ABR Workshop August 11, Improvement #1

We're back!  It has been a crazy busy weekend and I'm knackered....but we're back after a fabulous assessment and workshop.  Ayla has made really great progress with her structure and we seem to have gone to the 'next level' in her ABR journey.  I think we knew that might happen.  Ayla's decision to begin spontaneously standing up did kinda give it away.... The standing was the signal that her body had made enough structural changes to be able to achieve and maintain the standing and now it seems there is no stopping her!

To the naysayers out there that weren't sure if we were being ripped off!!  I am currently thumbing my nose at you all....in a polite manner, of course :)  There is ABSOLUTELY no way that Ayla would ever have achieved this without Advanced Biomechanical Rehabilitation and without the years of commitment and hard work, not just from myself and Steven doing the therapy, but from everyone who continually puts themselves out there crafting week after week, running market stalls, organising events and especially those of you who have made considerable and extremely generous donations to aid Ayla on her challenge.  You all know who you are....and we thank you from the very bottom of our hearts....and Ayla does too, from the tips of her little standing toes!

We have a whole new set of exercises to do so that we can consolidate Ayla's changes and begin making some new changes too.  There is still a very long way to go but standing up has definitely opened the way and made the idea of Ayla walking, much more than just a possibility.   There's even an exercise that might actually benefit me too (whilst doing it on Ayla, no less).

So, let's get on with the changes....

Ayla's Comparison Assessment started a little differently for us this time around.  We normally charge straight into the structural changes but this time I was given a little mini-workshop on "The Key Elements in Mobility".....yes, you read correctly.....MOBILITY!  See, I told you walking is on the map now.

Clearly, the 2 pictures below are not Ayla.  They are being used for demonstration purposes. And here is an extract from the mini-workshop....to help you understand what changes have been made in Ayla's structure that are now allowing her to stand up.

Functional mobility needs the integrity of the upper body and it requires the following prerequisites:

Integrity of pelvic girdle

Integrity of vertebral column

Integrity of shoulder girdle

Any compromise of the above factors would affect the walking performance.

Once the upper body is strong enough to hold by itself, both legs would then be able to act as pillars through which the ground reaction is transferred so that he/she is able to step on one leg and the trunk would not sink, tilt or twist and at the same time he/she is able to swing the other leg. 

Without these 3 factors, functional mobility would be at best compromised and the child has to resort to his motor intelligence to perform at best mediocre movements under all the constraints and deficiency. 

So, it seems Ayla now has the beginning of these 3 factors. 

Improvement #1
This picture was taken at the November 2010 workshop.

 You can see in the photo the way that Ayla slouches forward and to the right.  This used to be her regular sitting position and we have been quite concerned about her developing a nasty scoliosis.

And this is August 2011!  Sitting straight and tall....No Slouching forward or to the right!  She will still slouch a little when she's tired...but really, who doesn't?
The photo below was taken again in November 2010.

You will notice her slouching forward with quite a rounded spine.

And this is August 2011....Spine is much straighter and far less slouching.

Both of these improvements demonstrate that her vertebral column is strengthening and the photos taken from the front also demonstrate an undeniable improvement in the segmentation or division seen between her abdomen and her thorax.  Segmentation and division are important for being able to control and segregate the movements of the different areas of the body.....something that you and I take totally for granted.

There you have it....improvement #1 done and dusted.  I'll put up another soon.....

If you are a parent or carer of a child that you think ABR may help and you've been loitreing here for a little while....I know, I did it too ;)....feel free to contact me if you would like some more information.  Happy to help!