Richness in the experience....
Somehow in the juggle of Archer’s developmental milestones,
the richness of experiencing life on his belly was cashed in for the support of
big, bulky, stationary containment devices, with focus on getting him upright,
either seated or standing. I must say, the engineering of “baby activity” items
is stripping children of experiencing natural movement. These are especially
ineffective for children facing other challenges. I constantly was constructing
additional supports with pool noodles, towel rolls, neck pillows, doing anything
to make it appear like he was advancing in development. We justified our
efforts by believing it was his visual impairment restricting his desire to be positioned
on his belly. Now, the only beneficial, natural thing we are continuing to do
with straps, wraps, buckles, and snaps is wear him! Being overwhelmed with which
needs take prominence is a daily endeavor. After receiving his CVI diagnosis in
July 2014, we choose to devote our extra time educating ourselves about CVI. Hoping,
by bringing function to his visual behaviors, it would increase his desire to
move. 
It is when I started digging into the concept of brain
plasticity that movement became the forefront of our efforts. Archer had some
movements of his own, he was rolling, but doing it in a mechanical way, plowing
right over anything in his path, no spatial awareness at all. He was not able
to perceive the difference between tangible objects and the space he was moving
in as being two separate forms. His body was one block, and the rest of the world
one block. Upon finding Anat Baniel Method
we began witnessing exponential gains with Archer. He now enjoys looking at
himself in the mirror, and giggles at himself when he sees his Mohawk all
spiked up! He has found confidence on his belly. Lifting and holding balance, rotating
thru his neck and shoulders to change his visual array, even reaching out to
play with toys. Vocally, he is taking after his mom, enjoying the sound of his
own voice, mimicking and taking turns! His noddle body parts, and jerky
movements are a thing of the past. As he learns to slow down and move with
attention, we are noticing his tone defining, as he finds purpose with his
movements. He is beginning to understand differences of objects, of
environments, of actions, and notice small details. For instance, I was holding
him on my hip and he found the tiniest button on my cardigan and was exploring
the difference in texture from the actual sweater. This is big stuff for
Archer, his cognition is igniting! 
Earlier in February 2016, we were able to return to the ABM
center for Archer’s 2nd week long intensive of neuro-movement
lessons. This time however was different, we were blessed to make the journey
as, ABC Sparks’ learning and supporting the growth as a whole family unit. Brandon
was grateful to be directly a part of the richness in the experience. With
Archer feeling fully supported by both of us, he excelled in his lessons, his
learning curve continues to heighten each time we go to ABM.
On this trip Archer met a new practitioner, Neil, with whom
he had 4 lessons with. Their first interactions beginning with the afternoon lesson
of our first day. Each practitioner holds their own unique qualities, knowledge
and expertise, and it is important that we give the pair space to work and
connect together. I prepared Brandon for this experience by explaining the
importance of us to be silent observers, not cheerleaders, so that Archer had
the best opportunity to connect with his learning experience and optimize his
learning outcomes. Once back at the center, Archer showed us through the
expression of his emotions, he understood where he was and what was going on,
and was communicating to us that he really likes coming to play and learn at
the center. Archer was anticipating this second lesson of the day and was
participating with pure joy. So of course, he was going to turn it up for Neil,
as he was new and Archer wanted to give his best energy into the learning
lesson. And that he did, Neil followed Archer’s lead, being flexible in the
outcomes that would arise, and then it happened!! Archer was up in a frog
position, the movement a first, and we were speechless, our eye’s wide and
gleaming with praise. This is the moment I knew Brandon was glad he sacrificed
his own teaching and classroom to be with his son learning! 
On our second day both of Archer’s lessons were in the
afternoon, so we took advantage of the blue skies and went to the beach. Not a
typical beach you drive right up to, but one with compelling adventure to get
too! It was about a 2 mile walk through a nature preserve with a vast trail
system. We came to a fork, and chose the higher road, but could see a different
trail leading out to the beach. Did we make the right decision? Sure enough, we
peaked up over a small incline and stood rewarded by the backdrop of the ocean.
Challenging the body with movement comes with the compliment of a calm mind! Or
in our case a curious little boy, who loved the sound of the waves, the feel of
the sand, the comforts of both his mom and dad, but the abundance of the ocean
kept him from napping and we had a worn out little boy for his afternoon
lessons...opps! Although he was tired, the afternoon with Chris was beneficial,
growth comes even in moments of being fatigued. Chris was positioned behind
Archer working with him on his belly. Archer is beginning to create the
neuronal pathways for this movement both to get in and out, AND to stay on his
belly, in addition beginning to use functional vision when lifting his head up.
Knowing this is a difficult task for him, we remained attentive to his gains,observing his attention to the moment. I noticed him slowly start to want to
give into gravity and let his head drop back to the table, BUT he was thinking
about it with great attention, and instead gracefully lifted his head back up,
not wrenching it back to fully expose his neck, but holding steady at a neutral
position! This is fine example of the richness of the learning experience,
compliments of ABM techniques and care at the center!
By Wednesday, Archer had already learned a lot. While
feeding him breakfast that morning I noticed him perceiving the differences of
his breakfast choices, not just tactility, but from verbal cues and visual
information. His systems working together feeling and bringing attention with all
three avenues of movement: physical, emotional, and movements of thoughts. With
his brain absorbing and organizing the new information, we found Archer was needing
supplemental food (mostly protein) round the clock, but of course this happened
to be the day we were running late, and left his drink and snack on the table in
our hotel room. For his morning lesson with Chris the focus turned to
emphasizing the Essential of “Slow.” Archer put out the little bit of energy he
had remaining and was able to visually find a toy, capture the sound it was
making and audibly assess the distance from his body, acknowledge his need to
roll onto his belly and reach for the toy. The process seems so easy, but we
must learn to slow OUR processing down and give Archer the space to explore at
his pace. Giving him time to process all the pieces, and then link the movements
together by thinking about it, decided if he is interested in the toy, and
whether it will bring him joy, then at that point he can chose to physically
move towards the object.
Between the January trip and this visit, Brandon and Archer
had been playing with the movements of whistling, as Archer loves birds! We
often attempt to sing song different bird calls. During the week, both Neil and
Chris had been working with Archer’s mouth, tongue, and jaw. Brandon thought
this was very strange until he started hearing Archer’s communication efforts.
The sounds generating greater flexion, more direct focus, varied enunciation,
and we have been exchanging long conversations about important things!
During
Archer’s lessons with Michelle, she had been integrating the use of questions
to give more choice, and for him to learn to answer yes or no, be that verbally
or via body language.While in the waiting room, I was actually holding Archer
(his dad had been taking advantage of having the time to provide most of the care-giving roles) and we started playing a game. I have been getting brave enough
to wear earrings again, thinking it was time for Archer to learn not to pull,
to look, and touch softly. My earrings were big copper loops with vibrant green
and blue feathers, an easy target! As he took interest, he first felt them, and
then he began blowing the feathers, and they moved slowly.
