Locations of Site Visitors László Szögeczki's CE blog: February 2011

Saturday 26 February 2011

"Tegnapi" hir

Megszűnhetnek a Pető Intézet ingyenes foglalkozásai.
Az intézmény igazgatója szerint elképzelhető, hogy csak Anyagi gondokkal küzd a Pető Intézet. A nemzetközi szinten elismert intézmény eddig térítésmentesen tudta gyógyítani a mozgásszervi bajokkal született gyermekeket. A támogatások csökkenése miatt azonban lehet, hogy hamarosan pénzt kell kérniük a foglalkozásokért.

Pásztorné Dr. Tass Ildikó igazgató az MR1-Kossuth Rádió Napközben című műsorában elmondta: az elmúlt négy-öt évben több száz millió forint állami támogatástól estek el. Emiatt az intézet bizonyos fejlesztési tevékenységek fenntartására be kellett, hogy vezesse a térítési díjat, ami csak részben fedezi a költségeket.

Az intézet eddig is nyújtott fizetős szolgáltatásokat, igaz azok csak a külföldi betegeket érintették. Az ebből befolyt pénz nem jelentett pluszbevételt az intézménynek, mert az állami támogatás a működési költségek mindössze hatvan százalékát fedezi.

A Pető Intézet fejlesztő foglalkozásaira azért van szükség, hogy a mozgásszervi bajokkal küzdő gyermekek később ne eltartottként éljék életüket, képesek legyenek az önellátásra, esetleg dolgozni is tudjanak.

térítési díj ellenében tudnak foglalkozni a beteg gyerekekkel.

http://www.hirado.hu/Hirek/2011/02/25/13/Ezentul_penzert_gyogyulhatnak_a_gyerekek.aspx

Thursday 17 February 2011

6th Annual CEPEG conference

Only 3 weeks to go...


Conductive Education Professional Education Group
CEPEG


Cheese and Wine at:



The Rainbow Centre
The Bradbury Building
Palmerston Drive
Fareham
PO14 1BJ



Conductive Education Professional Education Group
CEPEG


CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
12 March 2011
Novotel, Southampton


Presentations in plan:

Meeting the need of children with sensory challenges through an adapted CE programme
The PACE centre
Heather Last and Lindsay Hardy

The first 18 months: A different focus for CE
Katalin Gonczy
NICE

Introducing and developing a system of aided language stimulation using the PODD system
Rosie Clark and Gail Weir
Greenmead School

Looking at engagement in those with complex difficulties and disabilities
Katie Murray
Percy Hedley Foundation

Goal planning – is there a place for it within CE?
Theresa Kinnersley
NICE

Swimming in Conductive Education
DVD
Judith Blake
Craig-y-Parc School

The potential impact of the current national educational strategies on CE settings.
Ruth Zimmerman
Horton Lodge School


Outreach Service
Workshop (max 20)

Beata Turi Kusel

Effective partnerships and meeting needs
Sarah Ffoulkes Roberts and Rachel Sebastino
Dame Vera Lynn School for Parents

Who am I?
Perceptions of professional identity
Liz Southall
NICE

In meeting the needs of the neurologically impaired individual, a multi-professional team is a requirement not an option
Patrick Salter
SCCM

Carol Johnson,
Manual Handling Advisor
Carol Johnson

A presentation from Rutland House School

Qualitative research on CE adult services
Laszlo Szogeczki
Independent Conductive Education Services

Transitions in practice
Thorsten Gegenwarth
Therapeinstitute Keil


Dyspraxia and CE.
The earlier the better.
Annamaria Berger
Megan Baker House


Research agenda and ICF for CE
Melanie Brown
NICE

Handwriting without tears.
PACE

Running An Inclusive Nursery
with a Conductive Ethos
Jules McDonalds
Becky Wilkinson
Laszlo Szogeczki
Legacy Rainbow House

Saturday 12 February 2011

Hand & Arm Spasticity Surgeon

During our CE professional carrier we often expected to share our “conductive “opinion on surgical solution of different physical difficulties. Parents are asking our view on specific operation possibilities when something seems to be stuck or developing very slow. This is understandable. During my student years in the early 90’s at the Peto Institute, Budapest, there was no such a module, training where we could study the main ideas of CP related surgical methods. I learnt however that some of the experienced conductors knew about such solutions and they were really confident to suggest… also, we saw many children who have already had different operations or were going to have one. Top of that, I learnt that Dr. Tibor Vizkeleti, a Hungarian orthopaedic surgeon had a great professional relationship with the Institute. I understood that surgery was a medical way of approaching physical problems and as such it was not the main focus of the training of CE but we all missed that bit…or maybe we did not realize when we were there but soon after leaving the alma mater it become obvious to me personally that a little knowledge of that subject could have helped my everyday life as a conductor. Since, I learnt through experience a lot and I developed my own idea of many types of surgeries as I work with children and adults on an everyday basis but it took some good years to do so. I have learnt that different countries have different general thinking of approaches and those could be very different. Just recently, Susie M. was asking if we could suggest anything on Dorsal Tenotomy. This fact made me to think that it could be so great to share “results” in terms of seeing those through conductors’ eyes…
Just only some days later one of our kids’ mother was asking if we knew Waseem Rias Saeed’s Hand & Arm spasticity surgical method - actually we, I did not.
So, I thought to share this (see below) maybe some others can say something about it or learn about it and use it.

The following text is from his www.waseemsaed.com website.

Hand & Arm Spasticity

Hand and arm spasticity develops as a result of damage to that part of the brain that controls the limb. This may be apparent at or shortly after birth as in cerebral palsy, or be the devastating consequence of a severe head injury, brain mass or stroke. Despite these conditions being common, the provision of integrated surgical care for these patients has not been widely available. It was disturbing to me that many patients had been actively discouraged from surgical intervention or told, frequently by specialists, that there was none. Many of these patients suffered and continue to suffer from avoidable disability throughout their lives. The United Kingdom did not have a dedicated treatment centre for the surgical treatment of spasticity in the upper limb despite an increasing and weighty body of evidence supporting its benefits. This was in contrast to established units in the USA, Europe and Australia. I had gained experience in the treatment of such patients in Louisville in the United States and had made an in depth survey of the current literature on surgical techniques and the results of these techniques. My conclusions were that certain surgical techniques had been shown clearly to be beneficial in these patients. In 2000 I set up a multidisciplinary team with senior occupational and physiotherapists to treat patients afflicted with spasticity of the arms. This is called the CP Clinic although all causes of upper limb spasticity are treated. Colleagues in paediatric and adult neurology, rehabilitation medicine and paediatric orthopaedics to are also available to provide an overall strategy of care.

A NEW APPROACH

My approach to patients suffering from spasticity preventing hand use – whether an infant born with cerebral palsy or an elderly stroke-victim, challenges some of the preconceived ideas that have lead to patients being denied surgical intervention over the years. I have introduced surgical modifications based on biomechanical studies that exist in the peer-reviewed, hand surgery literature and simply do not accept the (unsupported) view that the brain cannot adapt and learn new ways of using the hand into adulthood. Some of my own patients have clearly demonstrated this adaptation. It was clear to me from my work on tendons that the traditional view of immobilising patients following surgery for cerebral palsy had little scientific support. In contrast the advantages of early movement in terms of less scarring and stronger tendons was established. As a result I incorporated early movement into the post-operative protocol for the patients that I treat. This has been successful and at the time of writing is a unique post-operative protocol for this condition.I have carefully recorded all aspects of patient's’ function in a multidisciplinary clinic, using validated assessment and outcome measures prior to surgery and at intervals after surgery. In 2003, I presented my early results at the annual meeting of The Federation of European Societies for Surgery of the Hand in Lisbon – a meeting attended by hand specialists from around the world. The work was received well (appendix 2).3 years later the extended work was presented at the International Federation of Societies for Surgery of the Hand Meeting in Sidney 2007.I have started to train the next generation of hand surgeons in the techniques involved and increased awareness through presentations to primary and secondary care physicians, trainees and therapists. The work continues at currently the only unit in the UK dedicated to the treatment of upper limb spasticity in a multi-disciplinary setting. Patients are referred on a national and regional level.

Tuesday 8 February 2011

Another prove of Peto's genius

The Act of “Learning”

Scientists knew that new brain cells are able “enhance learning” – they never thought that “learning” could actually cause the birth of new brain cells… that is, until recently. In recent animal studies, researchers have found that there was a direct relationship between “learning” and the survival rate of newly-birthed brain cells.

When researchers taught certain rodents a wide-variety of cognitive tasks which involved a wide-range of brain areas – scientists found that the more the animal “learned” – the more new neurons were able to survive in the hippocampus. Scientists have made it clear that “learning” can increase the presence of new neurons in the brain.

Brain cells that are born in the hippocampus, which normally die off, are literally “rescued” by “learning” experiences. There is still plenty of research being conducted in this area and not all sources agree.

An Enriched Environment

Science has long known that living in a mentally stimulating environment vs. an impoverished environment is far better for brain development. Research has found that exposure to an enriched environment enhances neurogenesis functioning and is able to regulate emotionality.

Scientists have found that memory-based tasks were far improved in the hippocampus region of the brain when human beings are raised in a healthy, enriched environment. One study found that mice put in stimulating environments actually had larger hippocampus regions than did those living in “standard” or “poor” laboratory conditions. They discovered a direct correlation between an enriched environment and the amount of neurons produced in the brains of mice. This had a significant effect on neurogenesis!

An Exercise Regimen

Everybody knows that exercise is good for your overall health and heart, but in recent findings, powerful evidence has proven that exercise is great for your brain. Scientific experiments have discovered that mice consistently using running wheels had around 2x the amount of hippocampal neurons (brain cells) as the mice that didn’t exercise.

Another study at Colombia University found that humans who had a exercise training program were able to grow and maintain new brain cells and nerve cells in the hippocampus region of the brain. The specific area called the “dentate gyrus” is responsible for helping produce neurogeneis. Even more studies have discovered that those who exercised had 2 – 3x increases in the birth-rate of new neurons!

For more information:

The Journal of Neuroscience. 2007 Mar; 27(13): 3252-3259. Experience-Specific Functional Modification of the Dentate Gyrus through Adult Neurogenesis: A Critical Period during an Immature Stage. Tashiro A, Makino H, Gage FH.

Stanford University Research In Progress: HD & Lifestyle http://www.stanford.edu/group/hopes/rltdsci/inprogress/ae2.html