Samuel by his mother
Left-sided Hemiplegia
We started coming to Advance with Samuel when he was 18 months old. That was 7 months ago. Since we have started so many changes have taken place. There have been so many steps forward, that it is difficult to remember and relay them all but I will try.
Many changes after starting TST
At the point of starting Scotson technique, Samuel was unaware of his left arm (he has left sided hemiplegia/CP). Samuel would never use his arm for anything at all – apart from weight bearing occasionally. His left hand was always in a fist and his arm tight and often clenched up. After about 6 weeks of practising our exercises Samuel began to notice his left arm and since then the use of this arm has increased. He now holds bundles of clothes, balls and large teddy bears etc with 2 hands/arms and tucks things under his left arm when he wants to carry things but use his right hand at the same time.
Samuel’s actual hand has begun to release objects automatically. Prior to “Scotson” his hand was too tight to release and his brain could not send release messages out to the left hand. Similarly, his grasp has improved enormously. The muscles of Samuel’s hand now seem able to open out his fingers nice and wide, whereas previously they could open only narrowly. Unbelievably, Samuel can now hold a tube of toothpaste in his affected hand and squeeze toothpaste out of the top. The physiotherapist still does not believe me when I tell her this, I keep forgetting to take the toothpaste with me to her session stop prove it.
Speech at last
Samuel began to speak two months ago. At first he just said ‘mama’, ‘dada’, ‘nana’ and ‘bear’. Then suddenly it was as if a switch had gone on and he began to copy almost everything he heard. Samuel now has a vocabulary of about 70 words and every day he learns more. It is very exciting, his speech is clear and loud. When we started “Scotson” Samuel was walking, but had a hemiplegic gate, which is a slight drag of his left leg and a tense left arm at the same time.
Walking much improved
Samuel’s gait has improved, so that it is only really noticeable now when he runs, he has more stamina and is able to walk for much longer.It could be argued that many of these changes could have come with normal development, except for the fact that Samuel has never developed normally.
He uses his left-hand in new ways
It is difficult to explain the ways in which Samuel’s development are affected, but the changes that I have mentioned have been a delight and surprise to us all – including Samuel. He claps and cheers when he manages to use his left hand in a new way, and is very excited and pleased with himself at learning to run and speak.