Are you concerned about your very special child’s motor development?
Would you like your child to be able to access and use her environment easier?
Are you looking for an intense and effective physiotherapy that brings positive, functional changes in your very special child’s life?
Let me share it with you that since becoming a Cuevas Medek Exercise (CME) Therapist in 2015, in no time I have started to witness the incredible human reaction of reorganising the brain as the result of it.
Ramon Cuevas, a Chilean physiotherapist in the early 70s recognised the need for a more intense, brain challenging, motor stimulation therapy. He created the CME with their unique principles of provoking delayed or missing motor functions and functional-postural control.
Ramon is still active and works daily. He has changed the life of thousands of children and their families with this therapy. He has trained hundreds of therapists worldwide and his method of CME is well established in North and South America, East and West Europe, Russia and Australia.
In the United Kingdom CME is only available in London and with me at Very Special Children, Stone, Staffordshire.
CME therapy is a psychomotor approach that emphasises two natural powers in motor development: gravity and time.
Cuevas Medek Exercises exposes the child to gravity (no matter what age and size) to provoke and enable the genetically blueprinted motor development to activate. CME therapy with its unique characteristics offers a motor therapy with high intensity that can prevent physical ‘deterioration’ and create progress with motor function.
The dynamic exercises expose different body segments to gravity force. Using distal grasps (child is held by the lowest point of support he/she can tolerate); CME has been specifically designed to integrate all necessary muscle stretches into the exercises.
CME therapy with its unique characteristics offers motor therapy with high intensity that can prevent physical ‘deterioration’ and create progress with motor function. Find out more about the therapy here.
Motor development and Gravity
The developing brain is exposed to gravity from the earliest stage starting inside the womb.
New born babies have little or no anti-gravity ability (need support with holding his/her head, arms legs moving without control), but after a 2-4 months they start lifting their head away from the floor when they are put on their tummy. At this stage their physical size is almost identical to their birth size.
At around six months babies start rolling and by the end of the seven months they start to purposefully mobilise by crawling.
Did you know?
From conception to their first three months especially but to their second birthday is called the critical 1001 days. During this time the brain needs wide range of intense sensory stimulation to gain information from the surrounding world to be able to develop accordingly.
Between birth and three month of age the brain goes through tremendous amount of change by rapidly developing. At birth babies have more than 80 billions of brain cells, which will be growing and developing through building connections and organisation throughout their life.
By the end of the first year the brain doubles its size. The cerebellum which is the brain centre for body awareness, balance and coordination triples its size by the baby’s first birthday.
Who is CME suitable for?
CME welcomes most children with delayed motor development. Its exemptions are children with deteriorating conditions and in some cases: children with an uncontrolled seizure disorder.
The assessment aims to gain information on the child’s medical, and rehabilitation history. It explores the child’s existing anti-gravity responses to form a baseline for the therapy. It also gives me an opportunity to evaluate whether I have the physical requirement to use CME exercises with the child.
My own physical strength and personal experience can also influence the rehabilitation/therapy.
The importance of regular sessions
Consistency is one of the most important factor for success. Twice, three times a week with a trained CME practitioner and/or home sessions are the most recommended to achieve a measurable result. CME expects a physical milestone improvement after approximately 20 sessions.(using the CME assessment scale)
Regular sessions are booked and pre-paid for a month ahead.
Host a block of sessions
Traveling can be difficult due to location or family circumstances.
Parents may choose to travel to me and take on daily or twice daily sessions with their child. To achieve progress these visits need to be repeated at least four times a year and follow the home program thoroughly in between the blocks.
To accommodate as many families I can, I am happy to travel in the country for a block of 3-4 days including 6-8 sessions. The hosting families are responsible to organise the week regarding numbers of children, place, and as a shared responsibility to cover the expense of my accommodation, travel and lodging. Twenty percent of the fee is required as a deposit to book a block.
