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The importance of intervention during the early stages of developmentDuring my 35 years of working with the Feldenkrais Method with adults, children and babies, I came to understand that the roots of many problems experienced by adults can be traced to early childhood or even infancy. Working with problematic children, I adapted elements of the Feldenkrais Method and developed a diagnostic method and a way of working with healthy babies and their caregivers. The method is based on stimulating the motor centers, cognitive systems, and emotions that play an active developmental role. The motor system, which includes the skeletal and neuromuscular systems, develops during an infant's first year. This is the year that lays the foundation for voluntary movement. After many meetings with babies and mothers, I discovered signs of problematic development in infants whose development is considered normal. Yarden was born prematurely, in the 38th week of pregnancy. She didn’t sit up on her own, but she stood, skipping the crawling phase. Today she is 16 months old. Her movement is clumsy, and she often falls. Noam was born in week thirty-three. When he reached the desired weight, which took two months, it seemed that he was overcoming the initial delay. When at the age of six months he still had not rolled over, it was obvious that the matter needed to be looked at more closely. Organizations such as infant development clinics that are responsible for monitoring the infant's development at this critical stage of life are not always fully aware of the subtle nuances in early development. They often recognize problems only when the problem has become readily apparent and advanced. Patterns of voluntary movement include the perceptual, motor, sensory, emotional, and cognitive systems as well as balance, coordination, orientation, and emotional development. The brain and then the body develop compensatory movement for each problematic element. The infant finds a solution that serves well in a specific situation. The "temporary" solution slowly becomes a movement pattern, however, and this behavior becomes permanently rooted in the personality. Over the years, these compensatory patterns delay development, distort movement, and behavior. Timely intervention stimulates the brain and enables the infant to find other and varied solutions. Intervention is essential even when the problem still seems minimal. The seemingly minimal problem may not be so at all, as it is impossible to know the underlying causes of the problem, what it consists of, why it has appeared, and what will be its long-term effects. "Child'Space - Chava Shelhav Method" teaches you to recognize warning signals, such as an infant who does not raise his or her head, does not lie on the stomach or roll over, does not sit by his/herself, or walks clumsily. You learn how to intervene and when to intervene. Early intervention allows us to help prevent problems in physical development and avoid behavioral problems. Parental involvement is a critical issue when working with children. Parents are taught how to monitor their baby's development and fulfill the infant's needs, whether physical or emotional. The method's approach to working with parents provides the parents with a sense of security and contributes to a healthy child-parent relationship.
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