ABIGAIL BY HER MOTHER
Cerebral Palsy and generalised brain damage
Our Abigail was born, 5 weeks premature and weighing less than 2 kg she was delivered by emergency ceasar because I had pre-enclampsia. According to our pediatric neurologist two days before her birth two large areas, one on the left and one on the right hemisphere of her brain died, she had cerebral palsy and our journey had begun.
Progress excruciatingly slow
We tried everything to help our child, numerous therapies, occupational, speech, physical, hyperbaric, horse riding etc some helped in the short term others were excruciatingly slow maybe 10% improvement in range of movement after one year. Some were unpleasant and even down right painful for Abigail and down right torture for us to hurt her so. I was often crying with her, trying to explain that we were trying to help her.
She just wandered around in circles
She walked but her co-ordination, balance and posture were poor, she didn’t seem to understand her world, she just wandered around in circles, stumbling frequently and without direction; we had to watch out for her constantly for fear she harmed herself or broke anything she might bump into. Abigail was also very thin and never looked healthy to us.
TST at last
Thankfully at last we found our way to “Advance Centre” home of “The Scotson Technique” here Linda’s evaluation told us that the huge range of problems Abigail had, could be explained by her immature and abnormal breathing. It was all so surprisingly logical and it opened our eyes.
More Progress in 5 months then all previous years
We achieved more in three months with the Scotson Technique than in our years of conventional therapy and it was so gentle, we could do it while she slept. This was the biggest bonus for me, I do not feel that I have to wrestle my child down and inflict medical torture on her anymore. The foundations of these movements are just plain common sense, which motivates us to do them; they mimic the movements and stages that normal infants go through to achieve normal breathing and a good strong diaphragm that creates good posture vital for children with brain damage. Good breathing and posture causes better oxygen delivery which leads to more energy being available to the brain which can then form more connections between brain cells.
Mother’s thoughts
I really urge any parents to do this therapy for their children; it certainly changed Abigail’s life. Her posture, her balance and her understanding have all improved tremendously. She has begun to move purposefully, to anticipate, even to count and to copy, she knows where things are and what to avoid, also what she is not supposed to do! She has put on weight and begun to be a picture of health, but most of all she has begun to enjoy her childhood and now we look forward to the new things she can do with each day that comes.