A lot of good things (part one)!

I've been spending ample time researching various brain injury treatments lately. I analyzed hyperbaric oxygen and stem cell therapy and although there’s a lot more on my list I really need to take a break from all that quackery. It gets very old after a while to read how health fraud is called ‘hope’ again and again, and how parents are made to feel guilty if they don’t want to try the latest ‘sham therapy du jour’. I just simply won’t believe that parents need to be deceived and told broad tales so that they can have hope. What’s the use of false hope anyway? There’s no use of such, especially when there’s real hope, which is right there for everyone to reach out for and which often gets forgotten in the maze of rubbish parents are thrown at. Real hope requires no abstract descriptions of imaginary processes and fake scientific explanations of brain oxygenation; it is based on a simple, no-hype theory the correctness of which can be observed anytime by virtually anyone: doing a lot of things may result in learning a lot of things, whether one has a disability or no.

I’m going to illustrate how it is possible for a child with brain injury (a child who can’t walk, talk, and there are a thousand more “can’ts” on her list) to do a lot of things and therefore to learn a lot of things while having a lot of fun and being a happy child. I’m using India’s photos for illustration, who has cerebral palsy.

India loves her power assisted wheelchair as it gives her freedom to change her place.

She loves driving around, looking at things and there’s no doubt that a lot of learning ca

n take place while sitting in a wheelchair. When one drives a lot, one certainly learns to drive safely and look out for obstacles, stairs, and there is a plethora of activities one can very well participate in while sitting.

The downside is that nobody should stay sitting all the time because our body, every

body’s body, regardless of the disabilities they might have is put together in a way that it needs to move in order for it to stay healthy. Lack of movement will have devastating effects not only on physical health, but on all areas of development; if you let a child’s body waste away you’re looking out for pain, discomfort, deformities, as well as it will slow down social-emotional development, cognitive development and communication. So, we have to get out, and we have to get out a lot more often than twice a week for an hour when our PT comes. When we get out, the things we do don’t have to be a form of therapy (although they can), they can just as well be regular play or everyday activities.

Lying on the floor and stretching out is great, whether it is lying on the stomach, on the back or on the side. The benefits of lying on the stomach are so tremendous that it would take several further posts to describe them. It is difficult for some children with high muscle tone to get used to this position and they may fight against it, so it may require you to stay on the floor with your child and encourage them to lift their head and look at toys and reach for them, or even creep or roll in order to reach them.

A lot of children will enjoy just lying on their back during their free play time. India does, and we always make sure she has something fun to do while relaxing.

She is taking her doll’s clothes off on this photo. She tried to take the doll’s clothes off by shaking the doll—they didn’t come off, then she handed the doll over to me expecting me to do it for her! She had to be shown how to use both of her upper limbs so that she can do this activity by herself. This is how learning takes place. She couldn’t figure it out by herself because she has cerebral palsy but that doesn’t mean she can’t do it at all; she can, just somebody needs to TEACH HER HOW.

India has the best daddy in the world. When daddy is around, the fun is plenty.

There is tree climbing with Sissy

Pretending to drive a car

Or driving using a simulator

Swimming with daddy

Or just copying the silly things that daddy does!

Copying and showing faces, playing ‘Show me a motion” with siblings, other kids or anyone can help improve speech and communication skills. Your child will never know that they’re ‘being improved’ at the moment, all that they’ll know is that it’s fun.

The greatest fun of all fun for India is dancing. Daddy can help her dance by holding her as he did during this wedding:

Or she can stand in her walker and participate in the great family dance party event!

TO BE CONTINUED

All these pictures are illustration—children with brain injury are so different that while you can certainly use others’ ideas of activities they did, you need to work out your own for your own child. There are professionals who know your child and who can help you tremendously with this. Your Conductive Education teacher is your great source (if you’re lucky enough to have one near; it apparently creates huge frustration that there aren’t as many as needed), but why don’t you ask your OT, PT, SLP/SLT? All these professionals are well trained in their own area and can give you advice about beneficial positions and activities for your child. Don’t just use them for the direct therapy provided for an hour twice a week (if you’re lucky), because two hours a week would not be enough activity and learning for your typical child without any learning difficulties, let alone for your brain injured child. Go ahead and pick the therapists’ brain and use their advice in everyday life.