DISCOVER CUEVAS MEDEK EXERCISES
"Unleashing dormant or immature postural reflexes profoundly improves physical performance."
HOW CME CAN HELP YOUR CHILD
Your child’s physical abilities are not defined by his or her diagnosis. Stimulation of the postural reflex systems of the body can produce amazing results!
Many children arrive at my practice having been through various regimes of stretching, strengthening and core stabilization. Despite months or even years of hard work, they have not yet begun to reach their maximum potential. My practice utilizes Cuevas Medek Exercises (CME) to unleash previously untapped abilities.
CME is an established therapeutic technique designed to stimulate the reflexive centers of the brain - specifically targeting postural reflexes. CME is an excellent therapeutic choice for children with atypical neurological conditions such as Cerebral Palsy, Spina Bifida, IVH, PVL, and more. CME is also highly effective for addressing delays resulting from low muscle tone, a condition commonly associated with Down Syndrome, but also found in the general population. Instead of limiting therapy to the musculoskeletal system, CME trains the brain itself to respond more effectively to physical demands and environmental challenges. Better yet, CME is a vigorous, hands-on form of therapy. Stretching and strengthening are byproducts of the exercises, ensuring that your child will gain maximum benefit from each and every individually- tailored session.
If your child does not protect themselves when falling, falls frequently for no apparent reason, has not yet mastered the ability to stand or walk, cannot sit independently, or simply needs help holding their head up, CME can help.
THE MEDICALLY COMPLEX CHILD
THE CLUMSY CHILD
Many children are labeled as “clumsy” or “awkward”. Unfortunately, poor physical coordination can affect self-esteem, socialization skills, independence, and even general safety. Grace and athleticism are physical attributes that can be taught more easily than you may realize. Cuevas Medek Exercises are an excellent therapeutic tool to awaken these attributes inherent in all children.
Physical coordination can rarely be improved through strengthening alone. The child who is described as a
“bull in a china shop” is often already quite strong. Yet strengthening remains primary focus of most physical therapy. In reality, mature and well-integrated postural reflexes are what allow for fluid and effective responses to daily environmental challenges. Coordination and athleticism improve dramatically once an individual is able to perform by instinct instead of thinking through each motion. Quickly navigating over environmental barriers; regaining one’s balance after stepping on a slippery surface; negotiating stairs or playground equipment in a timely manner; walking on sand or gravel – all these skills require a multitude of small, instinctive and automatic postural adjustments. These adjustments require a synergy with one’s postural reflex system.
Excellent physical coordination can only be achieved when postural reflexes are fully activated and integrated. Cuevas Medek Exercises (CME) trains the brain itself to respond more effectively to physical demands and environmental challenges. Better yet, CME is a vigorous, hands-on form of therapy. Stretching and strengthening are byproducts of the exercises, ensuring that your child will gain maximum benefit from each and every individually-tailored session.
There is no reason to assume that a child with atypical genetics, brain damage, spinal cord damage, or a disease of the motor system can best be taught physical skills in the same manner as a neuro-typical child. Yet most traditional pediatric physical therapy seeks to closely imitate typical gross motor development. Children are taught to roll over, sit up, crawl and walk in a sequential manner using strategies that closely resemble the types of movements made by the average child. Additionally, difficulty with mastering age-appropriate gross motor skills is often attributed to muscle weakness or stiffness.
The CME approach views gross motor development differently. First – the CME therapist focuses on the end game of gross motor development – mastery of independent and energy-efficient walking. Secondly, rather than work on specific, rote gross motor skills, the CME therapist works to trigger dormant postural righting reflexes. Postural righting reflexes are what come into play when an individual slips, trips, or otherwise experiences a sudden and unexpected loss of balance. The body spontaneously performs a variety of corrections to regain balance and equilibrium. With proper input and support, these sophisticated corrections can be provoked in children at any and all developmental levels.
Provoking and integrating postural reflexes can jumpstart stalled gross motor development, and can profoundly improve gross motor performance. Depending on the severity of the gross motor delay, CME therapy can be beneficial in improving skills as basic as head righting, sitting independently, walking without an assistive device, and freely ambulating all environments in an energy-efficient manner. The difference between traditional pediatric therapy and CME is profound.