When my daughter fell victim to severe traumatic brain injury at 4-days of age,
the prognosis could not have been more grim. In the following 6 years we tried every
therapeutic modality we could find, from traditional early intervention developmental therapies,
craniosacral, and OT/PT/Speech practitioners, to Conductive Education and the Doman-Delcato
Method, to name only a handful. Nothing seemed to make much of a difference.
Then, by what seemed pure accident, three years ago we chanced upon
Feldenkrais/Anat Baniel Method for Children and practitioner Lou Bosch-Wilson.
And things started to happen.
Individually, the changes have been subtle but collectively, monumental: from a child
who seemed scarcely interested in her external environment, physically frail, unable to accomplish
the simplest volitional movement, unable to maintain her head vertically in space, let alone her torso,
she is now sitting tall, often shrieking with the pure pleasure of being able to right herself.
When she goes with me in her jogging stroller,
I no longer have to support her positioning with bolsters and straps:
she keeps her head upright relative to gravity, her spine supple and tall—no matter how
rough the terrain, no matter the changing angle of her body in the stroller. These things and
so many more have happened, and all the more dramatically in the past year and a half since
Lou became our main therapist.
Lou’s work with my daughter and with other children is remarkable for so many reasons:
she is a lifelong learner, deeply committed to finding and learning the latest and most effective
modalities (including the profoundly powerful Masgutova Method). I have seen her bring initially
terrified, screaming children to a place of safety, trust and active engagement;
I have seen her work with infinite patience to help children past seemingly
insurmountable physical blocks.
Unlike so many of her peers (and I have explored literally scores of other
practitioners’ work), Ms. Bosch-Wilson is not driven by the clock but by a child’s and
parents’ needs. Her deep commitment to helping children to be healthier and happier is
exceptional: when she is with a child, there is only the two of them, playing, learning, making
changes: her gentleness and playful consistence allows her access to even the most resistant and
frightened children. Furthermore, and again unlike so very many of her peers, Lou takes the time
to support the parents—providing and guiding them with home practice programs tailored to their child’s
needs and their abilities; following up with email reminders and support; encouraging them
to pursue other therapies when the case warrants it.
In my quest to help my child come into the world more fully and joyfully,
Lou Bosch-Wilson has been no hired interventionist but a coach, a mentor, a guide and role model.
I cannot recommend her highly enough to parents of special needs children.
Christine Harker