Part 6
Presence and Alertness
vs disconnection and grumpiness
We have the tendency to think that our child’s presence and alertness is innately linked to the signals coming from the brain.
If brain’s signals definitely play a role, shouldn’t we perhaps attribute all the responsibility of the child’s poor interaction with his surroundings?
If we simply look at the mechanical and metabolic elements listed above, we get a hint of a totally different interpretation of the child with CP and their poor presence and alertness.
You just need to picture your child’s daily reality:
- Weakness in their upper body
causes permanent or at least recurrent collapse of his/her head and trunk, depriving your child from important eye contact with his/her surroundings.
Guillaume Dulude, doctor in neuro-psychology explains that … ‘communication starts as soon as people enter into each other’s field of vision…’ For the child with CP, communication is then based more on hearing rather that sight, which completely changes his/her relation to the world.
- Vulnerability and fragility
bring daily challenges. Poor health, poor sleep, poor digestion all lead to constant fatigue and overexertion are factors that obviously do not favor social exchange with parents, siblings and friends.
- Mono-bloc reactions
make your child’s life extremely challenging throughout the day. The smallest change to his/her position converts to being off balance and therefore they may potentially fall.
The child with CP profoundly mistrusts his/her body. He/she is in a constant situation of fear and stress leaving a very narrow window for interaction with you.
- Excessive voluntary effort
forcing him/her to appeal to his/her skeletal muscles, connective tissues being too weak to help him/her fight against gravity. Any request for performance translates into immense effort, overdrive and fatigue… contributing very little to positive interaction.
The child with CP, just through their structural and metabolic challenges, has VERY little room for presence with their surroundings and very little chance to satisfy their parents in terms of alertness.
On the other hand, a child with a robust neck and torso, full of vitality and vigor, benefiting from an extended repertoire of movement, thanks to an adequate segmentation, experiencing spontaneous and easy weight-bearing response, will unfailingly be more present, more aware and will interact better with their surroundings.
Presence and alertness necessitates first and foremost feeling well in one’s body! Upper body robustness, vitality and vigor, balance and weight-bearing spontaneous response are improvements at your reach through the ABR trans-fascial techniques … just imagine how these structural improvements could change your child’s relationship with you!!!!