Our daughter Sophie is a smiling, happy little girl who is always energetic and loves singing, dancing, and being with her friends. But I always worried about the future for Sophie when she was younger.
Sophie was born on time and there was no indication that our daughter would ace any developmental problems, which gradually surfaced in the following weeks, months and years. One of the very first things we noticed was her eating. She rejected the taste of a dummy and formula milk. Another one was her hypersensitivity to light and unfamiliar sounds. Despite these challenges, she was a joyful and calm child until sleep issues began to appear.
She was crying with her eyes closed, was very restless and had episodes which resembled seizures often associated with epilepsy.
At the same time, there were problems of a physiological nature, probably due to impaired proprioception and bathyanesthesia.
Simultaneously it was noticeable that Sophie had a shallow pain threshold (hypersensitivity). She loved to squeeze and bite everything and everyone; intuitively, she demanded strong hugs, squeezing, kneading and massaging. While playing, when she hit herself or fell, she never cried and was very rarely upset. It was as if she was not aware of what had happened. Despite not communicating very much, Sophie always enjoyed any form of physical movement, either on her own or with other people. We also noticed that she did not respond to her name.
Seeing her needs related to movement and strong hugs, a sensory playground was created for her in the apartment. Her dad installed a giant swing on which she would spin, hang upside down, and sometimes even sleep. He also built a suspension system on which toys, balls and stretching tapes were fastened. In addition, there were mattresses, pillows, and rollers on the floor so she could safely climb and jump. After a session of physical activity, she calmed down and relaxed.
Later, it turned out that we unconsciously used elements of sensory integration therapy, i.e. rehabilitation through play. We acted intuitively, improving our daughter’s gross motor skills, and this certainly helped Sophie.
After an evaluation at the Physiotherapy Centre, we found out that Sophie’s brain processes the information provided by the senses in an unorganised manner (sensory processing disorders). The proprioception disorders shown in the tests partly explained the problems with speech. In addition, the analysis of behaviour suggested possible autism.
Our daughter used a dozen or so words typical for children her age, i.e., mum, dad, Daniel (older brother), drink, though, hello, give and a few others. She showed no desire or need to expand her vocabulary. She communicated with her family with her hands: showed objects, brought specific things and acted out scenes. The movement was the most important thing in her life. She could show everything, even tell a fairy tale or a movie.
Sophie entered the local nursery at the age of three with a sensory impairment diagnosis. The first year was challenging, but each week and month brought positive changes. When Sophie left the nursery, she was referred for examination at a specialist clinic.
There is now virtually no sign of any autistic-like behaviour and her speech problems were diagnosed as motor aphasia, and Sophie sees a speech therapist at her SEN school. Sophie loves movement and attends dance classes. She has also been learning to ride a horse for several years and enjoys swimming.
Sophie also enjoys drawing and painting, sings beautifully, and is very empathetic and friendly. Sophie’s development was and still is irregular, with long gaps between positive advances. Despite this, she keeps moving forward.
The long road we have been through as a family, looking for the causes of Sophie’s condition, prepared us as we learnt more about her world.
The information collected and the observations and knowledge I gained enabled me to design the MOOVIE rehabilitation blocks. Using them for fun and rehabilitation helped Sophie open up to us and the outside world, and I hope they will help many other children in the same way.
