Has anyone seen the ABC story on Gregg Mozgala? He has cerebral palsey and worked with a ballet instructor to help get his heel down so he could have better balance for dancing. It looked like his femurs were internally rotated and he walked with an in-toe gait. The results (after much grueling work) were amazing!
Just wondered if anyone had looked into this CP connection with music and ballet.
nwmom
I haven't looked into it yet, but am about to. My son responds best to music. He seems to be atuned to it naturally. He is spastic in his movements and has involuntary movements but can keep time a 2 and a half. I will look up the story you mention.
Which I now have! I looked online and yes the results were amazing. I think the biggest reason for his results were a mixture of the music and motivation. Has anyone seen things like this before/ anywhere else? My physio has said the earlier the treatment the better the prognosis, saying the physio would only take him so far, but it seems that this is not the case.
Last edited by Basswife; 08-15-2010 at 02:00 AM.
Reason: additions
I couldn't have done ballet because I never had the balance for it (can't stand in one spot without crutches) but I did horseback riding from the age of 7 and was much better for it. They had us do exercises on the horses (touching toes, moving side to side ect...)
The balance issue came up again when I was ready to start jumping a bit.. (high school by that point) so I left, but I did enjoy it. There was a program in my area that was subsidized.
IMO PT's are overrated ..lol They are forever "by the book" I never found anything too "real life" about them, but that's just me..lol A resource is a resource, BUT there are MANY resources out there. You're the Mom, I guarantee, YOU are your son's best resource.
Hello,
When my niece was learning to walk on her own around four years-old, she "tippy" toed. We constantly had to remind her to walk on her feet. When she was seven, I bought her a "Bella-Bella-Ballerina" video that came with footprints out a mat and a ballerina "bar" (plastic). It was like when she did that video, and listened to the directions, she was a completely different kid. She didn't involuntarily jerk for the time she was dancing, and when she was supposed to put her feet down in certain ways, she did them with a mastery I wasn't aware she had. I was concerned with the plastic bar for her safety but my mom told me to tell her slightly in passing to not put all her weight on it and be careful because it was plastic. I think the combination of her liking to dance, wearing pink leotards and the skirt and one piece thing all kind of made her enjoy it immensely. I remember trying not to cry she looked so beautiful. And she was very graceful. I think dance and music are very theraputic to anyone, and very benefical for PT workouts.
