Relationship with Coraline's therapists

Monday question, “What is your relationship like with Coraline’s therapists?”

Some we have for a while, some change often. We have appreciation for them all. I am always learning from them. They are kind.

Coraline is on the waiting list for NHS Occupational Therapy. A friend suggested we chat to a private OT whose practice also has a waiting list (LOL) because she is so amazing. She gave me a free intro. chat for 20 minutes in April and it was like every question that had been puzzling me for ages was answered. She stands out as she worked in neurology and neurosurgery before expanding into paediatrics. She specialises in reflex integration. She chatted to me about neurodevelopment which I found eye opening, and how some of the early stages of neurodevelopment remained immature when Coraline was born eg. some reflexes develop in-utero and are practised there so when they are born these reflexes are active.

I said to her that Coraline doesn’t like having her face and head touched or hair brushed but she likes us stroking her foot or hand. She said, “oh yes as it’s a completely different neural system”. She said the body has long nerves from the cortex to the body which are connected to other nerves. Whereas for the face and head the cranial nerve goes straight to the brain stem. For Coraline this is too much input. The process to help with this is desensitisation using touch, just a light hold with light pressure. She has given us little exercises to do.

She explained why Coraline doesn’t like playgrounds as this is to do with her vestibular system (balance). She said that counter to the vestibular system is proprioception (awareness of body in space) and so by doing some joint compression and squeezing exercises Coraline becomes more aware of her body and less frightened of those kinds of movements. Don’t quote me on all this, but you get the drift. Pretty amazing knowledge, insights and solutions!