delay in the maturation of my babies brain, advice please

[misslala1987]

hi there, when my daughter was about 10 months old i got her a refferal to a pedeatrician because i noticed she was still floppy and could not sit up or sit anywhere unaided. since then she has had a few hospital appointments and has monthly physio therapy. she now can sit up unaided but not unsupervised on a chair. she is 18 months old and still cannot pick herself up or stand or crawl or walk. she has had urine blood and mri tests and today we found out her urine blood and genes are all fine and actually very healthy. but she does have a delay in the maturation of myelin and lack of white matter bulk on her brain. weve been told they will need to monitor her but theres nothing anyone can do to help her develope, its all about how she prgresses naturally. they said its like a gap in the brain and they will just monitor that gap to make sure it doesnt get any bigger. personally she is a very bright young lady and we actually didnt think it was nayhting to do with her brain, we thought it was physical. she tries talking, she copies, she plays and acts just like any child of 18 months should. i just want to see if there are any other mothers out there who have some knowledge or experience of this. what does it actually mean and how does it usually progress?

Apparently 95% of the brains activity is taken up with movement..its development, maintenance, and function. Your DDs cognitive ability appears not to be affected by her slower to mature brain, which is why you see no congnitive delays.

That said the brain 'learns' from its muscles and nerves, and then it feeds back to the muscles and this goes on in a continuous learning circle. The brain is also neuroplastic and has the ability to build connections around damaged areas and achieve good function.

Therefore you must give her the maximum amount of neuro feedback via everyday activities. Encourage a wide range of normal movements, physio and OT are very good for this. I would look into Anat Baniel Method if you are near London where there are practitioners. They specifically move the body in a way which 'talks' to the brain, encouraging neural connections.