Re: [xmca] Bobath method

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 eloquently
reminded 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 institutional
level 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 prosthetic
devices 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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Received on Tue Jul 31 16:55 PDT 2007