"My three-day In Synch 1 course offers a balancing process using the Brain Gym movements to enhance sensory integration," says Edwards. The technique, which is based on Brain Gym and sensory integration, is taught over a three-day course. There, she educates Brain Gym instructors and occupational therapists from many different countries by teaching a technique she developed to enhance sensory learning and integration. However, it was her experience of working with children that kept her in the field.Īlthough she does enjoy working with her young clients, today, Edward's work is mostly educational, through her company, Spectrum Whole Person Training. "I was drawn to the crafts and the practical work involved," she says. Initially, Edwards says she was motivated to become an occupational therapist because of the hands-on experience it offered in dealing with patients with conditions and phobias such as these. "The Brain Gym movements have been shown in clinical experience, in field studies and in published research reports to prepare children with the physical skills they need in order to read, write and otherwise function effectively in the classroom."Įdwards underlines the importance of building a solid platform based on these skills, adding, "The ability to learn easily is especially important for children in the first years of school, when they are laying the foundation for their future schooling and adult life work." While children use the Brain Gym skills to achieve better performance in the classroom, adults use the techniques that Edwards has developed based on the Brain Gym program to get past phobias, like fear of heights, or conditions such as motion sickness. "Brain Gym consists of movements similar to ones that children naturally do during the first three years of their life as they complete important developmental steps for coordination of eyes, ears, hands and the whole body," she says. Explaining how the program combines the work of educational therapists, child development experts, developmental optometrists and field of movement specialists, Edwards reveals how Brain Gym is based around simple movements that children perform instinctively in their early years. Dennison, PhD, and his wife Gail, Brain Gym is the culmination of over eighty years of research by experts in a variety of fields. Created by child motor-development expert Paul E. One program that is based on the integration of the senses through movement is Brain Gym. "Sensory Integration Therapy has developed out of this research and it is now widely used in many countries around the world in occupational therapy and physical therapy practices," says Edwards. Ayres and a number of other researchers, explains Edwards, has led to a greater understanding of the role of movement in learning difficulties. More specifically, these exercises stimulated the brain stem area of the brain, especially the vestibular system, which is responsible for balance and equilibrium.
The results showed that the experimental group exhibited an improvement on standardized test scores after they used specific exercises designed to stimulate the brain.
Therapists investigated minimal brain dysfunction, most recently labeled as attention deficit disorders, by comparing an experimental group of children diagnosed with the condition to another control group. Jean Ayres, an American OTR, recognized the need to deal with the underlying symptoms children with minimal brain dysfunction exhibited.
Today, Edwards travels internationally, teaching therapists and clients the techniques of Brain Gym(R), a sensorimotor program proven to enhance learning skills in both children and adults.Īs Edwards explains, research and investigation focusing on children with attention disorders began as early as 1978 when Dr. When she began her career as an occupational therapist in her home country of South Africa over thirty years ago, she never imagined that her training would lead her to become a world traveler and educator. Integration of the Senses Through Movementįor Rita Edwards, globetrotting has become a way of life.
0 kommentar(er)
