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<td valign="bottom"><h1>Why We Are Here</h1>
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<td align="center" width="200" bgcolor="#000000"><a
href="Index.htm#top"><font color="#FFFFA4">Back To Start</font></a></td>
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<td align="center" width="200" bgcolor="#000000"><img
src="Max_and_Training_Machine.jpg" width="200"
height="306"><p> </p>
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<td><h3><strong>Max's CP</strong></h3>
<p>Max has quadriplegic Cerebral Palsy, with both Spastic
and Athetoid features. Luckily his cognitive skills and
language are unaffected, and he is very bright. He can
now walk unaided for up to 50m on good days (when the
uncontrolled movements caused by the Athetoid CP is not
too prevalent). </p>
<p>However he falls often and we generally only leave him
to his own devices, or let him push his toddlers trolley,
when inside, or playing on grass outside. We usually
transport him outside in a large Maclaren buggy obtained
from our local Wheelchair Services.</p>
<p> </p>
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bgcolor="#000000"><h3><font color="#FFFFA4"><strong>Other
Treatments Max has Received</strong></font></h3>
<p><font color="#FFFFA4"><strong></strong></font> </p>
<p><img src="Piedro_Boot2.jpg" alt="Peto Boot"
width="186" height="138"></p>
<p><font color="#FFFFA4"><strong></strong></font> </p>
<p><font color="#FFFFA4"><strong></strong></font> </p>
<p><font color="#FFFFA4"><strong></strong></font> </p>
<p><img src="02b.jpg" alt="Oxygen" width="150"
height="182"></p>
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<td><h3><strong>Other Treatments</strong></h3>
<p>Apart from the meagre Physiotherapy (less than 1 hour
per week), and very occasional Occupational Therapy from
the state, Max has also had the following extra
treatments:</p>
<p><strong>School for Parents</strong>. Intensive Peto
style physiotherapy for younger children and their
parents/helpers, run free by <a
href="http://www.scope.org.uk/">Scope</a> in the UK. Max
attended this 1/2 a day a week from the age of one,
building up to 2 1/2 days a week by the time he started
mainstream nursery school at the age of four.</p>
<p>We found the quality of physiotherapy Max received at
the Reddich School for Parents was similar to that of the
Peto Institute, Budapest.</p>
<p><strong>The Peto Institute, Budapest</strong>. Max has
attended twice, for 2 months each time. This is (or was?)
the prime place for helping children with CP in Europe,
probably the world. The children receive very intensive
Peto style physiotherapy for about 6 hours a day, 5 days
a week. </p>
<p>The cost was $50 per day, plus accommodation, food,
and flights adding about another $50 per day. The cost of
a 2 month stay in Budapest is about equivalent to a 3
week Biofeedback treatment in Miami, but with Biofeedback
there is less disruption to family and school life.</p>
<p>We found that Max definitely gained from his first two
month session, when he was 4 1/2, but when we returned a
year later the quality and number of
"Conductors" (physiotherapists) had gone down,
and we couldn't see much of an improvement in Max.
Possibly Max had gained all the strength he was going to
the first time, and his ongoing physio (and playing) were
keeping his skills at their peak.</p>
<p><strong>Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy</strong>. Max
attended two 9 day intensive courses at the MS Hyperbaric
Therapy Centre, Coventry, UK, and once-weekly top-up
sessions for about 6 months.</p>
<p>The cost was low, and initially we saw a marked
improvement, but later no further gains seemed to be
made. We would probably have carried on going but Max
complained bitterly that the pressure changes hurt his
ears badly. As he hated it so intensely we stopped going.</p>
<p><strong>Cranial Osteopathy</strong>. Max has attended
Stewart Korth's private clinic in London regularly for
the last 4 years, and has also gained from seeing other
Cranial Osteopaths. The gains are hard to quantify
(especially considering the other work Max does), but Max
always seems more able (or at least different) after a
visit, and Max is sure that it helps.</p>
<p> </p>
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bgcolor="#000000"><h3><font color="#FFFFA4">Why We Think
Biofeedback Is Worth the Money and Disruption</font></h3>
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<td><h3><strong>Biofeedback</strong></h3>
<p>We first heard of Biofeedback from other parents when
Max, Oscar and Matha were in Budapest for Max's second 2
month period at the Peto Institute. </p>
<p>We decided to take Max to the Biofeedback centre run
by Dr Brucker in Miami, and our first trip was for a
three week session in August 1996. During this trip I
could see Max was improving throughout the treatment
period, but I wasn't sure if he was not just pulling all
the stops out to please his enthusiastic
facilitators/therapists, and especially the charismatic
Dr Brucker.</p>
<p>However to my delight I found that when we returned
home, Max didn't just keep the gains he had made, he also
carried on making further useful improvements. That
proved to me that this wasn't a placebo effect, and Max
had truly learned to control his body better. The
subsequent gains were probably because it took some time
for Max to map his new capabilities, learn to trust them,
and apply them to his walking and other tasks.</p>
<p><em>From our experience a three week Biofeedback
therapy session costs no more than an eight week stint at
the Peto Institute, helps the child better, disrupts
family and school life less, and for most people will be
more enjoyable.</em></p>
<p>The reduction in disruption to school attendance is
one of the most important benefits. The years Max went to
the Peto Institute he lost over twelve weeks from school
over the year, including illnesses and other absences,
causing him to fall behind, and affecting the Special
Needs payment to his school. When we have taken him to
Biofeedback in Miami in each case most of the three week
session has been over a holiday period, and he has only
missed one week from school each time.</p>
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