“Just a quick note to let you know that R. is doing great, 2 months into secondary school and he’s flying! Has made some lovely friends and doing very well academically. The treatment made such a difference in his confidence, it’s been life changing so thank you”
“Just a quick note to let you know that R. is doing great, 2 months into secondary school and he’s flying! Has made some lovely friends and doing very well academically. The treatment made such a difference in his confidence, it’s been life changing so thank you”
Lucia, October 2023 – Dublin
“We attended over a number of months and took the programme very seriously at home, following all the advice Ronan gave us to get the best out of it. Gradually, we started to notice improvements in his ability to filter out noise. By the end of the programme, going into a supermarket, a coffee shop…
My son was almost 7 when we decided to go to Cluas. He has been very sensitive to noise since he was a baby and was diagnosed with sensory processing difficulties at 3 years old. We attended occupational therapy to help with his sensory challenges, which helped greatly, but the one area there was no improvement, was his auditory processing difficulties. He was unable to filter out the noises around him and found the world a very overwhelming place. This became an even bigger issue when he started primary school, facing a noisy class and yard every day. We went to Ronan in Cluas to see if he could help. We attended over a number of months and took the programme very seriously at home, following all the advice Ronan gave us to get the best out of it. Gradually, we started to notice improvements in his ability to filter out noise. By the end of the programme, going into a supermarket, a coffee shop or any noisy environment was no longer a source of immense overwhelm and stress. His behaviour began to improve at home and school and we started to notice a consistent level of calm about him. The changes were very clear to see and we have no doubt it was because he did the listening programme with Ronan in Cluas. We can’t thank Ronan enough and would recommend to parents trying to seek help for their child.
Mum of content little boy, September 2024 – Dublin
“…I highly recommend that any parent with a neuro-diverse child should explore whether there are auditory processing challenges that are getting in the way of them reaching their potential. I am so pleased that we embarked on this journey as it’s easily been the most impactful support that I have managed to put in place…
I highly recommend that any parent with a neuro-diverse child should explore whether there are auditory processing challenges that are getting in the way of them reaching their potential. I have a 7 year old dyslexic daughter who has just finished the Cluas program and it has had a significant impact not just on her learning but also on her overall well-being.
Whereas before she always seemed to be in her own little world and often quite hard to engage with, she is now able to focus and listen more easily and I believe it has made everything a little easier for her. We are now able to have more comprehensive conversations without her being distracted by everything and anything. Her learning has picked up significantly and her teachers and family have all commented on the change. Her social group has broadened and I am hearing about more friends and requests for playdates.
And perhaps most importantly, given the reduced stimulation, she is a happier child and I have noticed her mood and energy has improved.
I am so pleased that we embarked on this journey as it’s easily been the most impactful support that I have managed to put in place for my daughter.
Grace, June 2023 – Dublin
“…I hadn’t fully grasped the extent to which Daniels auditory processing challenges were affecting his life… It’s not an exaggeration to say that Ronan and team have given him a gift that he will carry with him for his whole life”
On the advice of his OT, my 14 year old son completed an auditory program at Cluas in 2024. Having undertaken many interventions over the year, relating to Daniels sensory processing disorder, with fairly limited success, I was reasonably sceptical about the potential change that the Cluas program would achieve. I assumed that any improvement in Daniels capacity to cope with auditory processing would be marginal and perhaps hard to quantify. I was absolutely delighted to be proven wrong! Daniel has undergone a profound change in how he experiences sound. It has moved from overwhelming and chaotic to ordered and enjoyable. In real terms this means that he has gone from: being anxious and tuned out in noisy family restaurants, to relaxed and chatty. From leaving the teenage disco’s early because he found it oppressively loud, to participating in nightly Céilí’s and discos at the Gaeltacht without any difficulty. From being disengaged and inattentive in class, to coming home talking about what the teacher said. To fights every night over homework, to sitting down to homework with a sense of purpose because he knows what happened in class today. I hadn’t fully grasped the extent to which Daniels auditory processing challenges were affecting his life and I am utterly grateful that he had the opportunity to attend Cluas. It’s not an exaggeration to say that Ronan and team have given him a gift that he will carry with him for his whole life.
Catherine, September 2024 – Wicklow
“…We found that Cluas totally understood our concerns and could identify issues we had not seen ourselves.…Towards the end of Hugh’s Cluas programme and especially in the month that followed we noticed significant change in Hugh… it changed our lives and transformed our little boy…”
Hugh met all his developmental milestones until his second birthday, where we noticed that although he had good singular-word vocabulary, he was not attempting to construct sentences.
He began to demonstrate strong tendencies towards routine and functioned well within very structured timetables. Any deviations from these routines led to tantrums and total refusals to participate. Hugh liked to spend time on ‘screens’ when let and tended to prefer them over interacting with children his own age. We fell into the trap of letting him have screens to control him in public. His ability to share and turn-take was limited.
Despite Speech and Occupational Theory over 12 months, we saw little progress in his speech & language or social/emotional maturity.
We heard about Cluas from a televised interview and decided to explore further. We found that Pascal and Ronan at Cluas totally understood our concerns and could identify issues we had not seen ourselves.
Cluas made us no promises nor applied pressure for us to engage with their programmes but we spoke to others and decided to give it a go.
We chose to start Hugh on a 15-day programme – with the first 2 days completed in the Cluas Centre and the remaining completed at home. There were a few times early in the programme where we felt Hugh was taking one-step forward and two steps back, but Ronan and Pascal were always on the end of the phone or email to guide us.
Towards the end of Hugh’s 6-month programme and especially in the month that followed we noticed significant change in Hugh. He became more tolerant and understanding when he didn’t get his own way, his ability to turn-take/share was well improved and in general we were no longer operating on Hugh terms.
Hugh’s language and ability to hold meaningful intelligent conversations has totally changed. He can now ‘think ahead’ and asks the inquisitive questions that children often wonder about. Hugh’s teachers are really pleased at his progression since he joined over 12 months ago and academically Hugh is keeping pace with his peers – if not outpacing them in some areas.
There are still times today that Hugh can become over excited and can be a little socially immature – but this is a far-cry from where we started out, unsure if he would be able to attend main school at the same times as his peers. There is nowhere we cannot take Hugh today and we no longer worry about his behaviour over others is own age.
I would love if Hugh did what he was told every time and came in for his meals when called – but I now know that I’m in the space of every other parent with a 6 year old .. which is a nice place to be!
I cannot say if Cluas will work for everyone but only that it changed our lives and transformed our little boy.
Thank you Ronan and Pascal.
Laura and Sean, December 2018 – Dublin
“…We are delighted Liam has experienced the benefits of the Cluas program to date…he feels his hears things much more clearly than he used and his concentration has improved…His Dad & I felt Liam’s ability to concentrate had improved in the weeks prior to the Leaving Cert. He got 440 points…!”
Hi Ronan,
Just want to let you know that Liam is very pleased with his Leaving Cert results.
He got 440 points and got a place in the 1st round in Business & Management (level 8) in TUD. This was his preferred realistic choice. He feels the environment in TUD will suit his needs better than UCD.
He mentioned recently that he feels his hears things much more clearly than he used and his concentration has improved. His Dad & I felt Liam’s ability to concentrate had improved in the weeks prior to the Leaving Cert.
We are delighted Liam has experienced the benefits of the Cluas program to date. Hopefully he will enjoy further benefits and his learning experiences in third level will be optimized & enjoyable.
Kind regards,
Eileen, September 2021 – Dublin
“…After the initial meeting with Ronan at Cluas, I finally understand better the source of her struggle and frustration at school and work with her to help her to reach her potential without being hindered by her inability to keep her focus at school. Completing the Cluas programme transformed our lives…”
My daughter was 7 years old when we started her programme at Cluas. She was having difficulty keeping up at school and even though she was well-behaved in class she hardly ever knew what her teacher was talking about that day. She was returning home from school very frustrated.
After initial meeting with Ronan at Cluas, I finally understood why she was struggling with her attention at school and we were very hopeful the programme would help her improve in all areas she was falling behind.
After completing the Cluas programme her school results improved. She was able to tell me each day in detail what she learned that day. Completing the Cluas programme transformed our lives. I can understand better the source of her struggle and frustration at school and work with her to help her to reach her potential without being hindered by her inability to keep her focus at school.
Follow up email from Evelyn’s mum below – March 2022:
Hi Ronan,
just a quick note.
I had a parent/teacher meeting with Evelyn’s teacher and she gave me her score from before Halloween and after Christmas. In English she went from 81% to 93% and it Math she jumped from 53% to 89%.
It is a massive improvement for her in a short period of time.
Thank you for all the work you did with her.
Best Regards,
Kathleen, February and March 2022 – Dublin
“…Catriona’s has improved tenfold. Reading , spelling, interaction in class. But most importantly Catriona’s behaviour is back to normal. So it looks like the work you’re doing is giving many children a better chance in life…”
Hi Ronan,
Just a brief update on Catriona’s pro29. Cathal, age 2. SLDgress. Heather went to catch up with Catriona’s teacher, to be honest I was very nervous.
Needless to say I was blown away when Heather came home and told me Catriona’s has improved ten fold. Reading , spelling, interaction in class. But most importantly Catriona’s behaviour is back to normal.
So it looks like the work you’re doing is giving many children a better chance in life.
That’s a mighty sense of job satisfaction.
Best wishes,
Aidan , Heather & Catriona, March 2018 – Dublin
“…he was struggling not just with school work and relationships – but everyday life at home – he was always in trouble for now paying attention / not concentrating / lacking interest / not caring…now he can much better filter the ‘noise’ and concentrate on tasks…”
There were a number of factors that led to Ben doing a Cluas program at home – he lacked concentration in the sense that he would flit from one activity to another and couldn’t sit still as they say for any length of time. Ben’s name could be called many, many times a day and it was as though he couldn’t hear me. He, if asked to carry out more than one instruction at a time, say go to your room and get your schoolbag and call your brother – and don’t forget to turn out the light – he may if we were lucky remember one of the tasks.
Often he would get distracted and I may find he had moved onto something else and wouldn’t have accomplished any of the tasks. Homework was more often than not a struggle most of the time – Ben has two other brothers and finding the time and to be honest patience (SOME DAYS) was taking its toll on family life. Homework often ended in tears … and I could see his frustration building especially as he became a little bigger and more was expected of him at school.
I don’t mean to compare him to his older brother but he rarely read any books and it was always something we as a family encouraged. He fought with his brothers often and now I can see looking back that he was confused and frustrated – who could blame him?
So to school – Ben had many friends – anyone who meets him instantly is drawn to him – he is a bright, warm, bubbly child but he often said that he didn’t feel that he fit into a group and felt alone at school. He said that he had people to talk to and have fun with but felt a little like an outsider – this as you can imagine would break your heart and to see him sad like this at times was unbearable.
This I must stress has all changed and his whole world has opened up and he skips into school now and is so much happier. Academically Ben to an extent was holding his own at school – but each teacher he has had through the years always came back with the same … he lacks concentration at times, he can’t seem to focus on his work, daydreams, so this coupled with what I saw at home over many years led me to Cluas.
I could see that he was struggling not just with school work and relationships – but everyday life at home – he was always in trouble for now paying attention / not concentrating / lacking interest / not caring….and I was turning into the mother from hell !!!! God love the poor child!
He gets along fine with his brothers and I guess will always have bad days … that’s what brothers are there for – to fight with and learn from I guess but it must be said that although arguments happened and will in the future, Ben is not a physical child and any trouble can be smoothed over pretty easily.
Ben will go out to play with the other boys on the road now – even without his older brother – whom I think used to mind him and almost fill in the blanks for him. Before I did notice on many occasions that he wouldn’t go out to play when people called and this concerned me greatly but now that has all changed.
He is definitely happier at school. He has made new friends and seems to have found a new group of people – while still retaining his old pals. He has found boys he has stuff in common with – I think his communication skills have improved greatly and is discerning what he likes and doesn’t.
We had a chat last night as we knew we were on the last leg of our journey with Cluas so to speak and Ben says he can hear things in school more easily – for instance, where he sits there are photocopiers on the corridor outside his classroom – before when he heard them he couldn’t stop hearing them and he wouldn’t be able to listen to the teacher and now he can still hear the noise but can recognise that he doesn’t need to listen to it and can continue to hear the teacher. Likewise he says when two classmates at either side of him say something at the same time he can control who he wants to listen to and answer.
He has taken to writing poetry and I was at a recital yesterday where he stood on stage and recited it to us. He reads so much more now and even has an opinion on what books and authors he likes. His sport has improved – he says it is easier to play now as he can differentiate who is calling to pass the ball!
I have seen a dramatic change in Ben and how he responds to us at home – he will hear you when you call him, He is far more aware of what is going on around him and I don’t have to keep calling him to get a response like I did before. Insofar as completing tasks he is now far more switched on – he won’t always get the three or four thing I may ask him to, but very often he does … go Ben !!!!
I have learnt from this too – how to slow down a little when I speak and not to expect too much and I think that helps a lot too.
Natalie, June 2014 – Dublin
“… Since the Cluas program, my son has changed in his ability to communicate, listen and interact with his peers and adults. This has greatly reduced his stress levels and melt downs… He even goes on play-dates now!“
Since the Cluas program, my son has changed in his ability to communicate, listen and interact with his peers and adults. This has greatly reduced his stress levels – which was the main reason for doing the Cluas program.
His time in school has gone from a stressful one with “melt downs”, toiletry issues, lack of friends and “zoning out” to one where he now has friends, can interact in class and has lost the stress that showed before. He doesn’t walk on his toes as much, he willingly approaches visiting adults to talk. He has stopped bed wetting totally which use to occur during term time, another example of his stresses at school. He even goes on play-dates now!
The most difficult time of the program was the start as we had to try and incorporate it into our busy day and to find things to do that were of interest. Once we got into a routine, it was easier.
Cathy and John, January 2014 – Cork