Cranial Sacral Therapy

I don’t know how it works exactly, but it does. The difference in my daughter is day and night. Everyone should know about it and use it for their child. What big secret do I know? It is an alternative therapy called Cranial Sacral Therapy (CST). How can you describe something that looks so simple, but, changes personality, behavior, speech, walking, talking, and more? That is just the tip of the iceberg. My daughter Catelynn is five years old and has Down syndrome ^[1]. She had heart surgery ^[2] at the age of seven months, was premature ^[3] by five weeks, has hearing loss in both ears, wears glasses, and talks non-stop all of the time, but, is incoherent for most of it. That also is just the tip of the iceberg.

Catelynn attended the local pre-school program at the elementary school and was doing pretty well. She was beginning to socialize with the other children and they adored her. She was becoming more independent and then something changed. We don’t know what or why, but, she began to be very angry, aggressive, hit, kick, push and throw temper- tantrums. Granted, some of this could be that she was developmentally around 2-3 years of age, but, this was not my child. She loved everyone, she gave hugs, she did not hit and the saddest part was she was not realizing what an affect it had on those around her. She acted as if she had done nothing wrong, even when she caused 5-6 children to cry because she pushed one child and that caused a “domino effect”. I struggled with finding answers and wondered if my daughter had developed a behavior problem. I had no explanation, no answers, and was very frustrated myself. We had “upped” speech therapy to twice a week months before to help with her communication. We had received a LEO (augmentative communication device to help her express herself and talk). I sought a psychologist out to see if there was something I was missing. I went to the Disability Clinic (two hours away) in hopes that someone would have suggestions. I asked other families in our support group…I asked pretty much anyone we had contact with. I wanted my daughter back!

Related: A Complete Guide on Positive Behavior Support for Children With Special Needs ^[4]

There may be many parents out there that felt like me, but, I didn’t come across anyone that had the same issue we had. Then, we found some light at the end of our dark tunnel. After venting, and further discussions with the speech therapists at Early Development Intervention (EDI) ^[5], it was suggested that we get evaluated by the physical therapist (PT). We hadn’t had physical therapy for years, though we had an occupational therapist come to our home every few months to work on Catelynn’s fine motor skills and eating challenges. The PT evaluated Catelynn and said that maybe we could try CST along with Sensory Integration techniques. At this point I would try anything as I had a lot of faith in the staff.

It took two weeks because of tight schedules, but they got us in. When you watch the therapy, it seems like the PT is squeezing (with both hands) your child’s head, stomach, back, face, etc. But, WOW, the miracle that happened, it’s amazing. As I said at the beginning, I don’t know how it works, but it does. My understanding is that these “magicians” feel the flow of the spinal fluid that is along the spinal column, brain, and neck. Sometimes this gets sluggish and they can get it moving again. We are lucky enough to have found two people in our area that can do this. One happens to be at the location my daughter gets speech services and the other is an independent therapist that comes to our home. Because schedules are so tight, we have arranged that each therapist comes on opposite weeks so she can have it weekly.

I love to watch my daughter when it’s time for CST therapy in our home. Sometimes she jumps on the couch, lays stomach down, and begins to giggle. She is excited so we must be on the right tract. We had a chance to test the theory a bit unknowingly. We went three weeks without CST because of vacations and you could see my daughter’s emotions build and the aggression and anger begin again. The hitting, kicking, and tantrums began to return. While we also do “brushing” and “joint tapping” it is the complete cycle of therapies that are needed, each is an intricate piece of the puzzle.  My wish is that every family that has been struggling like we have been seeks out this therapy in their area and at least tries it. I have found that therapists are hard to come by and insurance will question it, but, persistence and research helps and my daughter is so worth it.