The ABR’eal Truth

Since Nathan was little, we always played a game at the pool. I would pull him out to the edge of the pool, ask him to stand up, and when he stood, I would have him “jump” to the water. Today while we were at the pool I noticed something thoroughly depressing. He can no longer put both feet flat on the floor. His hippotherapist also told me on Friday that she is noticing mild scoliosis – he locks his left knee when he tries to stand, which makes his back tilt to the left. Recently I also noticed that he’s scissoring even when at rest, and that his foot is starting to look deformed. Basically, his body is starting to deteriorate and he’s starting to have a myriad of orthopedic problems. All the signs are there. I can ignore this no longer. It’s rapidly becoming an ISSUE.

My conclusion – it’s time to stop futzing around and time to get serious about ABR. I’ve talked about ABR in this blog. It’s one of my favorite therapies. But one that I have just never dedicated much time to.

Why? Because it’s so slow. Because it’s so subtle. Because I can’t SEE what’s going on. Because it’s very time consuming. Because it requires patience and that is my biggest deficit.

But lately I have come to understand many things. For example, the fact that ABR works by feeding energy to the cells. The fact that ABR bypasses the brain so, even with a damaged brain, it can help the child. I never thought I’d say that as I always wanted to do therapies that helped the brain. But now we are shifting gears and the fact that we CAN bypass the brain is a major benefit.

A couple of months ago I spoke with Leonid Bylum, the genius behind ABR, and he has been giving me more information on how and why ABR works. He even sent me a video specifically addressing the reasons for Nathan’s lack of head control from a structural point of view. So about 2 months ago we started the ABR challenge.

The ABR Challenge

I told Leonid that if he was so confident that his method could help Nathan gain control, why don’t we set up a “test”. He gave us a series of exercises to do, and a certain amount of time for each exercise. He said that after 50 hours of 4 specific exercises, Nathan should have better head control. So we started about 2 months ago, doing 1.5 hours on weekdays. We are now close to finishing our first exercise and 50 hours.

The verdict?

It works. ABR works. As subtle, as gentle at it is – it has a profound impact on the child’s body. We started with an exercise on the front of Nathan’s neck. I’ve noticed that he DOES have better anterior neck control – his head doesn’t flop forwards as much. We haven’t worked on the sides or back so he’s just as floppy in those directions. But the part that we’ve worked on – the front – is stronger, more defined, more controlled.

The Real Truth about ABR?

It works. I have long and hard resisted this truth. I didn’t want to have to spend 3 hours a day doing manual passive exercises on Nathan. I wanted ACTIVE exercise where I could SEE what is going on. But the reality is that Nathan’s structure is starting to suffer and unless we work on his structure, he will have to experience many painful surgical interventions.

All of the children that have been doing ABR that I have been following for the past 1.5 years have experienced structural, and functional, changes. All of them.

It’s time.

ABR is going to become a focus for us. An integral part of Nathan’s rehabilitation. Will it lead to functional changes? I hope so, but that is no longer my expectation for ABR. My goal is to help preserve Nathan’s structure to minimize painful surgical interventions. If Nathan also experiences functional changes, we will wholeheartedly welcome them.

So it’s official for me: ABR works, and is essential for Mr. Nathan. Time to buckle down and get to work.