We decided to go in another direction in terms of Madison’s therapy. After our summer adventure in San Jose was over, we had mixed feelings. Madison did well and I do believe she progressed in some ways. However, we left the program a little unsettled. Madison cried way too much. Children’s brains can not learn when they are so upset.

Throughout my research on "alternative" therapies, I kept running across someone named Anat Baniel and something called the "Anat Baniel Method (ABM)". This is also known as "Neuromuscular Reeducation". The methodology sounded intriguing and interesting, but we were on the Conductive Education track, and I didn’t think it would be appropriate to introduce something new to this already overloaded little girl. But through a little serendipity, we ended up pursuing this methodology. I quickly learned the Anat Baniel clinic was in San Rafael. Several of the families we met in San Jose had worked with Anat Baniel and spoke very highly of her. Last spring I received a very special e-mail from a dear friend in Petaluma who said a friend of hers has a child working with Anat and is seeing amazing results. Information overload; I still didn’t pursue looking into this. Then, I joined a Bay Area e-mail group this summer and about a month later received an e-mail describing a Free Clinic in San Rafael to meet Anat Baniel and have a session with one of her practitioners. I thought this was the last sign we needed proving it was time to pursue this.

So, we went to the free clinic in San Rafael. It was interesting. Madison was not thrilled to be there, and I wasn’t hugely encouraged by her behavior. Madison worked with a very nice practitioner named Patricia. Madison was the only child there screaming her head off. The rest of the children were working in one big room with individual practitioners; Madison needed her own room. It wasn’t that she didn’t like the session, she just didn’t like being there. Something new, new people, looked "therapeutic"; not Maddie’s cup of tea. Anat came into Maddie’s session and tried to help and she did have a very special way about her. They were able to calm Madison down (the fruit snacks helped!), but didn’t really get a chance to "work" with her. But because she was finally calm, I was able to use the time to talk with Patricia and learn more about the methodology. Quite frankly, it sounded a bit "out there", and I still didn’t really understand it, but I was definitely intrigued. After our session, I was able to attend a parent workshop and listen to Anat Baniel talk. She is an incredible lady.

Though this experience was not incredible, I left with a calmly excited feeling. Derek wasn’t completely on board, but he does tend to trust and respect my instinct.

We knew we weren’t going to be able to spend an extended amount of time in San Rafael in the near future. However, Anat Baniel trains people to become "practitioners" of her method. The closest certified practitioner we could find was in San Ramon, about an hour away. I e-mailed this practitioner, Alice, and we started corresponding. Through some research, I was able to find out that Alice worked at the ABM Center in San Jose, and was also an Occupational Therapist with California Children’s Services in the Bay Area. These credentials impressed me, and because of her OT knowledge and training, it made me feel that perhaps this methodology was not so "out there". We didn’t want to be trekking back and forth to San Jose again, so she said she could hold the sessions in her home in San Ramon. This is not like the all-day Conductive Education sessions. Each session is only one intense hour. It is recommended to do several sessions as close together as possible. This was starting to sound doable. The girls were going to be "off-track" from school for the month of November, and San Ramon is only about 25 minutes away from my parent’s house. We went to meet Alice in September. Of COURSE, Madison was very skeptical, which I so appreciate in her. Of course she should be skeptical - look what we’ve put her through over the last three years. (To date, Madison has worked with at least 25 different therapists and teachers...) Alice seemed to really understand Madison’s boundaries, let her play and explore a lot, but was able to start feeling her body and get a sense of what she was like. Alice seemed to understand very quickly what Madison’s strengths and limitations were. She pointed things out about Madison that I had never noticed. We decided to meet a few more sporadic times before November, just so Madison could get comfortable with Alice.

Well, by our second session, Madison was PUTTY in Alice’s hands. You know the "Baby Whisperer"? Alice is the "Maddie Whisperer". It is incredible. I have never seen Madison respond to anyone like this before. Alice has a therapy table in the middle of her living room. Madison reluctantly got on the table at the very end of our first session. By the second session, Madison climbed up on the table the minute we got there. She laid down like Alice asked and just let Alice do her thing. I have never seen Madison’s body look more comfortable in her whole life, except perhaps while she is sleeping. I still can’t completely explain the therapy, but it just makes so much sense as I watch Alice work with Madison. We met with her another time in October which went just as well, and then scheduled six sessions for November. We were able to schedule 6 sessions over about a ten day period. It took some creative scheduling on both of our parts, and some interesting arrangements for me and the girls. Mostly a lot of driving, but also some time at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. So glad my job is so flexible!

The sessions went very well. There were a few sessions where Madison wasn’t entirely cooperative, but those tended to be the late afternoon sessions that we decided we probably shouldn’t do anymore.

The results... Very obscure and a bit hard to explain, but astounding. Madison seems to be developing a new peace with her little body. Most of Alice’s work was trying to help Madison understand her body and help her be aware of what her body does. This new awareness has brought a calmness about Madison that we have not seen before. It is the theory that if she feels more comfortable in her body and is more aware of what her body is doing, then things such as walking and talking should come a bit easier for her. The most concrete thing I saw that I was shocked by was Madison independently doing a puzzle. I was on the phone, and she saw a puzzle on the floor (big, knobby puzzle with 4 pieces.) She has never done this puzzle before. She very calmly and precisely took out each puzzle piece, one by one. She then concentrated really hard, did not get frustrated, and put all of the pieces back. There was one she had a hard time doing, but she calmly put it to the side, did the other ones, and then came back to that hard one and successfully put it in. This might not seem like a miracle to most, but for Madison it was... It would be more like Madison to come up to that puzzle, toss all of those pieces out and then crawl right away from it. To see her move and work with such purpose was all the evidence I needed to understand that this new work she was doing with Alice was doing something incredibly positive to our little wonder.

So where do we go from here? Madison’s work with Alice was not a "quick fix". We did these sessions to see if this was something Madison responded to. But, for this to really help her in her life, we need to continue seeing Alice. Starting in January, we began seeing Alice once a week, and we will continue to do so as long as this is possible. This is a tall order, getting to San Ramon every week and paying $140 a session. Through some household budget cuts, and by me working a few more hours a week, we know we can pay for at least two sessions a month. We also found a way to draw from Madison’s college account with no penalty. (That whole "disabled" label helped...) However, that will only get us through a few months of this...

Madison greatly enjoys our Friday trips to San Ramon. She is always sooo excited when I tell her we are going to go see Alice. I pick her up a little early from school, and she usually sleeps all the way there (and back!). Meanwhile, I get to listen to books on tape and enjoy some time to myself. :-) So, really, there is not much sacrifice on either of our parts! We get back just in the nick of time to pick Savannah up from school...

Between this and all of Madison’s private speech therapy, we are thinking that it is time to have another garage sale for Madison! I’m sure it won’t be as grand as the last one, but even if we could raise enough money to pay for a few sessions, it would be well worth it. So if you are reading this and have some old "stuff" laying around you are looking to get rid of, please save it for Madison! We are thinking we’ll do our garage sale around April or May...