On ABR and beyond...

Hip Subluxation in Cerebral Palsy – addressing the parents concerns. Part 1.

Not so long ago I have received a wonderful video  with questions about hip subluxation and transitions in the mobility and alignment of the legs. The video is compact – about 6 min long, it shows impressive observational ability of a mother – awareness of all sorts of little details; but at the same time, within these short 6 min it covers the range of  questions and concerns that I hear from many of the other parents being asked over and over again.

I’ve been granted a generous permission to use this video and my answers to the questions asked as the teaching material that will benefit a great number of parents.

Obviously, I am going to stretch my explanations and comments much beyond the original 6 minutes – so I’d probably end up dividing it into several parts.

In the review of the video – I have separated the observations from the statements – which in turn are divided into explanations/ analytical statements and focus points of concern /questions

Since there are 23 observations and 19 analytical statements/questions/ issues of concern voiced by Emma’s mom– even if I spend a few minutes of comments per item– my video will end up being really long. But a number of these issues are so important for each and every of you that I have to dig deeper and show you a broader perspective as well. Obviously – that will add up the video length minutes.

Hence my  first suggestion to you is to have a look at the original 6 min video in its entirety to have a complete overview of the situation and to align yourself with it.

For your convenience I’ve added the captions and actually labeled all the observations and questions.

Cerebral Palsy – Giving a Boot To Neurological Dogmas. Part 1

In many countries New Year is the time when people throw away everything old and useless that accumulated in a house with the idea of having a fresh start and letting the new things in.

I admire the tradition and decided to follow suite – the first post of 2011 is about flushing  down the drain the outdated neurological dogmas that paralyze and lead astray professionals and parents of kids with Cerebral Palsy alike.  

Disclaimer – big and bold: everything you are going to read is my own extremely biased opinion that is most unlikely to be supported by qualified medical professionals.

I’d actually go even further and say this – to leave no doubts about my extreme biasness:

In my opinion, “brain-based” approach to Cerebral Palsy that treats ‘brain injury’, i.e. damage to a part of the brain,  and ‘Cerebral Palsy’ – disorder of posture and movement/failure in reaching biomechanical developmental milestones -- as the interchangeable synonyms – is the most important obstacle that stifles the progress of physical rehabilitation and freezes current abysmal status quo.

In other words, a neurological paradigm is: a blindfold over your eyes; sticky glue, quicksand and rocky terrain underneath your feet; iron gloves over your hands; plugs in your years and shackles around your feet  – all of these in a single nasty package… So you are welcome to figure your chances of success if you are  ever lured by

In Part 2, I am going to go over 16 most obvious reasons why neurology leads you astray and why the guidance by neurologists who define the discourse of today’s interpretation and approach to Cerebral Palsy is the worst and most unproductive thing that is responsible for astonishing lack of progress in Cerebral Palsy therapies over the last 100 years.

I’ve been thinking about these flaws for years and collected quite a pile – but in order to spare you from a nearly endless list – I gave myself a time line: I put the kitchen timer on 10 minutes and proceeded to write down as many stubs exposing the  fundamental flaws of neurology and brain-centered paradigm for Cerebral Palsy as possible.

By the moment  the timer went “Bzzz” – I was on reason # 16.

Well, If I were to give myself ½ hour – I’d  probably come up with a list that would have been three times as long– but I think even a basic version will do to begin with.

However, before proceeding to Part 2 – the actual list – I wanted to immerse you in the context of the case – I hope that’ll give you an improved perspective.

I do not know whether it’s my nerdy self but I find this picture incredibly funny and strangely appealing.

This is the cover of Harper’s Magazine and it has been on my office’s kitchen table since October but every time I walk past it – I can’t help smiling… The white-haired man with the badge: “Hello my name is Sigmund”, who is being kicked out from a gathering as an unwelcome trespasser by a muscle-bound security,   is obviously Dr. Sigmund Freud.

2011 New Year Greetings --THE OPTIMISM ADVANTAGE

The New Year is a very special time  – it’s a time of wishes and hopes. There is something about this ‘click’ of the calendar that switches on the inner optimist in us – no matter what type of personality we are in our everyday lives.

And today’s post and my most sincere wish for all of you in this new year is exactly about that –  keeping this inner optimism engaged all the time.

In 2011 I wish all of you to turn the internal optimism selector switch  into the “On” position and to disable the “Off” button.

I wish you to improve your ability to enjoy the moment, to fall in love with a journey of making life for your kids better without being anxious over the long-term outcome of “final success”.

I wish you to give yourself praise and to celebrate wholeheartedly whatever small  achievements  and micro-steps of progress your child manages to reach…

I know all these are universal truths perceived by many as banalities and an empty wishful thinking that does not hold water against the storms of the reality…

However, I’d dare to encourage you to make an effort and even when it feels difficult to keep your  optimistic stance – still to keep trying and keeping your internal ‘reality perception’ filters switched into the “Positive” mode.