I’ve had a few people contacting me about Nathan and what we’re doing with him so I thought it might be time for another “Approach” post.
Here’s our current approach towards Nathan’s development:
Overview
We believe that to give Nathan as many opportunities for a good quality of life, we need to help him heal from the inside via the foods and supplements we give him, spiritually by giving him a stable rhythm and cognitive stimulation, and physically by keeping him active and having him on an intensive physical therapy program.
Nutrition and digestion are strongly connected with brain health and development. The brain needs lots of nutrients to develop and for these nutrients to reach his brain he needs a good diet and supplements.
Rhythm helps in many ways. It gives him stability and confidence. It engages him in many sensory activities. It helps with behavioral issues – if he knows what happens every day, what comes first, what follows, etc he will be more willing to engage. For example, since he knows his physical therapy is followed by a splash in the pool, he works harder in physical therapy. We also keep his mind engaged with stories and crafts etc.
Exercises is essential for the health of the body. Physical therapy and swimming keep him active and improves his circulation and strength. Additionally, we have learned that 90% of brain growth comes from proprioceptive stimuli – movement and vestibular stimulation. Thereore the cornerstone of his program is CME medek, swimming and swinging.
By making sure we are supporting him in all of these ways, we give him the chance to stay physically healthy, emotionally and spiritually happy, and in a path towards development!
Diet
Nathan is on a gluten casein free diet. He does not eat anything containing wheat or anything containing dairy. Mostly he eats things like grains (millet, quinoa, amarinth, brown rice), mixed with a protein (fish, chicken, red meat) and lots of vegetables (every vegetable we can find)! We try to feed him organic foods as much as possible. We keep him away from sugar as much as possible. If he eats sugar, it is something we baked and is gluten casein free.
Supplements
This is his current list of supplements:
– B6 from Metabolics
– Combocillus
– European Walnut
– NADPH
– Fig Tree
– IH Formula
– Flax seeds
– Manuka Honey
– Cat Claw
– Fish Oil
– Rutavite
– Pituitrophen
– Qantum Nerve Complex
– Drenamin
– Garlic
– Neurolink
If you would like any info about any of these supplements, let me know and I can figure out the brand name for each. They are all very very very high quality and most are imported from England.
Chinese Herbs
Nathan also takes a Chinese tea made specifically for him by a Korean doctor. He is an acupuncturist and herbalist. He reads Nathan’s pulse and then makes a concoction specifically for him.
He also gave Nathan a super super super special formula that we have been giving him for a few months now. The primary ingredient in that is musk.
We also see Dr. Kim every so often for acupuncture.
Homeopathic
Nathan takes G-therapy, from a Homeopathic doctor in India. It helps to create new synaptic connections and dendritic growth.
Chiropractic / Biochemist
Nathan sees a Chiropractor who is also a Biochemist and a Kinesiologist. She muscle tests him to see what supplements she needs. We bring every treatment / supplement that we find to her, and she muscle tests him to see how much he needs, and how often, and whether or not it is even appropriate for him. This method allows his body to tell us what it needs, instead of us having to guess. Her premise is that we only supply what the body cannot produce on its own. For example, Vitamin C is something that many people take separately, but we do not give it to Nathan. Instead, we try to give his body all the tools to make all of the chemicals that it needs on its own. Every time a supplement is introduced, the body needs to process it, and make use up other chemicals and minerals etc to process it, so we try to bring the body to homeostasis so it helps itself. She also gives him chiropractic adjustments.
Osteopath
Nathan sees an Osteopath at least once a month. He does cranial adjustments and checks to see if there is any tightness or obstructions in the flow of his energy or CSF and other fluids.
Our osteopath is also an anthroposophic doctor and recently prescribed a few oils: Chamomile for his bath, and Nicotiana and something else that I forgot to wrap around his extremities. This is very new so I will report more on this later.
Epsom / Bath Salts
Nathan takes baths with epsom salts that are also aromatherapy. We use PlantLife Bath salts. These are very good for many aspects of his health.
Rhythm / Education
Nathan’s rhythm and education is currently formed on a Waldorf foundation.
In a nutshell, Waldorf education is all about teaching the children skills that are developmentally appropriate. For example, they do not introduce intellectual concepts to young children, as the early years are all about imagination and play. They also promote independence and spiritual development in children. There is a LOT to waldorf so I won’t talk about it here, you can visit the link above or look on the internet.
Based on this developmental aproach, we have created a Rhythm / Routine for Nathan’s day. It looks something like this:
Morning Song & Massage
Breakfast
Nature Walk
CME Medek
Circle Time
Snack
Domestic Arts / Crafts
Swimming at home pool
Lunch
Story / Puppet show
Nap
Snack
Circle Time
CME Medek
Out of home activities (play dates, park, pool, visit cousins, shopping, errands)
Dinner
Bath and Massage
Nightime Story & Song
Bedtime
I am going to try to create a video with snippets of his day in the future so you can see what it all looks like.
This includes a lot of sensory stimulation – he touches things, smells things, hears things, etc. It also contains a lot of proprioception and movement.
He also receives child development therapy where he is learning things such as: colors, actions, objects, if/then, to recognize his name in writing, and many other things.
Physical Therapy
Currenly Nathan’s physical therapy is comprised by a home program called CME Medek.
We do 2 45 minute sessions at home every day. We also fly for Nathan to see CME Medek specialists every 4-8 weeks.
This therapy consists for various exercises designed to remove support and instigate spontaneous responses which treat his brain. For example, we balance him on a board in space to make him balance himself and hold up his trunk. There are various posts and videos about Medek on this site if you wish to learn more about it.
Speech Therapy
Currently, the primary speech therapy goal is to teach Nathan how to use his eye gaze to communicate. We are working on getting him a Dynavox Vmax with Eyemax. This will read his retina so he can make choices on a computer screen. THis will be used initially for him to communicate his needs and to make selections between toys, books, etc. Eventually this will teach him literacy and become a more complex method of communication.
We also work on oral motor skills. We do Beckman exercises before ever meal. We also use a Z-vibe and a few other oral motor tools to help improve his tongue lateralization and lip closure.
We are going to be seeing a specialist in Venezuela in the future to help with his communication skills.
Occupational Therapy
Nathan sees an occupational therapist to help with his fine motor skills. She typically places him on his side on prop sitting to teach him to use his hands. He can now hold objects for extended periods but is still learning how to release objects by choice.
Other Therapies
Nathan has done hippotherapy since he was 1 year old. He is currently taking a small break from it because of various interruptions in our schedule, but will soon be resuming regular hippotherapy lessons.
He also receives aquatic therapy twice a week. The mostly have him on his belly in the water to get him to kick and to lift his head up. If he doesn’t hold his head, his head falls into the water, so he has learned to hold it up in an almost horizontal position. The focus of this therapy is mostly exercise and movement, but also socialization, as there are other children in the water at the same time. It is a therapeutic pool at about 90 degrees.
Equipment
Currently, we are using the following pieces of equipment:
– Ormesa Bug wheelchair for feeding and transportation
– Kidwalk gait trainer for standing and walking
– Hart Walker for standing and walking
– Childrite seat for seating on the ground
– Corner chair for seating on the ground
– Neck collar to hold his head while using the computer
– ErgoBaby and Baby Bjorn to hold him in while on quick trips
– Danmar collar so he can float independently in the water
– Wingbo for swinging and vestibular stimulation
Western Doctors
Nathan sees a general pediatrician who specializes in children with special needs. She is our go-to-guy for any general illness and medical testing. She is smarter than any neurologist, neurosurgeon, orthopedic, etc. We go to her first before anything and double check any recommendations from other doctors with her. She is Nathan’s primary doctor.
He also sees: Neurologist, Neurosurgeon, Gastroenterologist, Pediatric Opthalmologist, Orthopedist, Orthotist.
Western Medicines
Currenly, the only prescription drug that Nathan is on is Prevacid for reflux or GERD.
Things we wish to incorporate in the future
Stem cells in China if/when funds permit.
Daily ABR sessions. This helps with his physical structure. It is a passive exercise so we have not had time to incorporate it into his routine. However, we hope to find time to incorporate it in the future.
Speech therapy and communication. This will be a major focus for us now that we have a strong physical therapy and biomedical protocol in place. Now we have to help him learn to talk and communicate!
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