This is a young female aged 13 who attends a school that accommodates autistic, remedial and gifted children. In early childhood, her Epilepsy was misdiagnosed so she only started taking anti-epileptic medication from around the age of 5, but by then her speech other areas had been negatively affected by the mini seizures she had experienced. She is currently on anti-epileptic, anti-anxiety and ADHD medication. Her speech is unclear and her gross and fine motor movements are uncoordinated and unrefined. After receiving the appropriate permission from her parents and medical clearance regarding her epilepsy, I started a series of 22 rhythmic movement sessions with her. She did P.A.C.E exercises daily as part of her school curriculum. From observation while she was busy with P.A.C.E. I noticed that she wanted to rush through the cross crawl and her rhythm was completely off when she did cross-crawl. The first three Rhythmic Movement (RM) sessions only lasted about three minutes each as I was cautious to ensure the movements would not trigger an epileptic fit. She loved the RM from the start and was happy and content after each session.

By the eleventh session she was following the instructions clearly and could do the rhythmic movement actively with a very smooth and symmetrical movement pattern. She was very eager and happy while she did these movements and I encouraged her to hum instead of singing along with me as I found that she was so busy concentrating on the words of the song and the tune that she started tensing up which made smooth movements difficult.

By the sixteenth session she was coming out of her shell and chatting the hind leg off a donkey. With this new development, she also suddenly became quite stubborn and was not her usual compliant self. Her parents noticed that she was sleeping much better at night and also commented on her new-found stubborn streak. [Instructor comment: This sounds like the normal developmental stage of defiance coming out, which is a very good thing! She probably missed this stage as a younger child.]

By the twenty-second session her teacher had noticed that her fine-motor skills for writing and drawing had improved dramatically and the content of her free drawing had also increased in number and detail. Her movements were far smoother than at the start of the sessions and she had progressed from social caterpillar to social butterfly and was soon charming all around her with her wicked sense of humor.

I have been motivated by watching her these past twenty-two sessions emerge from her guarded and introverted self into a confident, expressive child delighting in her new-found skills and abilities. I am humbled and grateful to have been part of her initial journey and I can’t wait to continue this work in the New Year.

Submitted by

Nadia Roosendaal