonies of ADHD. Glasgow-born Hugh, who has spent 45 years as a physiotherapist, has developed a therapy called Kinetic Chain Release, KCR. And Nikki and many other families affected by ADHD have hailed for its success.
Brogan has had behavioural difficulties almost since birth. “The doctors said we’ll have to wait until he starts school for a full diagnosis but he ticks every box and I’m convinced it’s ADHD,” said Nikki, 28. “At nursery he was screaming and shouting. And I would have to tell him things 20 or 30 times to get his attention. You can’t imagine how tiring and demoralising that would be.” Nikki took the KCR training in April and says there was an instant reaction from Brogan.
“Honestly, the nursery said they could see a change immediately,” reveals Nikki. “He’s making eye contact with the other children and talking to them rather than always being disruptive. And that eye contact thing is massive. Not being able to look into your child’s eyes as a mum just takes the joy away. “It’s now becoming natural for him to look at me. I don’t even have to work at it anymore. And I don’t have to repeat myself constantly to get one thing done. “You just tell him like any mum. Getting through daily life has become so much better. I can’t believe the change in him.”
The Sunday Post recently highlighted the spiralling costs and ongoing controversy over ADHD. More than half a million kids across the UK are affected and the number of annual prescriptions in Scotland alone has soared to over 100,000 at a cost of £6 million in the past year. Hugh, though, feels his successes show there is light at the end of the tunnel for those at the end of their tether. “I developed KCR after 10 years of research,” said Hugh, 68. “It’s mainstream and aligns the body through simple mobilisations and stretching. Anyone can learn it.”
Sessions can take as little as 20 minutes, working gentle mobilisations from the ankle to the neck. Although it wasn’t intended as a treatment for ADHD, practitioners and parents who’ve attended Hugh’s courses have reported striking successes. “We still don’t know exactly how it works,” admits Hugh who teaches KCR worldwide. “But when we bring the physical body into balance it must be affecting neurological systems too. When we do it we get consistent changes in these kids.”