Written February 2007 by John's mom (go to the links section for books and articles)
We have now had one year of contact with BMC. When we are within this work, I tend to believe that there are answers, there are many possibilities, and that John is alive and full of potential, including potential to teach me. There is always something productive to do next if I am up to it. John is not a problem, a mistake, or a number that gets lost. Though we have met some good people along the way, I will not describe the disappointments, terrors, and tears we have experienced with other systems. You would not want them for yourself, your child or grandchild. When we work with BMC, I feel valued, productive, and satisfied. John gets to retain his dignity. He is calm, interested, and ready to work hard.
In January 2006, at age 12 months, John could sit but he often fell backward. He was not mobile. When I carried him his legs hung down. Though his hips were not as spastic as they had been in earlier months, they tended to extend. If a therapist placed him in hands and knees he would cry as though in pain. He protested supported kneeling, though his home therapist had practiced it for six months with him.
In his first hour session of BMC, he was kneeling and playing happily. After his second session, he was kneeling by himself for short periods. After five sessions, when I carried him on my hip, he would bend his hips and hold onto me with his legs. He also stopped bending his head back painfully far and opening his mouth as far when trying to use his eyes.
When we returned home from our first trip my husband said, “He’s lost that retard look.”
In a few more weeks, John began bringing himself into and out of sitting, independently.
We made a second trip for two therapy sessions. Then John began pulling himself around on his belly, using his arms. Several weeks later, he was pulling himself all over the house!
In June and July of 2006, through a scholarship, I took BMC classes in the Infant Developmental Movement Educator Program of the School for Body-Mind Centering. John had many therapy sessions there. Bonnie worked with indescribable intensity with the goal of John learning to crawl. Just before we returned home, he began to crawl (“creep”) a couple of steps. Back home, I worked with him daily, trying to remember everything I had seen. By October, he could crawl halfway up our ramp by himself. Soon he wanted me to help him crawl and climb on playscapes. Being able to move around is so important to development. By January 2007, at age 24 months, John now could go to things he wanted, map out places, or crawl around and around to study something like the spaces between chair legs. He could crawl around the house looking for a toy or activity that suits him – just like our daughter could at a much younger age.
A visitor to our house a few months after that summer trip told Kevin it was like seeing a different child.
To see this work with children, you can watch the DVD Four Special Children. It shows Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen working with four different kids. Order through the School for Body-Mind Centering, 189 Pondview Drive, Amherst MA
There are several books and other videos by different BMC teachers about infant movement development. Please refer to the links section.
Click here for Body-Mind Centering (Part II).