Unlocking Potential
How Movement Therapy Transformed Our Family
When our sons were little, 2 and 3 years old, it became clear that their development was not on track or typical. The most obvious clue was their speech and hearing. They had difficulty pronouncing their R’s and other sounds. At times, they seemed to mishear or not hear certain sounds which then affected their articulation of those sounds. We had their hearing tested, which fell into the normal range, and we had them evaluated by a Speech Therapist. The latter resulted in years of speech therapy for both boys.
An even earlier clue with our oldest son was auditory sensitivity. Any loud, unexpected noise, resulted in him clasping his ears and crying inconsolably. Birthday parties should be joyous occasions for a child. Instead of having fun blowing out candles after the birthday song was sung, our son was shrieking in terror as people sang and clapped. It was so confusing. At that time, in the 1990’s, no one was talking about sensory disorders. We had no idea what was happening to our son. (It is refreshing, today, to see families using earmuffs on young children in loud settings. It validates our experience but, more importantly, it helps reduce stigma for accommodations kids need to deal with sensory sensitivities.)
Another clue was tactile sensitivity. The elastic on socks or the arm cuffs of a shirt or jacket were excruciatingly uncomfortable. Our middle son refused to wear long-sleeve shirts or coats as a child. On a trip to Washington D.C., our family could be seen sightseeing on a frigid January afternoon with everyone bundled up in coats, scarves and gloves, except our 9 year old son who was wearing just a t-shirt.
There were many clues. Food textures that caused eating aversions and compulsions. One son hated touching or being touched and the other seemed to have to touch everything, including a stranger’s “fuzzy” pants in the checkout line at the grocery store. Later, I learned these traits were tied to hyper- and hypo-sensory sensitivities. Basically, our two sons were on opposite ends of the sensory spectrum.
Coincidentally, (and I believe, providentially), my sister attended a training in Washington state around this time. She was working with developmentally disabled adults. The training was a new approach developed by a woman with autism named Judith Bluestone. The Holistic Approach to NeuroDevelopment and Learning Efficiency, or HANDLE, therapy is based on the premise that children born with underdeveloped or mis-aligned sensory and nervous systems have weak vestibular development during a critical window of development starting in utero. (The nervous system develops within weeks of gestation.) Recognizing the sensory systems of sight, hearing, touch and proprioception (spatial awareness) are dependent on the functioning of the vestibular system, Bluestone set about developing physical exercises to strengthen the vestibular system.
The movements and concepts are quite simplistic. There are three chambers of the inner ear, in which tiny hair-like fibers and crystals interact to send information to the brain in response to movement. The three chambers are oriented in three different planes affected by three different types of movement: up-and-down, rotational and side-to-side. (Think about nodding your head yes, no and taking your ear to your shoulder on each side.)
Children with poor vestibular function often struggle to understand where their body begins and ends relative to what is around them. These kids can be perceived as being “hyper” or just plain naughty running into things and people, when in reality, these behaviors are the child’s way of seeking information or trying to manage over-information coming into the brain. Bluestone found that moving slowly, on a consistent basis, in the three patterns described above, functionally rewired the vestibular system. In turn, this created a stronger foundation for the functioning of the sensory systems..
Strong evidence shows that strengthening the vestibular system improves balance, coordination and self-regulation. What people might not know is that it also helps to strengthen our sensory systems, improving how information comes in through our eyes, ears, sense of touch and space, to organize and process that information in a way the mind can make sense of and use efficiently.
Discovering this therapeutic technique was a game changer for our family. It meant there was a possible solution for our kids’ challenges. Rather than avoiding birthday parties or having our son freeze to death, maybe we could help our children develop out of their symptoms so they could experience the world without pain, fear and discomfort.
