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Feldenkrais and Vision Therapies - my rehab - are a big part of my life. I've said that before, but it's worth repeating, because I want people to understand that FT and VT are so integral to my life. Based on the feedback I've gotten, people seem to be interested and curious about my therapies. So here's a bit more of my experience, and a little about the people I work with.
My Feldenkrais Practitioner, Joyce, is a Guild Certified Feldenkrais
Practitioner® (GCFP), who trained with Anat Baniel, a Registered and
Licensed Occupational Therapist. I've
never met Anat, but I know that Joyce has regular contact with her. As I've
said before, Feldenkrais therapy was invented by a man named
Feldenkrais. There is an institute in
New York - this is a link to their site - http://feldenkraisinstitute.com/, and
other info online for those who want to learn more.
For my vision therapy, I work with Ann,
who is a Certified Vision Therapist. She
is supervised by Dr. Neil Margolis, a Developmental Optometrist. Here's some of a basic explanation from Answer.com
about Developmental Optometrists, who are considered specialists in the field
of eye care:
"... emphasizes proper visual
development of their patients. Skills that can be underdeveloped include eye
focusing skills, tracking skills, and binocularity. Conditions such as
amblyopia, or lazy eye, convergence insufficiency, and eye focusing troubles
can be addressed with vision therapy....These optometrists will usually join - and can do additional training and education
through - an organization known as the College of Optometrist in Vision
Development, or COVD. An optometrist who does extra research, publishes case
studies, and passes rigorous testing can become a fellow of the COVD. Hence the
title of FCOVD is derived from this process...."
Dr. Margolis is a fellow of the COVD,
and does continuing education for himself, as well as speaking in various forums
to provide info about eye health and VT.
There are others in this specialized field who spend time doing this;
doing VT is a specialty that people need to know about because it can have such
dramatic consequences for children, as well as adults. I wrote in "More of my story..."
about what I believe happened to me, but there are also adults (and children)
who suffer Traumatic Brain Injury from events like strokes, concussions, etc.
who benefit from VT. What Dr. M. does is
in addition to his actual practice - I'm fortunate that he is so dedicated to
his work and his patients! I see Dr.
Margolis for Progress Report consultations, which give me a chance to
communicate directly with him, and he also communicates regularly with Ann.
I've also said this before, but it's worth repeating -
rehab is hard work. I have to put in
effort, and so do the people who work with me.
I also have to do homework in the form of exercises I do at home. It was a very positive step for me when I was
able to handle doing these exercises; for about the first year and a half of
VT, homework was very difficult for me.
I am also able to do more FT at home.
People who are familiar with the term "vestibular rehab therapy
(VRT)" tend to think of exercises done with a PT. For me, FT and VT are my vestibular rehab
therapy, but include additional components.
Because I do two different, but complementary therapies, I think my
therapy is more comprehensive.
I also think doing VT and FT is very different than
recovering from surgery. I've had to recover
from surgery, and although it's also hard work, the rehab I am doing now has a
very different feel to it. I believe
that therapy that retrains your brain, which is what I'm doing, is a different
experience than getting a joint moving again, or working through scar tissue, both
of which I've had to do.
My therapies both work for me in small steps. An example of this that everyone is familiar
with is reading. I am relearning how to
do this, and probably learning better than when I was a child. It's an unusual experience to learn to track
properly, and actually process the words.
There are steps that for now are conscious, that eventually will not
be. The same is true for reading sheet
music again, or walking in new environments.
If I go someplace new, one that my body doesn't know, it feels different
on a sensory, vestibular, visual level than being someplace familiar. All of me has to work harder. So I take very small steps, and each step
builds on itself.
Sometimes I don't feel good after doing something. I might feel tired, dizzy or off-balance, somewhat
drained, or some combination of these.
But I want to push through, because I know that my tolerance for doing
things will not increase unless I push through.
The tricky part is that if I go too far, and end up on overload, that
doesn't help me. So I'm always planning,
trying to gage my pace, figuring out about putting my puzzle pieces together. This is, I believe, one of the hardest things
about rehab - figuring that out. It's
also one of the reasons that I think Dr. M., Ann and Joyce are so good -
because they work with me so well, and listen so well to keep on putting the
pieces together. This mental processing
of and about rehab is one of the reasons I get tired, sometimes drained. And one of my goals - one that Dr. M., Ann, and Joyce share with me
- is that over time I DON'T have to think about things as much. I won't have to plan as much. I do see improvement - that I sometimes can
move from one activity to another without quite so much forethought.
Though much of FT and VT are about small increments, I do
sometimes take on bigger challenges. I
thought a lot about whether or not to go to Ravinia Festival this year with my
family. It's a very challenging venue
for me; lots of sound and people and movement.
But I went last year and I decided that if I didn't go this summer
because I didn't want to deal with all the challenges, I was giving in to my
disorders. And not giving myself a
chance to see if it's any easier, or at least no more difficult than last
year. So we are going to go, and I think
about what I can do to prepare. Doing
other activities, going to other events - like attending my congregation's
Mitzvah Brunch - helps me. It's easier
to do something really big if I've exposed myself to situations with more
stimulation, movement, visual challenges, etc.
VT and FT are about therapeutic exercises AND daily
activities, many of which incorporate FT and VT. I do
specific FT or VT exercises that work on a particular element, push me, make my
systems work, retrain my brain - my circuitry if you will - in a way that daily
activities do not. I can feel the
difference between what I'm basically used to, vs. what challenges me. That
said, based on what I've learned, and conversations I've had with Dr. M., Ann,
and Joyce, there are also things I can do on my own that function as exercises
as well. Many things throughout my day
involve my vision, my vestibular system, my whole sensory system, so in some
ways my life is therapy for me. For
example, paying attention to how I move, breathe, switch my eye gaze, use my
glasses (both reading and sunglasses) - these are all pieces I can build into
my day.
I'm not trying to do rehab eight hours a day, but it is
at least a part time job for me, and affects many, many activities. I think this is because balance is truly such
a fundamental part of who we are, but one we don't think about unless we have a
problem. Sometimes I wish that I didn't
have to do so much therapy, and that the process of brain re-training was
faster. But most of the time I don't
dwell on that. I'm very grateful to live
in a time when there is so much known about this kind of rehab. And I've become an expert at being
patient. I've accepted that therapy is
hard work, but work that I have to do.
Having my invisible disorders, and doing my rehab, I've
also learned some more general coping skills.
Although I'm still independent in thought - and probably more outspoken
than I used to be - I don't have the mobile independence I once did, but this doesn't
bother me the way it once did. I've
gotten used to planning my transportation needs, and I'm better at asking for
help, and letting my needs be known, while still trying to be somewhat flexible. I'm constantly learning not to sweat the
small stuff. I do my best to say
"OK, let it go, this isn't worth stressing over." I try hard to stay
more present-focused, taking one day, one step at a time. I also try not to focus on what others can or
can't do, but rather on what *I* can do
to make progress.
In your Facebook post with VEDA you included an image with a quote from Moshe Feldenkrais "without movement, life is unthinkable". How can you support such a statement/belief. Do you think Stephen Hawkins has an unthinkable life???? Such an Insult !!! That man has given so much to the lives of all who have the privilege to know him. Also, my late twin - a quadriplegic who has unfortunately died after 3 decades of being without movement....a woman who became Canada's first graduate quadriplegic nurse and contributed to society at a level few will ever know. Many of my friends "don't move" and are a gift to life and have a self-joy that his unmeasurable. I am a severely vestibular challenged individual and very restricted and with the knowledge that this will decrease in a short period of time......is it unthinkable to not be able to move - no, bring it on ! and I will show you. My brother has the same prognosis and he too fears not.
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I hope you see this response... I'm so sorry that this comment was hurtful to you.... the Feldenkrais quote was posted by VEDA (I don't know who on their staff does it), NOT by me... I do believe that movement is valuable, and I hope you will find movement in whatever way you can, but you are absolutely right that there are people who find ways to cope and still have valuable lives with restricted movement....
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