Cranial Osteopathy

[SqueakyCat]

It has very recently come up that DS1 is really struggling at pre-school - prob Aspergers.

Co-incidentally, on the same day, I saw an osteopath with a back injury.

He suggested cranial osteopathy. (well, he would, wouldn't he?)

Personally, I'm a cynic: "you mean, you wobble his head around and he stops kicking / hitting everyone??" and was too likely to burst into tears to discuss it there and then.

Have seen cranial osteopathy come up here a couple of times recently.

Mumbo Jumbo or worth a go?

been doing it with ds (dyspraxia) - only two sessions before the co person went on holiday (she's back next week) and I might be totally deluded or it might be pure coincidence, but I thought it did seem to help a bit. I just thought I'd give it a go and see. Nothing to lose but cold hard cash. The woman ds sees (who is lovely) said do three sessions and see, which seemed a good start - ie no hard sell.
Will book to see her when she gets back. Actually will ring tomorrow to book session, thanks for reminding me.
Sorry about your son. What are the problems that the school is concerned about?

Thanks Aloha.

random, unprovoked, unpredicatable violence: contantly (often every few minutes) hitting / kicking / headbutting etc the other children and staff. They NEED a 1-1 on him at all times for everyone's safety. Actually, miraculously, they've got one who started yesterday. 2 weeks ago I thought he was just settling down, so this has all been a terrible shock for me.

Also, doesn't interact at all well with any of the other people, doesn't get involved with many of the activities etc. Coupled with very poor communication (no-one but me can understand what he's saying), poor eye-contact, limited playing etc AS is v likely to be spot on. Also some noise-related issues. Have seen HV and discussed with a friend who is HV and with pre-school staff and they all - independently - came up with Aspergers. All makes sense now, but I really didn't see it coming!

Have changed my MN name for privacy...

Oh you poor thing. How was he at nursery? What's your next step?

Next step is HV - obs at home and pre-school. Also child development clinic referal and SALT referal (tho' I'll prob get some SALT privately due to hideous SALT waiting list). See where we go from the CDC and HV obs. I'm hoping for portage at least.

Pre-school are v supportive. The 1-1 worker who has appeared from thin air is being funded off their very broke books till LEA funding comes through (hopefuly) after Christmas. Process-wise there we have IEP and Behaviour action plan.

He has so settled down at home I'd thought we were over it all (just bad terrible twos) , but it's only just beginning. He's such a sweet little boy, who just doesn't 'get' the rest of the world. And he does like going to pre-school, though he finds it a bit stressful sometimes.

Throw in the fact that before this came up I committed to returning to work after mat leave ends next month...

I am about to take Ds2 for his first session of CO tomorrow. Also slightly sceptical myself so I will be interested to see what happens.

Really feel for you. Returning after maternity leave is stressful enough without this.

Like to know what you think Saker. As I say, I am a total sceptic but certainly ds seems quite suddenly more confident with writing and has a little more physical endurance.

Saker / aloha,
what do they actually do?
How do your children find it? (painful? fun?)

Would they do the same thing for all kids, regardless of what the 'issue' is?

CO has been a godsend to my dd. She has been going since she was 20m and has all but caught up all of her physical delay. he has now stopped working on her motor skills and has been concentrating on her mental delay/improving her communication skills. We go once every 4-6 weeks and REALLY CANNOT RECOMMEND IT HIGHLY ENOUGH.I was prepared for it to be an expensive gimmick, but even my doubting thomas of a dh has been transformed. The paeds consultant she sees is very sceptical, but her neurologist was very pleased to hear dd goes- as she put it "we can't help her conventionally so you might as well go to someone who has a better chance of making a difference than I have".

It is very, very, very gentle and unobtrusive. They just sort of touch the head and sometimes the back and shoulders. It doesn't hurt. Ds sits on a couch and chats or does puzzles or looks at books while she works (he's only just four). She works around his movements, fidgeting etcd. It looks like nothing, frankly, but ds could definitely feel it.

Oh Milge, that sounds great.

Squeaky, pick up the phone and make the appointment NOW! Like Milge, cranial osteopathy has changed our lives. J (also awaiting full dx of AS) only had three sessions but he was immediately calmer, more responsive to my input, relaxed and - best of all - HAPPIER! I too was very cynical about its effects at first and I don't even begin to understand it, but if it works it works and you can't argue with that. I ran it past J's psychiatrist first and she was all for it - cited another family with AS/ASD children who had benefited from it greatly. Give it a go, I've yet to hear of anyone it hasn't helped.

There's more info here, and a list of practitioners around the country:
www.cranial.org.uk/

Sorry, I'm cr*p at links.

SC I'm sorry you are having such a hard time of it and have had this shock.

I took Ds2 who is 4 to see the CO for the first time today. He has some autistic tendencies and problems with language and motor skills. The osteopath spent some time asking me questions about him and taking his birth history. Then he spent a while working around his hip bone area and then on his head. Ds2 stayed reasonably still lying on his back although I had a gentle () restraining arm round him and I sang him songs and told him stories and poems. I asked Ds2 if he liked it afterwards and he said yes.

The CO told me that he sees quite a lot of people with ASD and Aspergers. He says there is no miracle cure but sometimes people find that the child starts to make progress after some treatment. In Ds2's case he said that his skull was a good shape but that some part of the skull was inflexible that should have been flexible and that the CS fluid wasn't getting through properly (or something!). Oh dear my dh will pour scorn on this when I try to tell him tonight. Anyway he seemed quite hopeful that 3 further treatments would help that and we would see some improvements although he was very vague as to exactly what.

So we shall see. It certainly wasn't unpleasant and not massively expensive at £25 for half an hour although we were there for longer.

If any of you girls can get to Farrinbgdon (London) then the Osteopathic Centre for children is based there. They are a charity and take donations only. I've taken Lottie, don't know what it was dpoing for her, not obvious benefits. Other people I know swear by it and can't sing praises enough.

Considering doing it for ds with motor and coordination issues.

We used CO to help ds2 with his glue ear.

Cant say that it worked conclusively though, because he still ended up having grommets fitted.

Have to say though, that when ds2 had been having a terrible time with ear infections - the day that I took him to the CO was the first time he slept soundly. Could be coincidence, but it has happened too many times for that

My dd (language disorder and hyperactive) sees a cranial and I have to say we have seen a big improvement. We also follow quite a strict diet as well so I think it all helps.
The way and I and dh see it even if it helps dd 5%, it's still 5% more than before.

I am such a sceptic that I can't believe I'm saying this, but I do think that ds has improved with co. I really,honestly do. His stamina, fine motor skills, cheerfulness, everything really. And the practitioner seems really moral and decent. Saying that she could feel real differences in him and felt he only needed one or maybe two more sessions then come every couple of months as maintenance. If she was a con woman she'd never tell us to stop coming.
I'm really impressed tbh.

I'm still a skeptic although I can't see the harm and I agree that the practitioners certainly don't seem to be out to rook or fleece anyone. I saw no difference with DS (severe ASD) and no difference with DD (NT with nasal/sinus congestion). If people genuinely see a difference then great. I would certainly suggest it to other parents and think its worth a go.

I still think its all a lot to do with the fact that practising an intervention means you are giving more careful and systematic attention to problems and giving them more focus.

Maybe it IS effective for certain children with certain conditions or who are receptive???

i think it does depend on the child. I took ds for 4 sessions for glue ear and it made no difference at all - had to resort to grommets. He wasn't impressed with sitting still for so long. DD, being a sybarite, loves the "hands on" bit and will sit happily for the half hour session, as long as she has some books and juice to keep her hands busy.

i have had a look at that site.
my ds had fine gross motor delay, hyperactivity, language disorder, severe behavioural probs inculding agressive and violent outbursts. i would really like to try this but non of the proffesionals have ever mentioned it to me.

is it available on NHS or is it strictly private? do you have an idea of how much it costs??

I've booked a session for ds (prompted by this thread) in a couple fo weeks. First one (an hour long to take history etc) costs £38 - don't tell dh ! We're on the waiting list for OT so thought this may help in the meantime.

Ours was about the same - £34 for initial consultation lasting an hour, £27 for subsequent therapy sessions. J only needed three treatments so £115 in total. I reckon that's a bargain for the change it made.

I found the info on the internet after reading about cranial osteopathy... somewhere. I ran it past J's psychiatrist before committing myself - she told me about several families she'd worked with who'd tried it with great success. I think if she'd dismissed it I'd have had second thoughts but I'm very glad I went ahead now.

Good luck with your appointment, Liz.

We have had two sessions now. I'm not sure whether there is any improvement. I do feel Ds2 is doing better in general but I think I felt that before starting the CO also. He has improved at using a spoon but again it's been a gradual improvement anyway so it's hard to say. Certainly nothing very striking. We are supposed to go for two more sessions and I was considering pulling out having read that even a lot of osteopaths think cranial osteopathy is a lot of rubbish! but having started I suppose I ought to give it a fair chance.

Aloha, did your practitioner suggest that she could find anything abnormal with your Ds's skull, cranial pulse etc?