Case
Study in Cranio-Sacral Therapy – Cerebral Palsy
By Donovan Hean – October 2004
– January 2005
Leah
Williams is the recently adopted daughter of a friend
of mine. Her mom, Carol, adopted Leah when her other
adopted, terminally ill daughter Phumi refused to leave
her behind at the Children’s Home where Carol
has been supporting for many years.
Carol’s
health and birth history on Leah is somewhat vague as
the Children’s Home’s records were incomplete
as Leah arrived with none of this information. They
assume she about 3 years old, and appears have a history
of neglect and possibly abused. She is still in nappies,
does not verbalize coherently and has a constant dribbling
problem. She also struggles with her walking, balance
and co-ordination, and her left arm and leg are weaker
than the RHS. The doctor has diagnosed her with cerebal
palsy. However, she appears to be extremely good natured,
and is not opposed to physical contact. Generally, she
is a friendly loving little girl.
Carol
reported that Leah does not like loud noises and reacts
by removing herself from the source to the noise.
2/10/04
On
our first appointment, after talking to Carol about
her history, I worked on establishing a relationship
with Leah. Initially she allowed me to touch her by
holding her hands, she sat on my lap for a little while,
and I noticed that she appeared to have severe muscle
spasm in cervical region (photograph included).
She also presented with an extremely domed palate and
white line of vomer present.
We initiated CST with her sitting on her moms lap and
she allowed me to do occipital sacral holds, and with
time initiated good motion. She allowed bi-lateral vault
holds but would not allow me to do frontal occipital
holds, she brushed my hands away. I tried again but
she gently removed my hands.
I
picked up a sense of spiraling motion in her head during
the holds.
We
spent about 2 hours with her on the first session (including
history taking).
I
concluded the session by requesting Carol to place her
hands on Leah’s head in similar positions to what
I was using to accustomise her to being touched/held
in this manner.
Feedback
from Carol a week later:
On
the phone Carol shared with me that the teachers at
Leah’s school (who were not aware of her coming
for CST) told her that Leah was communicating better.
An example was that the teacher took Leah and 2 other
little girls to the toilet, and in the whole exercise,
Leah got left on the loo and for the first time, ever,
she shouted out the teachers name to call her back to
help her. Carol also noticed that she was steadier on
her feet. She was feeling very positive and enthusiastic
about continuing CST with Leah.
Unfortunately,
she was only able to come again on 15/10/04.
15/10/04
Her
second appointment began with meeting her at the car,
whereupon Leah manage to walk unassisted from the car
to the gate over uneven ground. Initially a bit shy,
she had a cold, but she soon settled down and allowed
me to put her on my lap and do bi-lateral vault holds,
and this time she allowed the frontal occipital holds.
We
spent about 5 minutes and then she needed a break. We
repeated the process 3 times with breaks in between
(3 sessions of good holds).
I
observed she seemed more present and was a lot steadier
on her feet and was watching where she placed her feet
when walking over obstacles. Generally she was a lot
brighter and had better eye contact.
Carol’s
feedback was that she has never bruised before when
she fell down, and now she is bruising as would a normal
child when it bumps or falls.
22/10/04
Our
third appointment was at Carol’s home (not a good
idea!). Leah was initially shy and when she settled
down she allowed me to treat her. She had a heavy cold
but was bright, very present and excited to see me.
Prior to her treatment I was amazed to see her running
around, which I had not seen her do before.
During
the treatment, I initiated a game of picking up objects
off the floor while upside down, during which I used
sacral occipital hold, with many audible adjustments
of cervical spine and spine during the process (unwinding).
She
then sat on my lap and we did several sessions of frontal
occipital holds and bi-lateral vault holds.
She
was quite distracted in her own environment and I recommended
that we continue treatments at my practice in future.
28/10/04
Leah
arrived sparkling and full of energy (quite a handful).
Her cold is gone. Running around like a mad thing, and
jumping, which Carol tells me is new, the running and
jumping. It took quite some time to quiet her down to
do a treatment, which she allowed open heartedly. She
also allowed me to take some photo’s of her palate
which clearly shows an extremely domed palate and white
line of vomer present. Carol’s feedback is that
Leah she a lot more vocal and holding conversations
with people, something she never did, she made incomprehensible
sounds when I first met her, very few of them, and the
extremely rare word that was understandable. Her speech
is still hard to follow, but she has begun vocalizing,
the first step in learning to talk.
We
worked on doing bi-lateral vault holds, and frontal
occipital holds. We did another session of spinal unwinding
– sacral occipital holds while picking things
up off the floor backwards.
She
left and walked up our steep driveway by herself, unsupported.
31/1/05
Leah
had 4 treatments between November and Mid-January. Leah
has grown 33mm in 6 weeks. She is walking, running and
jumping confidently, and has begun climbing. She is
beginning to verbalise with her Mom (Carol). In her
last treatment she lay down and allowed me to treat
her, voluntarily. The shape of her head has changed
as well, and her palate seems better. Her Mom is totally
thrilled.
(Call
for testimonial if you like: Carol Williams 083 777
7369). |
