What goes on back there?

So now that we’re three weeks in and you know all about how happy and chatty Sam has become, let me fill you in a little about what actually goes on in his sessions.

Interestingly, they don't tell me much. It’s not like OT where his therapist invited me to sporadically to catch up and I could see how Sam was progressing. And it’s not like speech where his therapist would bring him out five minutes before his time was up to give me a brief run down of what they did and how he handled it. At Brain Balance, he heads back with Erin and his binder and comes back to me an hour later on his own. I have no interaction with either of the women he works with. I’m not even sure of the name of the woman who does the cognitive portion of the session. And as anyone who has kids knows, I cannot get any info from Sam. He tells me nothing, No names. No drills. No details. No funny moments. N-O-T-H-I-N-G-! They say they don't share because they need to protect their product and don't want other therapists stealing their secrets. Also, since the sessions are so short and intense, they don't have the time to talk to parents on a daily basis. Makes sense but I'm still hungry for information and don't want to wait till our first parent meeting. It doesn't happen till we're 1/3 of the way through the 12 weeks.

Last week I asked Erin if I could take a peak in on his session to see what he does. As gracious as ever, she took me back to Betsy’s office to spy through the two-way mirror. There he was in this crazy sensory motor gymnasium walking on the balance beam. As if that was not hard enough for Sam to master, he had some kind of band on his ankle, another one on his wrist, an earplug in one ear and wacky glasses that were mostly black. How could he not tell me any of this? Does he realize how funny he looks and how silly what he’s doing is? I guess not. Next, he went on to do side planks and climb on the monkey bars - with all apparatus in tact. He was very pleasantly moving from task to task and seemed to be having fun. I asked if all the kids were so compliant and Erin told me that he’s really easy. She kind of has to say that though, doesn’t she?

Because I didn’t feel like the above gives you (or me) a really clear sense of what they're doing and why, I asked Betsy to tell me more.  She explained that there are two goals for each sensory motor session – 1. they want the kids to make functional gains by moving up levels (this is what he earns the stars for) and 2. they want to provide targeted stimulation to his weaker hemisphere so that it can grow and catch up. A well-known neurologist at UCSF, Michael Metternich, wrote:

Research has shown that engaging the brain’s plasticity to drive beneficial changes requires exact stimuli delivered in the appropriate sequence with precise timing. The training must be intensive, repetitive, and progressively challenging. Individuals must be strongly engaged in the training, paying close attention.  It’s all about the mind’s vitality–nurturing it, reclaiming it and giving it strength.

 

According to Betsy, this is the driving principle behind the program and this approach is what makes it different from other programs.  

I’ve read and heard most of what she’s saying before. It seems like Brain Balance is taking ideas from a lot of different doctors and theories and combining them into an intense 12 weeks.

It all makes sense and I want to believe but the cynic in me (the one who keeps telling me not to get too hopeful) is still skeptical. Doesn’t it sound a little hocus-pocusy? I think it does and I wouldn’t be shocked one bit if Casey and Erin invite me in for a séance being led by Betsy. But if Sam keeps smiling as much as he did this week, I’m ok with a little magic and am 100% ready to start drinking the kool-aid. Assuming it's dairy-free.