Re: [xmca] Bobath method

As far as I know - I am not a pyshiotherapist - Bobath method is the
leading method here in Sweden. And I think they still call it 'Bobath'.
In the beginning of 1970 another method - Vojta - was also introduced
and used here. The method was named after its founder Vaclav Vojta
(1917-2000). He was from Czechoslovakia but esacped 1968 to BRD (if
anyone rembers what BRD - and DDR - was). There was a very strong
resistance against Vojta-method in Sweden and from 1975 this method was
more or less forbidden - but is still practiced in Germany and in Japan
(and in other places). I guess that prof V. Vojta was familiar with
both Vygotsky and Luria.

Can anyone (Christine?) say more about the conflict between Bobath and
Vojta?

Leif
psychologist
Sweden

ps
A wellknown and radical Swedish author and playwriter Gunnar Ohrlander
wrote 1986 a wonderful book 'Åsas journal' (The journal of Aasa), a
book about their daughter Åsa with a CP-dysfunction, and what happens
when they practice Vojta.
ds

2007-08-01 kl. 03.20 skrev Andy Blunden:

> Thank you Christine. That was indeed a very helpful contribution. A
> lot of the things you mention have rung bells in what I have seen. It
> all adds up. The therapists working with Vonney get their Bobath from
> the UK, BTW, I am in Oz.
> thank you,
> Andy
> At 06:01 PM 31/07/2007 -0700, you wrote:
>> If it's helpful, I can clarify a bit about the Bobaths (Berta and
>> Karel), their work, and how it impacts physical, occupational and
>> speech therapy practices today around the world, and if it relates to
>> Vygotsky.
>>
>> The quick and dirty history is that Berta, a dancer, noticed that
>> children with cerebral palsy exhibited stereotypical patterned
>> movements and talked about this with her husband Karel, a doctor.
>> Based on the idea that these movements and patterns of high muscle
>> tone and spasticity were due to primitive basic reflexes the damaged
>> brain was unable to override, they devised an approach to inhibit
>> these reflexes, thus allowing more natural movement.
>>
>> This became known as the neurodevelopmental treatment approach (NDT),
>> which is what most therapists around the world today call this
>> method. For quite a while the Bobaths' name was dropped altogether
>> and not mentioned in conjunction with NDT other than as an historical
>> footnote. Recently, however, there has been a split in the US
>> training and practice of NDT, with another group developing
>> procedures with a slightly different grounding, but still referring
>> to the method by the acronym NDT. So, to clarify which NDT they mean,
>> some therapists in the US have recently begun referring to
>> traditional NDT as the Bobath approach.
>>
>> This approach is most often used today with individuals with
>> hemiplegic stroke and children with cerebral palsy. What Andy
>> noticed, the tactile cueing for voluntary movement, can only take
>> place after "inappropriate" reflexes and postures are inhibited. The
>> inhibiting takes place through careful hand placement at various
>> points on the body (not necessary right at the area where the focus
>> of treatment is taking place) and tactile cueing. It may or may not
>> be apparent to the lay observer. The idea is not that you make the
>> patient's limb move in a particular direction but that through
>> careful posture adjustment and touch, one suppresses the reflex and
>> enables the possibility of voluntary movement, and helps to develop
>> motor memory of that posture and the voluntary movement.
>>
>> I am not NDT certified (nor are most therapists), but like most
>> therapists around the world, I did learn about the general principles
>> and approaches used in this method and a number of others as part of
>> my basic training as an occupational therapist. So, while Mike's
>> therapists may not refer to the Bobath's by name, they certainly
>> learned at least some of the basics of the NDT approach in their
>> schooling. Though it is one of the most accepted rehab approaches,
>> there has not yet been enough outcomes research to establish NDT as a
>> more effective method than any other approach, by the way.
>>
>> As for the Vygotsky question, I am sure that the Bobath's would have
>> been aware of his work but I do not recall any mention of a direct
>> influence in the history and literature on the method that I have
>> read.
>>
>> Finally, a topic I can contribute on :-)
>>
>> Cristine Carrier PhD(C), OTR/L
>> Department of Occupational Science and Occupational Therapy
>> University of Southern California
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>> From: Mike Cole <lchcmike@gmail.com>
>> Date: Tuesday, July 31, 2007 4:54 pm
>> Subject: Re: [xmca] Bobath method
>> To: "eXtended Mind, Culture, Activity" <xmca@weber.ucsd.edu>
>>
>> > Andy-- I am in Brasilia where people do not use the term bobath
>> > and only some have heard of Vygotsky, but they adopt the same
>> > philosophy-in-practice. (Gimple was no fool, as David ke has
>> > eloquentlyreminded us).
>> >
>> > I hope to write about this in more detail but one brief (perhaps too
>> > brief) example. I am at a rehabilitation center for (mostly)
>> children
>> > who exhibit some form of cerebral palsey ( a very hazy concept),
>> > or have experienced traumatic brain injury (not so hazy, but always
>> > ambiguous in detail). It is amazing for implementing at an
>> > institutionallevel what I would consider a zone of proximal
>> > development (being a relative
>> > of Gimple~s and not nearly so wise).
>> >
>> > Among the many fascinating features of this place is a pathway in
>> > the middle of an amazing rehabilitation center. Gorgeously
>> > organized down to
>> > the tiniest detail. But the pathway is not smooth. About every 3-4
>> > meters it
>> > changes its texture with small ruts or cobblestones. Why? Because
>> > once a
>> > patient has learned to move along a smooth surface (with whatever
>> > prostheticdevices and what ever bobathian assistance) in the
>> > future are the regular
>> > sidewalks and streets of Brasilia. And, not unlike the sidewalks
>> > of San
>> > Diego or London or....... they are uneven and one must make constant
>> > adjustments to their texture and uneveness,even if one is still
>> > temporarily unimpaired.
>> >
>> > The sidewalk, thought of by a wizardess who works at this center,
>> > is an
>> > ^"actant" organizing to help people in the present to confront
>> > their likely
>> > if not inevitable future so that when that future crashes down on
>> > them they
>> > are not crushed by its weight.
>> >
>> > Bom Nioche, or G'day, whatever it is where you are
>> > mike
>> >
>> >
>> > On 7/31/07, Andy Blunden <ablunden@mira.net> wrote:
>> > >
>> > > I have spent a lot of time recently watching my partner Vonney
>> > receiving> physiotherapy treatment following her stroke.
>> > >
>> > > I noticed that the physios used a Vygotskyist approach, in this
>> > respect.> If
>> > > for example, if Vonney was doing facilitated walking, and her
>> > left hip was
>> > > lazily trailing and needed to be activated and moved forward,
>> > instead of
>> > > pushing it forward from the back, which would be the common
>> > sense thing to
>> > > do, they would lightly touch her on the front. In my
>> > interpretation, this
>> > > touch creates a "psychological tool" in drawing Vonney's
>> > attention to the
>> > > part of her body which needs to be activated and she naturally
>> > responds in
>> > > that way and reacts against the light push.
>> > >
>> > > Yesterday I Googled the name of the method the physios used,
>> > "Bobath", and
>> > > found in the opening paragraph of the definition of this method
>> the
>> > > following:
>> > >
>> > >
>> > > " the client's potential, which was
>> > considered to be
>> > > that task or those
>> > > activities which could be performed by the
>> > person with
>> > > a little help,
>> > > and therefore possible for that person to
>> > achieve> independently where possible. "
>> > >
>> > > This is a straightforward definition of out beloved ZPD.
>> > >
>> > > Is this a case of "great minds think alike" or is there an
>> > historical> connection between CHAT and Bobath?
>> > >
>> > > Andy
>> > >
>> > > _______________________________________________
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>> > >
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>
> Andy Blunden : http://home.mira.net/~andy/ tel (H) +61 3 9380 9435,
> AIM identity: AndyMarxists mobile 0409 358 651
>
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Received on Wed Aug 1 00:04 PDT 2007