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Showing posts from March, 2013

A Not So Fun 4th and Tough Week for Faith

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The other day Faith and I were standing in line at the pharmacy, and someone asked her, "How was your 4th of July?" She responded quite honestly, "Terrible!"  Yes, it was definitely not a very fun 4th. In fact, this whole week has been one challenge after another. The only thing we really did for the 4th was go to Art in the Park in Mandan, which was last Friday. Faith found a new tie-dye t-shirt, and I enjoyed a yummy root beer float.  Art in the Park in Mandan on the 3rd I had actually gone with the goal of getting an Indian taco, but it was so humid, I didn't feel like eating anything hot. Because it was so warm, we only stayed for an hour before heading back to Bismarck. That night, I noticed that Faith seemed uncomfortable in her chair, almost like she was having pain. She told me she needed to get out and lie down. I thought maybe being out in the high humidity had been too much for her or that she was having muscle spasms. After she lay down for a bit...
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Faith's First Anat Baniel Lessons

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To someone who might not know Faith well, or to the stranger observing Faith, her movements probably seem pretty abnormal. Her tone kicks in and her muscles tighten, not allowing her to move or relax.  Every once in a while, she throws her arms up in the air for no apparent reason. When she's tired, her head hangs to the side and she can barely keep it up, even while sitting supported in her chair. But to me, this is Faith, and this is how she has moved for most of her life. She has spastic motions that are anything but graceful. While sitting with me, her hand will shoot up and slap me in the face. There is no reason - no purpose for some of her movements - that is all she and her parents have known. We are in a constant battle with her high muscle tone. Sometimes she tightens up so stiffly we can barely pick her up. This is how it has been for her nine years of life. This is normal for us. This week I learned life does not have to be this way. This week I've seen Faith mo...
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Brain Awareness Week and the Anat Baniel Method

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Did you know that this week is Brain Awareness Week? I find it interesting that this is the week Faith will be introduced to an Anat Baniel practitioner and taking her first Anat Baniel Method (ABM) lessons during this week in particular. The ABM practitioner we are seeing is coming here from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Rob met her in January during a workshop about ABM.  Through another mom of a little boy with cerebral palsy, we learned the practitioner is coming back to Bismarck, so we decided to schedule Faith for some lessons (they call them lessons, not therapy sessions).  The mom I talked to recommended the book, "Kids Beyond Limits" by Anat Baniel . I purchased and read the book before the lessons started, and I'm glad I did!  Through working with Moshe Feldenkrais , Anat Baniel has developed her own method of working with kids with special needs. For the past thirty years, she has worked with kids who have cerebral palsy, autism, ADHD, undiagnosed developmental d...
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