Movement delay

No longer a passive observer

Sean was very low tone, mostly sitting in his mama’s lap with overall delays in movement, social interaction and speech.   Sean wasn’t able to lift his head up or to sit on his own.  He  showed little interest in toys.

After a series of sessions in developmental movement and craniosacral therapy, including a home program, Sean’s tone began to brighten.  He began to reach for toys, to develop strength and to move around the room.  With his increasing ability to go for it, Sean’s language started coming in, and then took off in grand leaps.

His mother now knows what hands-on and movement activities will help Sean continue developing his strength, agility and ability to take hold of his world.

Developmental movements are essential for organizing your baby’s growing body and brain. If your baby has significant delay in movement skills, early intervention can make quick strides. During the first year, baby’s brain and body are primed for specific movements. In a developmental movement assessment I can identify what are the small gaps and barriers to your child meeting her developmental milestones. I will provide you with simple movement and touch reminders for you to help your child catch up during this sensitive period. There is very little value in waiting for a child to grow out of delay when outside normal ranges.

Children with very low tone or with very high tone are prone to movement delays. I combine myofascial toning with developmental movement therapy to yield the best results for your child’s development.

Emotional-social delay

In the first year the early signs of emotional and social delay show up as poor bonding and attachment. If your baby is not connecting well with you, she may have sensory or sensory-motor difficulties, or may have experienced emotional trauma during birth. Social-emotional delays have profound, long term consequences, since babies develop in interdependent relationship. I can provide early intervention that will set your child on course.

Language delay

Language development emerges from a sound base of experience in movement, breastfeeding and social experience, along with good auditory function. If your baby is delayed in these earlier experiences, he can often quickly catch up with simple daily activitities to rebuild this base.

Some children experience language delay because of clogged ear ducts, due to displaced cranial bones from the intensity of birth. Craniosacral therapy can open these ducts and restore full hearing.

Profound challenge

If your child faces profound challenges in many arenas, I can help with direct hands-on therapy and show you how you can help your child move along in development every day.

Somatic therapies and education

I provide gentle, effective hands-on somatic therapies and guide your child in playful developmental movements. These are powerful supports for your baby in this very effective early intervention approach. With articles you can help your baby with body-mind integration from the beginning.

What to expect in a session for your baby

Leaps and bounds

Three weeks ago Shelby started making progress by leaps and bounds, when she sat up for the first time from lying down. A few days later she was army crawling and just last week, a few days before she turned one, she started crawling on all fours. She is a brand new little girl. She has so much self-confidence now and is so proud of herself.  Thanks for all your help.  We have been working with her a lot on the things that you showed us.

– Jolie Joy, mother of twins

Update:

Leighton and Shelby are now 8 and are doing great. At around 14 months Shelby was diagnosed with central hypotonia and global development delays. At the time her neurologist didn’t know if she would ever walk and, if she did, predicted that she would probably not play sports.

— continued @ next box 

Essential wellness for mother and child

Body-mind integration from the beginning