ABM NeuroMovement® Helps Babies with Strokes and Brain Trauma

Stories of Two Babies and How the Anat Baniel Method® Helped Them

Thank you again to all of you who entered our recent Contest and provided us with your amazing stories about the Anat Baniel Method® (ABM). This is the second in a series of blog posts featuring the ABM Stories that we received. (If you missed the first post, you can read it here: Winners of Share Your ABM Story Contest.)

The Story of Addie

Addie was born two-and-a-half months early as a result of her identical twin’s passing in utero and she spent 53 days in the NICU (neonatal intensive care unit).

It was day 5 in the NICU and it was going to be a bad day—we just had no idea how life changing the news would be. Less than five minutes after arriving at Addie’s isolette, the doctor, two neonatal nurse practitioners, a nurse manager, and the day nurse came in for what I presumed would be rounds. (Note: An isolette “is used for an incubator for premature infants that provides controlled temperature and humidity and an oxygen supply.”)

Joe, Jessica, and Addie Wright

“Good morning, Doctor! Today is a great day! Her bruising has gone down….”

The doctor immediately redirected the conversation to a head ultrasound. They found something, and it was bad. A stroke occurred sometime around when we had a surgical procedure performed to separate the blood supply from the twin that had passed. The diagnosis was PVL (periventricular leukomalacia) and we should expect severe cerebral palsy, seizures, and mental retardation.

I stood next to Addison in her isolette, her breathing machine hissing and humming. “But she looks so perfect.” My husband dropped to his knees and wept.

It was then when I started searching for therapies. My entire family, both sets of grandparents, and my nanny were blown away by Anat’s book Kids Beyond Limits.

We found Anat Baniel Method (ABM) Practitioner Andrew Tarr to work with Addie. He visited Omaha for a total of 4 days, and Addie had a total of 8 sessions with him. The only word I have for Andrew’s talents and Addie’s progress is AMAZING.

Prior to our sessions with Andrew, Addie rarely reached with her right arm, struggled to grasp objects, and never held her own bottle. Addie’s right arm and hand were essentially a useless stump to bear weight for her.

Andrew “played” for 4 days with Addie. Through his keen observations and intuition, he used fun and different ways to allow her to discover herself in new ways and thus, her abilities emerged.

Today, Addie has increased her right-hand reach attempts tenfold, holds her bottle during more than half of her feedings, and enjoys sucking on her right hand. We are traveling to see Andrew mid-November but I pray that he continues to have the desire and enough interested families to come to Omaha again very soon.

Any people or families interested in having ABM Practitioner Andrew Tarr come to Omaha to work with them, please email Andrew at tarr.andrew@gmail.com or call 303-345-5777. Andrew is based in Denver, Colorado. For more information, go to www.solidmountainsomatics.com.

The Story of Santiago

Santiago is a little boy who everyone loves and has touched the heart of everyone who has come to known him. His story is one of perseverance, faith, and overcoming challenges that many thought impossible to overcome.

His story began as a difficult birth in which, because of a doctor’s negligence, resulted in him suffering hypoxia which resulted in brain trauma. He spent his first month of life in an ICU (intensive care unit) fighting for his life. He, however, showed an iron will and was resilient in returning home to his mom and dad.

The next part of his story will be told through Santiago’s eyes as he sees us:

When I was born I fought like a tiger because I didn’t know what was happening around me, but what I did know is that I wanted to be with my mommy and daddy. Every day they would come visit me at the hospital and that’s what pushed me to get well and be with them.

Once I left the hospital’s care, they hugged me and kissed me and promised me they would help me heal my hurts. They knew I needed help to be able to move freely again and be able to develop my full potential.

They took me to different therapies in so many different places. Most of them I didn’t really like because they focused on telling me what I couldn’t do and some of the exercises they put me through felt like I was doing Crossfit and/or Mixed Martial Arts. I told my parents in my own way that I didn’t like those therapies very much which made them and me very anxious and frustrated.

Fortunately when I was 20 months old, my mom took me to see Miss Margie, an Anat Baniel Method Practitioner, who first taught me how to breathe properly. Finally I was learning how to breathe in a calm manner. Since then I’ve been developing my motor skills quite well and now I’m able to move more freely.

I still have a lot to learn about myself and getting to know how to unlock all my potential, but I know that with my family’s unconditional love and support, I know I will overcome every challenge in my path.

Thank you, parents, for sharing these beautiful stories about your children with us! Anat Baniel

To learn more about strokes in babies and brain trauma in children, go to: Brain Injury and Stroke in Children.

Anat Baniel Method® NeuroMovement® has also yielded positive results for adults who have had strokes. See stroke recovery for adults: www.anatbanielmethod.com/adults/rehabilitation-and-recovery-of-function.

Be sure to check out our NeuroMovement® videos, lessons, and tips on how to use the Nine Essentials. We’ll be posting these on Facebook: www.facebook.com/anatbanielmethod.

Please join our conversation and share your outcomes with us!