Unique Therapy Program Revisits Developmental Stages To Help Brain Injured And Others
By Cathy Herholdt
For more than two decades, Bette Lamont has been helping people with brain injuries, ADD, behavior problems, and a host of other issues using a unique form of therapy at the NeuroDevelopmental Movement® Consultants. More than 1,800 people have received therapy at the center, many of whom have seen marked improvements in their conditions and credit the program for affecting change in ways traditional therapy couldn’t and to the extent medical doctors told them was not possible.
NeuroDevelopmental Movement®, also called neurological reorganization, proposes that the brain’s ability to reorganize itself by the same means it is developed in a healthy infant is a process that can be replicated at any stage in the lifespan. The theory holds that repetition of the activities of earlier stages of development will cause the central nervous system to make new and more effective connections. For example, a brain injury can cause a long list of symptoms from inability to speak, walk, or eat to more mild symptoms such as difficulty concentrating, poor judgment, and impulsiveness.
Developmental movement therapy takes people affected by brain injury through motor movements such as crawling and creeping, and applies tactile and sensory stimulation, similar to what is experienced in the brain’s initial development, to promote healing and restoration. While there is limited scientific research surrounding this theory, Lamont and her colleague, Program Director Nina Jonio, are not alone in the practice of developmental movement therapy. It has been used in the UK for many years, and the British government recently awarded a grant to a similar program to further study its success. There are at least five centers in the U.S. that use developmental movement therapy, and the Seattle site sees clients from all over the country.
Because of the lack of research, Lamont has found minimal support from the medical community for her work, but that is changing slowly, she said. “We’re working with nature—how we’re intended to grow. It’s absolutely the most logical approach,” said Lamont. “Traditional therapy only works with the thinking part of the brain,” explained Nina Jonio. “You can get functions back, but never quite like before. “Traditional therapy works from the top down. We work from the bottom up,” explained Jonio. They concentrate on the lowest level of brain function. Without scientific research to support their work, they look to the progress of their clients for affirmation of its effectiveness.
The program is intense and requires diligence and hard work on the part of patients and family members who have to implement therapy practices up to 45 minutes a day. “It’s not a fun program, but they’re happy when they’re done,” said Jonio. “We’ve never had anyone who used the program who hasn’t seen change,” said Lamont. “Some recover 100 percent, some only a little. We don’t work miracles, we just work with the natural progression of how the brain works.”
A Success Story: Nick Messenger
Some may recall seeing 13-year-old Nick Messenger on the news in 2010, when he was hit by the mirror of a passing van while crossing 15th Ave. NW at 87th in Seattle. Nick suffered a severe head injury complicated by a subsequent stroke on the left side of his brain. He was in a coma for several months and, his mother, Jennifer Messenger, said doctors speculated he would be in a vegetative state for the rest of his life. After 64 days at Harborview, Nick went home where his family cared for him.
Therapy was difficult, recalls Jennifer, because there was no tone in his body, and he was turned down from the inpatient rehabilitation program at Children’s Hospital. Jennifer heard about the NeuroDevelopmental Movement® Consultants and decided to begin therapy, with the help of over 70 volunteers who worked in shifts of four to five people helping lift and move Nick’s body, six nights a week. Jennifer saw progress almost immediately. “He was developing coordination really rapidly,” said Jennifer, who remembers her son going from grasping stackable baby rings to being able to stack them in order very quickly. By June, Nick had made enough progress to be accepted into Children’s rehab program where he spent the next two months. The family continued therapy with Bette Lamont afterward, and Nick was able to enroll in school in the fall.
His mom credits the program with much of his progress, including being able to speak in short sentences, doing math, and getting ever closer to walking. “The program addresses the organization of the brain and making new neurological connections,” said Jennifer. “It was the only thing we found that addresses this.” The therapy, she said, is not easy. It’s a very intensive program and Nick doesn’t enjoy the work. But she believes it has made a great difference in his recovery. “We just love him so much and want him to be the best he can be.”