Guest Post on NR

I asked my friend, Marna, if she would write a guest post on neuro-reorganization.  Here is what she had to say:

I will not give up...I will NOT give up...I WILL not GIVE UP!

I have had to remind myself of this everyday when I look at my daughter. My daughter,  who comes from a hard place.  2 plus years of hard. Hard, that i wish I could erase. Sadly I can't.

When we adopted our daughter, we also adopted her hard.  The kind of hard we had NO idea about.  No really, H.A.R.D.  

That hard was not her fault, her doing, her choice!   It was what was done to her. 

When you deal with hard, you go searching, searching for any "tool " you might think will  work. Goodness, even if it sounds crazy you'll listen, think about it, gather information, talk to others, and eventually  you'll try it.  Why, cause when moms are in hard, tools become like diamonds. And we all know what diamonds are, a precious stone. I bet you thought I was going to say, "a girls best friend", right?!

One tool we've found is called: Neuro-Reorganization Therapy (NR- cause really,  who wants to spell that out each time it's mention, not me!)

I often joke, since we've adopted, that I've lost several (way more than that) brain cells.  There gone, poof.  Just like that. So trying to explain to you what NR  really is seems harder to me than the 5 years we've walked in our adoption journey. So I am going to keep this simple. Very simple. 

Brain 101-just in case you didn't know this. 

All memories are stored in our brains.  Regardless if you remember them or not. Even the ones that are called pre-verbal. That means even if your earliest memory is at the age of 3,  just because you can't remember anything before that time, doesn't mean life didn't happen for the first 3 years of your life.  Those memories, they're in there. 

When children are coming from hard places and that hard happens in that  pre-verbal time, and every day of their life,  the brain gets disorganized. All those connections that were supposed to happen. Didn't. 

Simply put, NR helps to reorganize the brain. And, make new connections. 

 Not all brain movement therapies are created equal. Meaning NR is different than other brain movement type of therapies because  NR starts at the PONS level of the brain.  I think PONS stands for something that is hard to spell, so i'll leave it at that.  PONS is the  "bottom" or "beginning" of the brain when it develops. 

Usually the "other" brain movement therapies are working at the smart parts of the brain. Meaning the upper levels of the brain. For example:  if you happen to have problems with math, reading, etc. it can be a huge help to work at those upper levels. All good. But for those children that hard has happened too we need to address that PONS level. 

 See, I told you. Simple...those lost brain cells never to come back again, but wait. Maybe I should do NR...what am I saying!  

Anyway...

There are developmental movements a child goes thru as he/she grows. Even in the womb.  The movements are very specific, and they need to be done in order.  That way what was missed during those hard times can be re-done. Like a "do-over". I love do-overs!  

If you decide to cross over into crazy (not really) a NR practitioner will evaluate your child, see what is missing, and will teach you the movements your child will need to do. You will meet that practitioner every 3 months or so, Skype, email, and make phone calls. You know the type where you're screaming, "this can't be working, because..." Yep, those kind. 

Your NR program has started.  Tool  number 1, 635 (really, it's kinda close). All NR programs are personal to your child. That means what I do, what you may do, will not look the same. Different movements for different children. 

Everyday, I will do my NR program. 

This  means 1,600 feet of belly crawls. Everyday

600 feet of hand and knee crawls.  Everyday

180 Homolaterals patterns. Everyday

Between 15 to 30 maskings (these are for extra oxygen). Everyday. 

AVE.  Everyday

CES. Everyday 

And several other things I am forgetting because my  brain cells are completely gone now. 

Okay, I'm dreaming. I wish it happened everyday. But hard has this way of disrupting my life. Getting in my way. And even though I fail to do ALL that is required in our program, I will not give up!  Why, because I know it works. 

I have seen results. Not the kind of results that are a magic bullet kind, or the this was her before and now look at her after. Nope, not that good. Just results. Some are subtle.  Some are crazy weird hard. Some are amazing. Some are unexplainable. Enough difference to keep me going. 

That's why I said at the  beginning of this writing. I will NOT give up!  I do see change happening. 

Doing NR is not easy. And that makes me sad. Cause when hard is brought into your home, when all of life seems hard, and more hard on top of more hard, times a thousand....well sheesh, why can't one tool be EASY?  

So WHY can't this be easy? Because if it was easy,  it wouldn't be a diamond. Diamonds are hard. Diamonds are beautiful.  Diamonds are precious. Diamonds are brilliant. 

Just. Like. Our. Hard. Children. 

We can't give up. So we keep going. Finding diamonds that will work for our children. Even if it means, it's hard.