The Puzzle

Having a child with severe special needs is a little bit like receiving something like this:

At first you don’t even know how/where to start figuring out how to help your child.

Our puzzle contains pieces in all areas of development – sensory, cognitive, communication, physical, equipment, accessibility, medical, etc etc

I confess that today, I finally feel that we are starting to figure out how to put all the pieces together to form a cohesive picture – a healthy, happy Nathan who is living to the max and receiving all of the opportunities that we can offer him. Here is what our puzzle is looking like:

Anat Baniel Method

Creates brain maps for movement and association of body parts.

Having neural maps for movement and being able to feel his body parts and how to make them work together enhances Nathan’s able to integrate and use CME.

CME

Teaches the brain to fight gravity and helps strengthen physical and neural connections for movement and being upright.

But in order to gain the ability to fight gravity he needs the body to be strong enough to support him.  Muscles are very expensive and the brain sends them the wrong signals.  This is where ABR comes in.

ABR

Releases and strengthens the myofascia and deep connective tissue, which preserves structure and enables function

For example, strengthening the myofascia and connective tissue in the chest enhances helps with trunk control and respiration, which in turn improves oxygenation of the brain.

HBOT

Oxygenation of the brain helps to feed the body’s cells and to wake up dormant cells as well as improve the function of existing cells.

If the cells are being “fed” rich oxygen and they can absorb it better, the brain will experience enhanced function.  Now that the brain is receiving more oxygen, it also needs to receive the proper nutrients.

G-therapy

Stimulates neurotransmitters and acts as a nerve growth factor

Now the brain is receiving both oxygen and rich nutrients to enhance its development.

Reflex integration

If infant reflexes are retained, they can disturb some or all of the functions of highre brain centers, including behavior, learning and the integration of gross or fine motor movements.

Now that the brain is receiving all of the proper information (ABM and CME), as well as being “fed” the proper nutrients and oxygenation, it needs help removing the “obstacles” that keep it stuck in useless loops (infant reflexes).  Integrating these reflexes is essential to free the child to learn and experience voluntary movements.

Cold Laser Therapy

The light and waves of the laser penetrate the body and feed the mitochondria, as well as helps the cells to duplicate without cell memory.

Since the cells are being fed all the proper messages through ABM, CME and reflex integration, the “clean slate” cells can then function properly as they have no memory of “damaged” functions.

GFCF Diet

The gluten free casein free diet keeps his immune system functioning optimally, which frees up energy so the body can focus on development, not on fighting allergies or infections.

Supplements

Having a healthy balanced immune system enables the body to absorb nutrients which in turn enhance central nervous system development. Key supplements are fish oils which enhance brain development, as well as B vitamins and others.

Putting the puzzle together

These are the key pieces of Nathan’s puzzle. Now the question is, how do they come together?

In the mornings he goes to school, and works on:

Floor time to get him to move on his own, communication with his yes/no buttons, soon they will also work with him on the dynavox, time in the pony gait trainer, cognitive goals, social goals.

In the afternoons, this is his home program:

From Random

Every 3rd week, the 1pm activity is replaced by an hour of Anat Baniel Method therapy. He does 1 week on, 2 weeks off.

After 6pm he goes out with his dad to ride his trycicle which he loves, to go swimming, to go to the movies or mall or the store, etc. That’s his “relax” time. And on weekends … well … we do almost nothing therapeutic, other than love and chill therapy 🙂

And my goal is to STICK TO THIS PLAN. We have explored enough, we now know what works and what doesn’t, and I believe this is what we need to do. Now, time for consistent hard work 🙂