Well we are so grateful for those who gave generously for this to be a reality for Alex. When we arrived last Friday afternoon, we went right away for Alex's reflex assessment with Dr. Masgutova (founder of MNRI). She remembered Alex from his February mini clinic and the reflex assessment results he had at that time. She noted improvement in a handful of reflexes for him. Some were about improving his muscle response so he wasn't hyperactive in muscle tone response, some was about a reflex improving by 30%, and one reflex we haven't really worked on was completely 'there'! Which just goes to show that even by working on other reflexes, they are all linked together. Alex still has much work to do though. Some of the reflex patterns showed no improvement and they continued to be rated at needing to be worked on five days a week.
Most of the special therapists here are directly from the MNR Institute in Poland and only a few speak both English and Polish. They are very skilled at the work they are doing and I am watching, following along and even learning how to do the same work on Alex after the camp is done. Alex has six sections, all fifty minute sessions, each day of hands on work. He does Tactile Therapy to address his sensory integration; something called Neurostructural work to address 'communication' in his nervous system; Archetype movements to lay the foundation for the reflex patterning; Reflex repatterning to address his needs in activating and integrating specific reflexes; Visual-Auditory-Facial work on their respective reflexes; and had ended each day with either developmental activities (play) while on a Balance Board or today work on Head Righting with Cognitive and Proprioceptive Integration.
It was so thrilling today to see how spending just a few minutes working on Head Righting with our amazing therapist Alex was able to go from floppy head to actually righting his head as he was pushed sideways!! It was so cool! Even more exciting is being able to visually see other children here make noticeable improvements after only the second day. Since I am here with Alex on my own, I haven't had much time to socialize with the other parents. I have had a few short interactions which have been great. It has really made me feel like I'm not alone-others do have it hard as well and my heart just goes out to them. Sometimes I wish the parents like us could be on the receiving end of this work as well. If it can do that for our kids, how much more will it help relax us as parents who have it so hard and enable us to fill our 'cups' so we have more to give back to our kids.
I am looking forward to tomorrow, Day Three. Alex will have his first opportunity to have deep hands on work with someone from the Polish therapy team, who is one of a few people in the world who does this kind of work. I am looking forward to seeing what it is and the extent of changes that can come from it. Alex continues to be his charming self and is not afraid to talk to any and all of the adults here at the conference, including Dr. Masgutova. Today he was trying to teach one of his Polish therapists Knock Knock jokes in English. It was pretty funny.
It has been nice to get a break away from home and feel re-energized in some ways with this work. I have been fortunate enough to have had some of the classes already so it's nice not feeling like I don't know anything. I have appreciated the relatively stress free environment of being here at the conference. We have a nice hotel room with separate living area from the bedroom. Alex has had a lot of positive guidance and support while he's been here, despite a somewhat less than cooperative reaction at times. I know that he feels respected and that that is making a difference. I don't think most people realize that behavior is not necessarily intentional. I can see for Alex that his actions are often misinterpreted. When a child doesn't have the awareness of his own boundaries and body in space, that leads to many things like invading other's personal space, accidentally hurting someone because you had no awareness they were there, etc. The work he is doing here will never have a chance to anchor and hold if he is not in a stress free, supportive environment. The goal is to create a safe environment for him to have the chance to develop the way his body was created to develop. We just have to figure out how to get there.
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