Help your child
become a
bright learner

Learning beyond limits for children

Learning is an exploratory process that's necessary for brain development. In order to make sense of ourselves in our world we all need to learn to differentiate, integrate and form well-organized patterns of movement, thought, feeling and emotion.

The exact same neuroplastic learning principles—The Nine Essentials—that can help adults move without pain, highly skilled athletes reach the next level of performance, stroke survivors regain function—can be especially transformative for children who have learning challenges and special needs.  

The focus of Anat Baniel Method® NeuroMovement® lessons is on potential and possibility. Rather than forcing a child into a developmental milestone they are not ready to do yet—which only grooves in their limitation and sense of failure—ABMN lessons meet the child where they are in their development, and help them build skills from there.

ABMN lessons wake up the child's brain to new possibilities of movement and action—helping them differentiate, map and form new neural connections—leading to spontaneous, often remarkable breakthroughs in movement, thinking, emotional self-regulation and connection with others.

Positive changes can include But are not limited to: 

• Greater awareness of self and others

• Improved mobility, strength, balance and coordination

• Reduced spasticity and chronic muscular contractions

• Effortless, more skillful, pleasurable movement

• Better breathing, anxiety relief, sounder sleep

• Calmer, improved mood

• More focused attention and increased eye contact

• Improved ability to match intentions to actions

• Clearer communication

ABMN is not diagnosis or injury-specific. Even if I work with two children who are the same age and have the same diagnosis—the way each child moves and organizes themselves for action is totally unique to them—because each child's acquired life experience of movement, development, response to their diagnosis or injury, and their environment is so unique.

Each lesson is truly tailored to the child as they are organized in that moment—so it is not one-size-fits-all. That said, ABMN lessons can help children who have the following conditions:

• Traumatic birth injury

• Premature birth

• Torticollis

• Brachial plexus injury

• Post-surgery or injury limitations

• Balance & coordination issues

• Angelman's syndrome

• Genetic disorders

• Birth defects

• Neuromuscular disorders

• Scoliosis

• TMJ

What a lesson is like

From the very start of the lesson I connect with your child to find out what interests them and engages their curiosity, attention and learning switch.

I observe what movements your child is already able to do easily, and highlight distinctions and variations around that movement.

While I assist your child in guided, gentle, slow movements, I amplify her awareness of herself in space as she moves. Throughout the lesson I use movement with attention, gentle touch, subtlety, imagination, lots of variations and The Nine Essentials to feed your child's brain with a rich source of opportunities to perceive differences.

I will not force your child into a developmental milestone they are not ready to do yet—which only grooves in their limitation. For example, when a child is unable to come up to sitting, crawl or stand up on his own, I will avoid trying to have him be in this position until he has figured out how to do it himself, with no help or with minimal help.

If there is a small toy or a book your child likes, you can bring it to the lesson. Often children get hungry during a lesson, so having a snack on hand is a good idea. After a lesson, I recommend that the child has at least 2 hours to rest and eat. 

Each lesson is unique and tailored to your child. Subsequent lessons build on the learning from the previous lesson. Lessons are no more than 30 minutes for children so as not to exhaust them.

I strongly suggest reading Anat Baniel's Kids Beyond Limits before you bring your child in for an intensive series of lessons. It can be a great resource to you and your child's caregivers. Each chapter is dedicated to one of The Nine Essentials with concrete examples of how to use them when relating to your child. 

Scheduling an intensive series of lessons

Like learning any new language, immersion is more effective than a single lesson once a week. For that reason, I work in an immersive series of lessons called an intensive.

An intensive is 10 lessons scheduled within a 5-14 day time period: either 10 lessons concentrated within 5 consecutive days (2 lessons a day, with at least two hours in between lessons for resting and eating) or a single lesson a day for 5 consecutive days the first week, then two days off, then the following week a single lesson a day for 5 consecutive days. The lessons build upon one another and the immersion is what helps the newly learned patterns take hold and be adopted.

Depending on the needs of the child, I may recommend coming in for additional intensives, with periods of rest in between.

During an intensive series, after the lessons, it's important to keep other activities low-key so the child has an opportunity to sleep, rest and integrate.

If your child is in other therapies such as OT, ST or PT, I recommend for the time-period that they are getting an intensive series of ABMN lessons and for the week or two after to temporarily suspend the other therapies. Having the child in multiple therapeutic modalities all at once can be exhausting and confusing for the child, especially if the approaches are very different. The other reason is so we can see what it is working and making a difference for the child more clearly if they are only experiencing one intervention at a time.

Reach out

If you are interested in a free, 20-minute phone consultation regarding lessons for your child, and would like to be on my mailing list, please fill out the contact form below. I look forward to talking with you and will get in touch as soon as I can.

Recommended reading 

Above, this video features the story of Nash, who had global brain damage at birth. Allie & Wyatt, his parents, share his journey of development. They saw significant changes in Nash when he started getting Anat Baniel Method (ABM) NeuroMovement lessons. Nash has progressed so far and he started walking before his 3rd birthday!

Above, Carla Oslwald Reed, ABMN Practitioner/Trainer and Pediatric PT, explains some differences between ABMN and Physical Therapy.

Watch above video of Anat Baniel working with a child with brachial plexus injury.