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Cerebral Palsy: Injury to the midbrain can be treated
Thu, Jun 9, 2016
4 mins read
Cerebral Palsy Symptoms & What You Can Do
Melvin’s Success Story Gives Hope for Children with Brain Injury
After Melvin’s birth, he appeared to develop well and his parents thought that everything was fine. However, when he was five months old he caught the flu and became severely ill. He vomited a great deal and lost nearly one kilogram of weight. He then became ill with tonsillitis. For the next two months he was severely ill and slept most of the time. By 7 months of age, he had difficulty moving or lifting his head. We had no idea what was wrong and didn’t realize what cerebral palsy symptoms look like.
At 9 months of age, when he was tested by a nurse, it was clear that something was wrong – he was not responding to sounds as he should have. He showed no interest in toys, and he had a severe convergent strabismus. Eventually doctors were able to confirm with an MRI that he did have an injury to the brain.
Melvin could not crawl or creep, but parents were told by doctors to “wait and see.”
Doctors told Melvin’s parents that they could not predict how he would do and advised them to “wait and see.” Parents did not want to wait and immediately began searching for answers on the Internet. They discovered The Institutes for the Achievement of Human Potential and Glenn Doman’s book What To Do About Your Brain-Injured Child.
Melvin was 22 month old, and could move his arms and legs, but could not move forward or crawl at all. After reading the book, parents built an Inclined Floor, and were so happy with Melvin’s quick progress in crawling that they decided to travel to Philadelphia and attend the What To Do About Your Brain-Injured Child Course. They were inspired, and returned to The Institutes in Italy a few months later to have Melvin evaluated by The Institutes staff and to receive a home program. Even though Melvin had cerebral palsy symptoms, he quickly responded to the program we received for him – a glimmer of hope!
Using the Inclined Floor, Melvin learned how to crawl on his belly. He learned to crawl off the Inclined Floor and onto the flat floor. This was the start of his amazing journey to becoming fully mobile.
He quickly gobbled up the information he was given and adored every second of his learning time with Mom.
Parents also started an Intelligence Program to help Melvin’s intellectual development. Using The Institutes Reading Program, they began to teach him to read, which he loved. Looking back, his parents say, “He learned to read when he was two and a half years of age; how many kids can read at that age? Even our other children couldn’t!”
Parents started a specialized Nutrition Program according to The Institutes recommendations. Melvin’s digestive problems disappeared and his health improved.
Mother started to teach Bits of Intelligence to offer Melvin an encyclopedic knowledge of the world around him. She taught him about a wide range of subjects, especially those topics he clearly loved best. He quickly gobbled up the information he was given and adored every second of his learning time with Mom.
Parents also used the book How To Teach Your Baby Math to begin teaching Melvin the language of mathematics. He ate it all up, and learned at an incredible pace. Before long, he was learning about subjects in higher math.
This rich Intelligence Program acted as a great motivation to get Melvin moving. Parents coached Melvin to build up to many meters daily of crawling on the flat floor, until he began creeping on his hands and knees.
Melvin began to crawl and creep.
Melvin began to learn how to walk under an Overhead Ladder, and he built up to hundreds of meters daily under the ladder. His parents were always right there, by his side, coaching and encouraging him.
After a great deal of work, Melvin learned to walk totally independently. Melvin was proud, and so were his parents. His parents write, “Melvin made it happen! Without the knowledge and inspiration of The Institutes, it would never have happened!”
Melvin now walks independently and is above age level intellectually.
Looking back at Melvin’s progress, his mother writes, “Melvin’s understanding is now way above his age. He reads books and math like a 10-year-old. He can follow directions more and more. He answers questions much faster.” Melvin now walks all over and is above age level intellectually due to the hard work of his parents and older siblings, who work day in and day out to help him reach his full potential. This is a great example of success over cerebral palsy symptoms.
