It's a small world... and sometimes the international news turn out to be very local.
On March 14th, an awful tragedy struck. A bus carrying Belgian school kids from a ski holiday in Switzerland crashed into a wall of the tunnel killing 22 kids, 6 adults and leaving the survivors seriously injured.
That tragedy happened to be very local to ABR Team -- Luca, the son of Katja Schultz, a trainer from ABR Belgium, was on that bus... After several hours of terrifying wait -- she finally got the news that he was among the survivors. As she flew to Switzerland in the wee hours of the morning on a military plane dispatched by Belgian authorities -- she didn't know how bad were the injuries both physical and emotional.
Thanks a lot for viewing the first video ...That was very encouraging.
Well, in today's video" Fascia Research Congress 3 -- Field Report of DAY 1" there is way more content -- there were a number of very important presentations and although I tried being brief -- the total overview still run into 28 minutes.
However, every individual "eureka" realization is short enough (1-3 min) -- so I hope you'd find it well watchable.
Connective tissue could be strengthened
Hands-on work influences gene expression via mechanotrsnsduction'
How the brain map shrinks in Cerebral Palsy
How the wrong exercises in Cerebral Palsy could be extremely damaging
What is the best birthday present a person can get? – Well, there are many facets to that, right?
First of all – I want to thank all of you – my Facebook page and e-mail were full of birthday wishes and cards. I really appreciate that and it means a lot to me…
But today I wanted to talk about a different and very special present. Finally I know the answer to what really is an incredible birthday present :-)
Obviously I can only speak from my own weirdo perspective – but this year I have really got treated to an amazing birthday present… a 2-day long 1-on-1 meeting with a person I consider a bona fide genius – Dr. Jaap Van der Wal.
His insights lifted me out of one of my deepest and longest standing frustrations (obviously without knowing it – I was just one of 100s of people in the audience when he talked from the stage).
What frustration am I talking about? – well, the one that is central to the entire medical and biological discourse of today.
You see, there are two camps out there and the rift between them is of a Grand Canyon size.
Writing for this blog always puts me in a real dilemma – on the one hand, there are lots of things I really want to share with you because I believe that you are missing so much of important knowledge about Cerebral Palsy and on rights and wrongs in dealing with it; but on the other hand –I have to switch on the internal censor and ask a simple question: “With what I am eager to share –am I going to help and improve clarity for the families or is it going to add to the information overload?”
In other words – by pouring down all that information on you – am I doing you a service by giving clarity and making your life easier or am I doing you a disservice by adding to overwhelm and exposing you to more concerns and worries?
These internal dilemmas really bugged me for the things that I have been busy with for the last couple of months. In the preparations to BioTensegrity meeting that took place in Munich few weeks ago – I made a dive into the engineering books on Tensegrity and the original works of Buckminster Fuller (the famous engineer-architect who coined the term “Tensegrity”) and found myself at awe with the depth of his insight… It is really amazing for the person who never really came close to the human body in any tangible sense to have so many remarkable foresights that really lay a perfect framework for the correct interpretation of the Fascia Man…
The Bio-Tensegrity perspective alone is enough to come up with hours and hours of exciting stuff – of how it all ties in and gives a much deeper understanding of Cerebral Palsy and stages of progress and transformation… but then again? – Do you really have time and sufficient interest for all that? …
I must admit that this weighing of the pros and contras turned out into the period of the relatively prolonged silence – it’s 2 months since I made the last post in this blog… So after a lot of such internal discussions – I decided to curb my enthusiasm for all things new and to try to focus on the ideas with greatest “de-clogging” value.
So I am going to try to stick to the more earthly matters and self-censor along the lines of what I think matters the most to you and how I can help you in reducing the information overload rather than adding to it...
I can’t promise that the text is going to be simple – but it is definitely going to be de-clogging: if you work your way through this – then you are really going to know what is your starting point in the quest of maximizing your child’s developmental potential.
So here it is –the question that has absolutely the greatest value and that defines the choice of a path: Cerebral Palsy – reverse or re-arrange?
This question is so essential that it deserves some extra clarification.
Today I am going to touch a very sensitive subject – the issue of Stem Cell treatments for Cerebral Palsy.
Obviously, I am being asked about it frequently nonetheless, for a long period of time I preferred to keep very neutral – sticking to the explanations about ABR itself leaving it up to the parent to make a decision.
However, recently couple of parents came up with a different perspective – pointing out that this “diplomatic” stance is being of a disservice to the parents because whenever there is an expectation of miracle – it is very difficult to keep a cool head and most of the parents of special needs children vote with their heart only.
Unfortunately, voting with the heart is the sure path to extremely poor decision-making when it comes to Cerebral Palsy.
The most difficult thing for you is to step back far enough and to get a full bird’s eye perspective of what are the fundamentals behind a certain advertised “therapy for Cerebral Palsy”, how exactly does it fit into a larger picture of your child’s long-term developmental progress as well as the context of your resources.
If you limit yourself to the question “Is it a good therapy for Cerebral Palsy?” – if you start your reasoning from such a point – you are guaranteed to be steered away from solid decision-making.
You really need to start much earlier and truly understand the fundamentals in order to judge a Cerebral Palsy “therapy” correctly.
That’s why this video stretched into 3 parts – first 2 cover the starting points of your decision-making and due diligence, which are applicable not only to the “stem cell” issue but to pretty much any therapy for Cerebral Palsy that you might come across.
Only the 3rd part addresses the “Stem cells for Cerebral Palsy” issue specifically.
I realize that often enough parents tend to be impatient and have this background voice that is saying: “C’mon Mr. Blyum, let’s not stretch the philosophical part too far – give me the specific answer…” – at the expense of sounding boring, paternalistic and even offensive – I’d put it bluntly:
There are 2 strategies that you can take as a parent:
1. Being smart and trying to educate yourself getting a better vantage point and seeing the big picture
2. Being a smartass – fast forwarding through the big strategic matters and skipping them in order to get to the tactical ‘substance’ faster.
I leave the choice to you – that’s why even though I initially wanted to merge the 3 parts into a single video – I am leaving them separate and letting you decide whichever route you’d want to take.
Obviously, comments and feedback an heated discussions are more than welcome. There is nothing worse than silence. This blog’s intent is to discuss important, complicated and controversial matters, which have far more than a single perspective at them.
I do not fool myself on being so explicitly clear and convincing that there are no questions left afterwards – on opposite, if anything – this blog is an invitation to the conversation, to the opening of the ‘brackets’ and to the exposure of dangerous myths.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
P.S. On behalf of all of you I want to thank the family who asked me the ‘stem cell’ question this time and was happy to share some of the personal matters to the benefit of the fellow special parents.
Well, dear friends, the summer is almost over – and it is time to get back to the ABR matters.
I didn’t bug you during the last few weeks with ABR-related food for thought – as parents you deserve some vacation as much as your kids… without me bugging you with large chunks of information to process.
Historically ABR calendar follows the division into the academic/ shool years rather than the calendar ones – so I guess I need to congratulate you with the beginning of the new school year.
More studies are coming your way!... I hope that makes you excited rather than grumpy… :-)
Usually I am quite reserved in progress descriptions that kids achieve with ABR – trying to avoid the hype and over-expectations. Typically I am more keen on outlining the specifics of the challenges that lie ahead rather than celebrating the achievements already made. And often enough parents find this style not the most motivating … but that’s the way I see the world: whatever has been achieved as of today is already part of the past – so, let’s try to focus on the next step forwards…
By telling you this I just want to draw a bit of extra attention to what I am about to share with you today… because this time it is different… and even I cannot contain emotions … because it is indeed – a mind-blowing freaking unbelievable miracle!
Well, I hope that I have your attention now :-)
… and probably you think that I am going to demonstrate a quadriplegic child who miraculously went from horizontal incapacitation to running around and jumping on a single leg? – Sorry, not this time…
This type of stuff – “a developmental airlift “, or a “developmental helicopter ride”, that allows to skip phases of development – is cut of heavenly cloth. I am much more earth-bound.
Nonetheless the transformation that I am about to share with you counts on a scale of miracle as long as we stay earth-bound and realistic.
What I am going to demonstrate is an exceptionally rapid structural transformation of a classic distorted and merged quadriplegic pelvis following the “egg” work…
Let’s proceed to the video to have the entire case well illustrated…
I hope that I have managed to get you excited enough to sit through a 35 minute video…
First I wanted to charge straight through to the comparison of before and after – but afterwards decided that it is going to be of greater educational value for you to have it done in 3 parts:
Normal pelvis structure and X-ray
Typical pelvis of a child with quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy that ends up under the knife of an orthopedic surgeon with a massive intervention (bone cutting, metal screws insertion etc.)
The “mind blowing freaking miracle” – amazing transformation of the pelvic structure in a severe spastic quadriplegic child following the “egg” rolling work delivered by the ABR superstar man – Alexander “The Great “from Greece :-)
And all that leads to a not so subtle hint – your child’s future is in YOUR HANDS – but these hands have to be skillful to extract the full potential that ABR work has for your child… – so you need to study and practice and pay attention to detail without rushing to “I got it –can I go home earlier?”
P.S. I am going to add a couple of final episodes to the previous video – “Cerebral Palsy and fascia science in a tea cup” – and I hope are going to appreciate the connection that my tea cup simple example of the relationship between a dense film-like membrane and porous underlying gel has with the specifics of skeletal transformations in Cerebral Palsy pelvis…
This is a mini-post that illustrates that sometimes valuable insights into the fundamentals of what’s happening to fascia and musculoskeletal structures as a result of challenges associated with cerebral palsy could be gained from most mundane everyday experience – from observations of what’s happening in a tea cup –literally…
Anyone who had a training by me knows that: 1) I am a tea fan; 2) that I have a tendency to leave cups with unfinished tea everywhere opting for the new cup of a fresh tea instead..
Well, I’ve been criticized for this untidy habit more time that I can remember – to no avail I must admit… However, sometimes there are some unforeseen bonuses that come out of it…
For the recent weeks I’ve been thinking a lot of how to visualize for parents the effects of fascia layers adhesion in case where the flow of the interstitial fluid is affected and how we can restore their proper division by means of Thermoplastic elastomers (TPE) as the Force Transfer Medium [well that’s the official title of “egg rolling” :-)]
So couple of days ago I looked at one of my cups with the tea leftovers from a previous day … and found and excellent illustration ..
I hope you are going to find that metaphor/ spatial homology useful and insightful
Thanks …
As usual Facebook likes and comments are most appreciated
I came back home a week ago after nearly 3 months on the road ... fortunately my family still recognized me... I guess it's the haircut ... :-)
Tons of materials accumulated during these months -- the teachings, the presentations and the comparisons of before/afters to do...
This year's round of assessment was very rewarding -- the ball rolling indeed works as expected -- probably even better! The improvements of the connections within the vertebral columns and the ability to connect the 'velcro attachments' of the shoulder blades -- are really quite amazing breakthroughs..
So my call to all of you esteemed ABR Parents-Therapists -- please do not skip learning courses... Ball rolling techniques are continually upgraded empowering you to become a lot more effective and efficient... There is one thing that one cannot buy in this life -- it's time... and in the development of the growing child with cerebral palsy -- 1 hour of work done this year is probably worth at least 2-3 hours done next year --from the perspective of developmental yield...
I am going to provide you with a lot more of the technical teachings in a format of videos and practical tips in the forthcoming months -- we already accumulated tons of such teaching material -- and working through sorting it out...
So -- there is going to be a lot more opportunities for you to progress via doing your homework better.
However, direct hands-on teaching by an expert ABR trainer -- is always a major shortcut for you. That's how you can develop your skills faster and get those skills in action -- boosting your kids' development...
I started sorting out the presentations we did with Mark during the visit to Hawaii -- in this post I am offering you the one that we did in the Rehabilitation Hospital of Hawaii.
It is far shorter than the main workshop that we delivered as part of the Pacific Rim Conference on Disabilities -- but maybe there is some advantage to this more compact format.
Couple of preliminary cover notes...
Unlike the main ABR workshop at the Pacific Rim Conference on Disabilities that was filmed with a professional camera by a videographer -- this on is filmed using a good old Flip placed stationary on a mini-tripod with a superwide view of the entire room.
I guess you'd realize that the quality is not supergood. However, it's not too bad either.
First, most of the presentation is based on the powerpoint slides -- so I have inserted them into the video -- making it a lot easier to follow the narrative.
Second, I must say that the Flip is surprizingly good in recording the sound considering the tough circumstances of filming.
So I hope that your viewing experience is going to be reasonable enough to allow you to concentrate on a content...
The really interesting part is the fact that only through the circumstances of this particular presentation I understood how much of routine challenges an immersion of the new paradigm and methods face -- even when there is a genuine interest and goodwill.
Let me paint a broader picture to help you to see the context...
First of all -- the MD who is in charge of a Rehab Hospital team attended the workshop that we did few days earlier and was very positive and receptive. He was the one who actually "send" a group of PTs and OT -- 12-15 people -- to learn from us.
So, there was no resistance -- only goodwill. But... then the reality kicks in..
Every therapsit has a significant workload scheduled days in advance...
Only now I realized how significant are those logistical and administrative constraints within the existent healthcare model..
Frankly, a physical therapist in many instances has no more freedom than a worker at the assembly line -- it's a conveyor belt! Patient after patient, who have to receive a type of therapy that has been pre-aproved by the insurance companies and by referring physicians who are absolutely removed from any hands-on work with the patients..
How on Earth even the most enthusiastic and thoughtful individuals inside this profession are going to progress beyond the routines that they've been doing for decades!?
So to cut the story short -- the only time available was ... the lunch hour..
Well, it's a bit weird -- to introduce the ground-breaking concepts to the chewing crowd... :-)
However, on the one hand, even opera singers sometimes perform in front of the audience that eats and drinks, right? :-)
On the other hand, one can entertain the thought that the digestion of the "food for one's stomach" might facilitate the digestion of the "food for one's mind"....
I do not have much science to bakc this up -- but why not? :-)
On top of that, somewhere half way through the presentation ... the fire alarm went off! ...But as you all know -- I am loud and passionate enough not to be bothered by such minor inconveniences ...
So here we go ... this is a compact version of the presentation that introduces 2 key ideas:
Connective tissue focus instead of the mainstream brain and muscles focus in interpretation of Cerebral Palsy
Transition to the "Thrifty" Rehabilitation and Therapy based on connective tissue emphasis vs. the "Lavish" one that defines the therapies for Cerebral Palsy and brain-injury rehabilitation modalities today.
Part 1.
Part 2
Besides of going through these videos yourself I do encourage you to invite your PT, OT etc. to watch it as well... Hopefully, that will help your future communication with them...
Your comments are most appreciated. The more you say -- the more we'd be able to adjust and adapt the style and emphasis of presenation to help your 'inner game' development the most...
Long time – no see… Once again – contrary to my best intentions there was a gap in getting stuff published on this blog. The theorists of blogging say that nothing is more detrimental to the readership than irregularity and unpredictability…
Not that I have run out of the things to share – pretty much the opposite – but casual writing seems to be going for me only when I am out of the field work…
Anyway – I hope that blogging sporadically is still better than silence..
Well, first of all the last 7 weeks have been very packed.
In March I went to Singapore to re-film the last bits of the long overdue extended course on Super-Soft Ball Rolling Massage – the problem is always the same: by the time I finish one version there are so many upgrades to the technique itself and teachings that the entire course starts feeling awkward and outdated. Even though I realize that it could always be labeled as a ‘beta’ release 1.0 with subsequent updates –it doesn’t work for me – to the frustration of my production team I end up with another major overhaul.
However, finally it looks that the Super-Soft Ball Rolling Massage technique enters into the maturity phase with clear distinction between the skill levels – so I am feeling a lot better about the release of the intro course. Hopefully by the end of the summer we’ll get everything finished – as you all know too well – I am not known for lack of thoroughness :-)
Then there was a training session in Montreal. Very encouraging.
On the one hand, excellent progresses related to the evolution of the dorsal compartments (the back; vertebral column etc. ) – and respectively tons of material worthy of quite impressive “before/afters”.
On the other hand – I am very happy to have achieved a next milestone in the development of Super-Soft Ball Rolling Technique – the increased volumetric response, which integrates the benefits of the 3Q and the ball rolling at the same time.
As I am saying that – I realize that I have uploaded the video “ABR Technique Essence” to the Vimeo library but completely overlooked embedding into the blog:
Here it is.
On a practical side – I strongly encourage all of you to learn the recent upgrades of the Ball Rolling – the “Intense Technique” and the “Submerged Technique”.
I recommend it wholeheartedly – go ahead and sign up for the summer trainings if you haven’t done so yet– because these technique upgrades are going to be a major boost in the efficacy of your homework – at least doubling it…
Next big thing – me and Mark Driscoll (our principal research guy) – have conducted a 4-hour workshop at the Pacific Rim International Conference on Disabilities – http://www.pacrim.hawaii.edu/ – titled: “Thrifty” Rehabilitation – Home- Based and Family-Centered Treatment of Cerebral Palsy.
There were about 30 professional attendees – MDs, PTs, OTs – who specialize in Cerebral Palsy.
Frankly, over the years of life at the fringes being labeled as “alternative” I am used to the resistance and certain arrogance of the medical community towards “unofficial” newcomers.
Well, this time was a refreshing difference.
It appears that our duo with Mark finally managed to strike the right chord and engage the medical audience really deeply. Four hours is a long period of time – but the attention never waned.
I think that finally we have found a winning formula
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