Submitted by M.R., Educational support specialist
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| Very tense; always "on alert" | Much more relaxed |
| Could not write in cursive | Now writing in cursive |
| Had the goal of learning to play the flute | Able to play the flute |
I worked with a 9-year-old boy who was referred to me because of extreme restlessness and poor impulse control in his new school. He had never experienced success in school before and had spent a lot of time in the office. He is also having to learn things his classmates already knew, like recorder playing and knitting. Because he hated to fail in front of people, he was refusing to try to learn these things in a group and just distracts the class.
He had early childhood traumas, and had been abandoned by his mother at 3 years old. He had lived with his paternal grandparents until being recently adopted by his maternal grandparents. He had recently been diagnosed with ADHD and was receiving concerta which helped him to relax and focus more. In addition, he was taking Tenex to reduce his blood pressure, and Melatonin to help him sleep although he wakes up every night to raid the kitchen, store food, and play.
He is a very pleasant boy who tries to control the situation and entertain with anything he can. We set the goals of learning to play the flute so he could join his music class. He also complains of aches and pains, so we are working to help him feel more comfortable in his body. At the beginning I did not have the training in Rhythmic Movement and we did lots of developmental movement, games, and artistic activities as well as the flute lessons.
He was thrilled to be able to play the flute eventually! However, I kept realizing that I was not able to go back far enough to impact his foundational systems. When I began the innate rhythmic movements [from the Brain and Sensory Foundations course], I realized that I needed to focus more of my work on the retained reflexes. In the meantime, we had built up a lovely, trusting relationship and he was having fun coming here twice each week. I also went to his music class once each week to support him. At that point, he was very sensitive to the noise of the other flutes and would not even try to participate in the class folk dancing.
He was very tense, springy, and wiry, and always “on alert.” When I checked his reflexes, I found FPR [Fear Paralysis Reflex], MORO [Reflex], Spinal Galant [Reflex], ATNR [Asymmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex], and STNR [Symmetrical Tonic Neck Reflex] seemed to be unintegrated.
He was very tense but cooperative when I introduced the rhythmic movements. He asked if he could do these activities while wrapped in his blanket burrito wrap. We practiced them this way, with his face and head covered and sometimes even with his jacket on, for several weeks, until one day, when the blanket was in the laundry, he was able to do the movements passively without it! He has been continuing in this way for the last few weeks before summer vacation.
"Once he does the Rhythmic Movements, he becomes very relaxed and is able to participate in other reflex integration activities as well."
He began to do the rhythmic movements at home, before bedtime and said they helped him go to sleep. He eventually stopped waking in the night but that may have been because his various medications were adjusted.
We still integrated games that he enjoyed at the end of our sessions and worked toward doing our other work in time so that we would still manage to fit in our game at the end.
After he began craniosacral therapy, he was able to move his head and neck much better in the Rhythmic Movements. He also began to give me spontaneous hugs at my place and at school on the playground!
In the Spring, we began to work on new goals since he had achieved his first two. His next goals were: To achieve easier cursive writing and to make smart choices. He kept saying he was sometimes dumb and did stupid things. We had to work hard to find a way to express his goal in a positive and present way. That was something hard for him to do at first. We worked on the FPR, MORO, ATNR and a bit on the STNR reflexes [from the Brain and Sensory Foundations course].
Before the end of the school year, he was able to write and appreciate his beautiful cursive script! He plays flute with his class and joins in with the folk dancing now. He is much more relaxed and was a strong participant in my week long puppet camp."
We spoke about his goals when I sent him home for summer vacation with his homework packet. I asked him if he had any other special wishes and he said, “I wish I could keep coming to your house this summer!”
He made so much progress this year, especially after starting the reflex work and then adding the craniosacral therapy to his program. Next school year, we will look at the possibilities of weaning him gradually off of his ADHD medications.
[Edited for length and clarity; emphasis added]