Rhythmic Movement & Developmental Delays

Dr Harald Blomberg teaching one of his classes

I'm Mary from Minneapolis, I've used RMT successfully
with children in my classroom for behavior and coordination, but not
more. Here's a story sent to me recently, I hope it is helpful:
Sophie's Story

Premature Birth–Low Muscle and Head Control
At the recent Rhythmic Movement Training with Dr. Harald Blomberg, we
got to see the work in action when a mother came with her one year
old daughter, Sophie. Sophie was born premature, had complications
in the hospital, and severe developmental delay. She had no control
of her head and couldn't keep it from flopping around. Her
development was at the stage of a newborn infant. According to her
mother, her hands were nearly always in closed fists and out to
either side of her head. Sophie had never walked, crawled, sat up or
even rolled from back to front. After many Physical Therapy
appointments there was little improvement in Sophie's condition.

Results after 15 minutes of RMT
With Sophie on her back Harald began the rhythmic movements with
her. We could see the intense concentration on her face while she
experienced the stimulating movements. Within minutes Sophie started
doing things her mother had never seen her do. She turned her head
back and forth from side to side on the mat. Her hands relaxed and
began opening and closing. After about 15 minutes, while Harald
continued the movements, Sophie grabbed a necklace her mother dangled
in front of her and she brought it to her mouth. Her first midline
movement! (Midline movements are critical to proper brain
functioning.)

Then Harald did the movements with Sophie on her belly. Her legs
started kicking and she lifted her head off the mat—movements she had
never done before. Sophie smiled and made cooing noises at her large
audience. After a while Sophie found her thumb (another midline
movement) and started sucking on it for the first time. At the end
of a half hour session, Sophie's mother lifted her into a sitting
position and Sophie held her head up on her own for several seconds.
Sophie's mother was overjoyed. Harald's students were inspired.

According to Dr. Blomberg, with continued proper movement activities
for brain stimulation, Sophie will grow and develop normally.

© Sonia Story, 2007 • Brain GymÆ is a registered trademark of Brain
Gym International, www.braingym.org