Therapies to try
Last week’s blogging question, “Which therapy that you have not yet tried would you like to try for Coraline?”
Anything our friend Vaida recommends! We met Vaida in Surrey as her son and Coraline went to the same preschool.
Vaida has opened our eyes to so many interesting webinars and methods! I often wrap our soaps listening to them.
This year we are so grateful that Vaida recommended a Private Occupational Therapist, Shelley at Hemispheres, to us. Shelley is trained in reflex integration and neurology and she’s a powerhouse of information. Everytime we talk to her, or see her, we walk ten foot taller! We’ve seen so many developments in Coraline since seeing Shelley. She talks about all manner of reflexes in the body that we have never heard of. I cannot even begin to describe all we’ve learned from her.
This was us on Dartmoor last weekend when friends were visiting and we couldn’t stop singing Shelley’s praises and highlighting the amazing changes we see in Coraline after doing the exercises Shelley sets. We do ten minutes of exercises set by Shelley each day five days a week and then see her in person/on zoom every two months for an hour. Kevin does them with Coraline. These exercises work directly on different reflexes. Since seeing Shelley and doing the exercises Coraline has become more aware, looks us more in the eye, has begun to smile and laugh more, has begun being interested in her toy animals, has begun bringing my hands up to do makaton signs that she knows and she has begun willingly taking our hands to walk more. Shelley has explained the three parts of the brain stem to us and how she is stimulating them with the exercises she gives us.
We feel lucky everyday to work with Shelley. We’ve been on the waiting list for Coraline’s NHS Speech therapy, Occupational Therapy and Physiotherapy since moving to Devon in August so Shelley has meant everything to us!