Anat Baniel Method for Childrensm

Awaken the Brain and see the Possibilities Expand

The human brain is neuroplastic and generally the younger you are the faster the changes take place. But don't discount amazing change at any age! We are designed to learn, but for many babies and children something happens and the process is interrupted. They need help to do what babies and children do naturally when all is well.

The Anat Baniel Method for Childrensm (ABM) is  a scientifically based learning
approach to helping babies and children get  back on the learning track to realize more of their innate  potential. Anat calls this “turning on the learning switch”.

With the use of innovative techniques which include gentle touch, movement and all the senses, your child's ABM teacher will provide opportunities for her brain to wake up and start making more connections. Her innate learning abilities are there, waiting to be utilized; ABM can help her get that process going again.

It is your child's brain, and nervous system that will use the new information
and make sense of it. We are wired for this type of learning. What is needed for most children  is to provide the context so he can feel/sense  himself in new and novel ways. When new connections and patterns form  he is beginning to make sense out of what seemed like nonsense or chaos. As his brain function improves, and more connections are made, he can begin to change and grow in ways not conceived of before.

ABM Functional Synthesis Lessons are generally 30-50 minutes - the optimal time frame for learning. Scheduling lessons clustered in a series is optimal for learning/maximal results. Each child is different and needs will vary. ABM is frequently done in teams and  families may want to travel to work with more experienced teachers while working with a local teacher.

The Anat Baniel Methodsm is learning based and is neither diagnostic nor medical.  Please seek medical attention and advice from a qualified medical practitioner.

In the Southeast it is very likely that your physician will not be familiar with ABM. You may need to give him/her information about the method. ABM is for all ages; however, early intervention has generally proven to provide the quickest and most far reaching results.  

Within 3-5 lessons it is usually clear whether the child is benefiting from the lessons. If both the parents and the Anat Baniel Method for Children practitioner feel it is worthwhile to continue, then a lesson plan for the child is created.

You are encouraged to temporarily stop other treatment modalities unless they are medically required. We will also ask that you do not place the child in positions that he/she cannot get into or out of on their own. Very often we request halting the use of orthodics, standers etc, at least initially.

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Katherine Correa has been in the field of Somatic education and The Feldenkrais(R) Method for many years and brings a wealth of background experience in the field.  She completed the Anat Baniel Method for Childrensm  training program in 2010.  

See longer bio about Katherine under the about Katherine tab.
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“I would be honored to serve you and your baby or child in this amazing transformational process.” Katherine

More about The Method:
The Anat Baniel Method for Childrensm (ABM) is scientifically based. The practitioner of this method uses gentle, innovative techniques to help the brain of the brain injured child form new neural connections and patterns that take the child beyond their current limitations. While it is a process, the changes begin happening right away and are often quite dramatic.

How Does the Anat Baniel Method for Children Work with Cerebral Palsy, brain damage infant and the brain injured child?

The miraculous process of development we see any healthy child go through is a result of a complex process of differentiation in the brain that allows it to form new connections and new patterns. All the experiences the child has of her own initial random movements and her kinesthetic experiences coupled with all that is done with her by those caring for her, is used by the brain as information with which it develops and grows. While the baby and young child is completely dependent on his or her caretakers for their survival and well being, those caretakers have very little to do with the actual process of growth and development of the child. That process is done by the child, within the child, on the child’s own timing.  

When a child suffers from brain damage, this spontaneous process of differentiation and formation of new patterns in the brain is interfered with. Most therapy approaches attempt to make the child do what it should be doing according to his or her age and expected developmental stage. However, forcing movement on a spastic arm, stretching a short tight muscle, or placing a child that cannot sit in the sitting position with the hopes that somehow he or she will get strong enough to do it, normally produces little of the desired outcomes and often upsets the child and leaves her/him feeling bad and wrong about themselves.  

That happens because the brain of the cerebral palsy and brain damage infant and child is unable to transform the stimulation into information that it can use  to create new patterns and solutions. You can read more about this as published in the January, 2007 issue of Massage and BodyWork Magazine, New Possibilities: A revolutionary approach to helping children with special needs.
With the ABM the focus is very different. Rather than try to fix the problem directly by focusing on the limitations, the focus is shifted to where the solutions actually lie – with the brain. The ABM focuses on helping the brain of the brain injured child do its job better. It helps the brain right itself and regain its ability to powerfully and consistently create new neural patterns that bring about successful solutions. We apply gentle techniques that directly communicate with the nervous system of the child through, primarily, movement, enhanced awareness and non-verbal kinesthetic experiences.
With the ABM, the brain of the child with cerebral palsy or any other brain injury regains its ability to function in a healthy way. That is when the brain damaged child can begin doing what healthy children do.  We have countless examples of success with our work.

For Concerned Parents:
It is very important to understand that it is only when we create the conditions for the child’s brain to function in a healthy, high quality way that the child can overcome limitations in ways that can be astounding and inspiring.
If you have been told by your child’s physician that your child has a developmental disorder, or if your parental instincts are telling you something is not quite right (often parents know “something is not quite right” long before a medical diagnosis is given), it is important that your child gets help as soon as possible. Early intervention can make a big difference.

What Does Success with the special needs child Look Like?

• The child shows some progress / change within the first few ABM lessons or therapy sessions. Otherwise it means that the child is not learning.
• The child should feel safe, comfortable and happy in their sessions. Crying and resistance should be the exception. True learning is a pleasurable and satisfying experience. Acquiring a better organization of movement, thinking and feeling is an empowering and wonderful experience for the child.
• On-going learning, improvement and maturation. In any growth process, there will be fluctuations in the rate of change. However, over a period of any few weeks, certainly months, as the child is receiving therapy, or ABM lessons, there should be clear learning, change and improvement.
• At home the child begins to spontaneously do on their own, without encouragement, what she/he was doing in the session. It may take a few sessions for that to happen with any newly acquired skill. If not, most likely the child is not learning and needs to be placed where they will be learning and improving.
• In between sessions, you should be able to see some additional spontaneous improvements beyond what was accomplished in the ABM lessons or therapy sessions.

How We Work With Your Child to Overcome Developmental Disorders and Challenges?

If your child cannot sit up by himself, or if he cannot stand on all fours, crawl or stand up on his own, we will not try to force him into these positions, or place him in contraptions that will “hold” him in a position, unless we believe he will never be able to do it on his own. If your child is unable to read despite hours of coaching we will at first ask that she stops trying to read. If he perseveres we will not try to force him to stop. Instead we will engage the child in a process that provides his or her brain with the conditions and information it needs in order to begin learning. Through that process your child’s brain will form new neural patterns that were missing due to their illness or injury. Once enough of these missing elements are in place, your child will spontaneously begin doing what he or she couldn’t do before.

Copyright © 2010, Anat Baniel Method -reprinted with permission

Movement and awareness are the main tools utilized for communicating with the brain, providing information the brain requires in order to form missing neural patterns, pathways and connections that lead to new possibilities for movement, thought and feeling.

ABM has been validated by many doctors. Here is a quote from one:

“As much as I pour over medical science and research, and as much time as I spend acid testing Anat’s statements in my naturally skeptical mind, I have yet to find logical fault or lack of scientific foundation…. Anat Baniel’s Method is effective where other treatments have not been, and it is at times almost miraculously effective where medical science has either given up, or where, out of desperation, painful and often counterproductive measures have sadly become the standard of care.”

Dr. Christopher Ryan, M.D.,
Denver Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation

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