by Bette Lamont
Getting an infant involved in the natural neurodevelopmental sequence early in life is important for ALL infants whether or not we know they have autism or other neurodevelopmental disorders. This helps the brain talk to and organize itself. ALL infants need to go through this process, and the neurodevelopmentally normal child will go through all stages on their own, unless they are specifically inhibited by their environment. Making sure ALL children go through these stages is one of the buffers against later challenges.
AND, in my experience, autism usually involves most particularly the area of the brain that is developing between 7 and 12 months, which organizes itself around social awareness and sensory processing. However, without dealing with the gut issues, NeuroDevelopmental Movement® will take children far, but then they tend to stall out due to poor gut functioning and other biomedical issues.
I am quite convinced that if we could heal the midbrain and the gut, 90% of our autistic children would be much closer to well than with any other combination of approaches.
However, when speaking of the brain talking to itself and organizing, pruning, and maturing itself, that is the role of NeuroDevelopmental Movement®.