ABR testimonials
The following testimonials have been provided by Perth families in November 2007.
Talia Rees
Talia is 4 ½ years old and has been doing ABR for 12 months, during which time we have seen big improvements physically and behaviorally. The first change that happened was Talia's ability to walk, previous to ABR she used a K-walker and could only walk about 3 steps with her Conductive Education teacher, and could not stand unassisted. After 3 months, she started to stand for short periods, and did her first steps at 3.3yrs, 18 steps in total all at once! Now she can run and walk short distances on her own.
Other changes that have occurred include Talia being able to control her bladder and bowel movements more effectively; her behavior has also improved tremendously as previously she could not sleep through the night, she is now able to sleep through with the ABR machine on. Having more sleep has improved her general wellbeing throughout the day, and reduced her crying and distress. Talia has gained weight, and her speech has improved so that now she can talk in sentences and be understood, previously she could only say 2-3 words at a time that were not understandable. These developments and changes in Talia have been remarkable!
Talia spends 2 hours each day with the ABR machine on, as well as sleeping with it at night. We also used to do 1 1/2 hour's manual application each day as well, but now we use the machine only. ABR is time consuming, but the results we have achieved in such a short space of time are encouraging to us as a family and have given us hope for Talia to lead a much more fulfilled and normal life. We are grateful for the opportunity to be able to make such a positive difference to Talia's future, and recommend ABR as a therapy that brings results towards reaching her potential in life.
Ashleigh Johannes
Our daughter Ashleigh is 6 years old and due to being born 3 months premature has Cerebral Palsy. She has spastic diplegia which means the muscles in her legs get stiff and to a lesser degree her arms are also affected. Ashleigh cannot walk unaided and requires a walker to walk short distances only. For long distances she is confined to a wheelchair. We do receive physiotherapy services from the Centre for Cerebral Palsy and Ashleigh also has regular 6 monthly treatments with Botox from PMH.
Initially we started ABR therapy as we had heard so many good results from other parents both at the parent focus group at the Centre for Cerebral Palsy and on-line testimonials. We were looking for something more as main stream therapy did not seem to be providing the results we would have hoped for. More and more I am of the belief that ABR (although in its infancy) will be the future treatment for children with Cerebral Palsy.
We have been doing ABR since March 2007 so it is difficult for us to provide much information on results achieved so far as ABR is a slow process. Even so, we have seen some changes in Ashleigh's overall shape and ability. Ashleigh has a chest deformity due to her Cerebral Palsy in that her ribs are flared and her stomach muscles are very weak. When lying down she has a marked indentation in her chest cavity. However, since starting ABR we have noticed that her ribs are less flared and her deformity is less apparent. Since starting ABR Ashleigh is able to get into a four-point-crawling position and then kneel against something (like a couch) to get toys off that couch. She would not have felt confident in doing this before we commenced ABR. Her trunk has gained strength and now has some separation in it. Before ABR therapy if you were to push Ashleigh from one side when she was in a seated position she was not able to counterbalance at the waist. She is now able to do that. Although we are relatively new to ABR we have definitely seen some gains in Ashleigh's abilities and also some cosmetic changes. This is very encouraging considering to date I have only been able to spend approximately 1 hour a day providing ABR therapy, as Ashleigh has 2 sisters who also require attention and she goes to full-time school.
ABR is an expensive form of therapy (considering the travel to Singapore) and we as a family are unsure how long it will be possible for us to continue to fund this treatment for Ashleigh. Seeing the gains already made it would be disheartening to say the least if we were unable to continue down this path due to lack of available funds.
Sue & Wayne Johannes, Perth
William Petkovic
William is now 3 years old, and has spastic quadriplegia, cerebral palsy. We have now been doing ABR for 10 months, and are already noticing the changes.
Prior to ABR William had very little movement, and could only commando crawl a very short space. He could sit propped up but was very unsteady. After 10 months of ABR, he can now commando crawl wherever he chooses to go, and can also sit unsupported. The biggest change is that he can now go from a lying position to a sitting position. This is a huge step for William, giving him the freedom and independence to do whatever he chooses.
William is now eating a lot better, and is able to chew more complex foods. His appetite and weight have also both improved. He is not quite talking yet, but he is making progress with the sounds he is able to make. He certainly lets us know what he wants, and is on the verge of those first words!!
William has the ABR machine on all night, and we do about 1 and ½ hours of manual ABR each day. So far we would have performed over 500 manual hours and countless hours on the machine. It is time consuming and can be difficult and frustrating, but the end results are all worth it! ABR has allowed us to take control of Williams’s therapy, rather than the wait and see approach of many conventional therapies.
It has allowed us to give William a better to chance to achieve all that he can be...
Debbie & Buddy Petkovic, Perth
Caitlin Lenaghan
Caitlin Lenaghan is a 7 year old girl who has quadriplegic, spastic Cerebral Palsy, epilepsy and a Vision Impairment.
For the past 11 months, we have been doing ABR therapy with Caitlin and we have seen many changes to her structure during that time. The most exciting change that we have seen is to the structure of her trunk. Previous to ABR, Caitlin had a sunken chest that was extremely flat. Her ribs flared out at the bottom and this prevented her from taking big, deep breathes.
After putting in 2 hours of manual therapy every day and 12 hours of machine over night while she sleeps, we have noticed that her chest has some volume to it and her ribs do not protrude dramatically anymore. We have also noticed that the structure of her shoulder has improved and this has freed up the movement she has in her arms. She is stronger in her head and trunk control, which is a huge advantage for her schooling as she does not require as much energy to be spent holding her head up, and has more energy to focus on the work presented to her.
here have been many other smaller and less obvious changes to her structure and we are delighted with each and every one of them. We anticipate that with time and many more ABR hours put in, the hard work will pay off and we hope to see some functional change for her in the future.
ABR has given us hope and I’m sure, some physical comfort for Caitlin.
We will continue to put the hours in for as long as we can sustain it and we are very excited about the prospect of ABR coming to Perth in the near future.
Samantha and Paul Lenaghan, Perth