Conductive Education, Neuroplasticity, Cerebral Palsy, and why it's so effective
Without reinventing the wheel, the best thing we can do is to quote the official cerebralpalsy.org website
Conductive education is a comprehensive method of learning by which individuals with neurological and mobility impairment learn to specifically and consciously perform actions that children without such impairment learn through normal life experiences.
Now that the proper explanation is out of the way, I want to focus on explaining things in much simpler terms. What I often found is that parents come to me - an experienced conductive educator - already full of medical and hyper-descriptive terms. Sometimes, all they need is for practitioners like us to take it down a notch and help them evaluating this journey by explaining it in layman's terms.
Which is why at Early Movement Therapy we came up with the following.
⭐Explain to me conductive education as if I was a 10 year old
Conductive education is like a workout, and the conductor practitioner is like a personal trainer who knows your strength and challenges.
Conductive Education = Workout Conductor Practitioner = Personal Trainer
We are here to help the parent setting goals that they want their child to achieve in order to become the best version of themselves (both parents and kids!).
Like personal trainers at the gym, we are trained to observe and learn what motivates the child so the whole workout will be challenging but fun at the same time.
The workout is created to teach new physical skills by creating an environment where your brain and body need to work together.
Having brain and body team-up means the movements that the child is learning become easier and more natural, especially after many repetitions - just like at the gym!
⭐Why is conductive education so effective with Cerebral Palsy and neurological-related complications in general?
Conductive Education is based on the notion of neuroplasticity, the ability of our brains to learn and grow. Like a physical muscle, the brain gets stronger the more you use it, from birth until your last day.
The brain learns new things by recognising new patterns so, with repetition, it’s faster and easier for your brain to follow that same pattern in the future.
So, Conductive Education relies on the idea of the brain always being able to learn new tricks, together with the idea of the child's inner motivation to explore and learn more. This is sometimes referred to, in the grown-up world, as growth mindset, where you learn to embrace mistakes, obstacles, and challenges. You ditch perfection and focus on the progress, your personal progress.
Conductive Education is task-oriented and requires problem solving and full engagement/active participation. It Emphasises on how to "grow" the person with special needs so they gain the physical skills to move withing the surrounding environment instead of changing the environment to serve to needs of a person with special needs.
"Grow" the Special Needs individual so they can gain access to the surrounding environment, instead of changing the environment to adapt to their limitations
⭐Conclusion
Conductive Education is not a "miracle cure" that will see your special needs child suddenly cast away all their medical difficulties.
Conductive Education is a very special type of workout for mind and body, that gives your child the best chance to push their condition's boundaries and make visible progress, and leave them with a mindset that will serve them for the rest of their (and your) lives.
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