Case Histories

Robert's Story

Our first grandchild had a difficult birth. At first all seemed well but I soon began to feel uneasy. Robert slept a lot and was very floppy. He found it difficult to suck. My daughter Alison kept asking what I thought was wrong. In the end I pushed the doctor into telling her the truth - Robert had cerebral palsy.

I watched Alison struggling to feed Robert. I could feel the distress she was going through. I would go home at night and cry myself to sleep, I felt so helpless. Alison would meet other mothers who had babies the same age as Robert, they were all doing things. Robert did nothing. I decided never to stop trying to find a treatment that would help my grandson.

The months and years went by. At 3 years old Robert was sent to a special school. He was thin and pale. When you put him down he couldn't even lift his head off the floor. Nevertheless at school he was put slumping into standing frames and fitted with calipers and boots. He looked awful and he just became worse. He was tied into a body that was no use and he was just going deeper and deeper into himself.

One day I read about a charity called Advance founded by Linda Scotson. I remembered Linda had been working for many years researching in the subject of cerebral palsy. Now I discovered that she was getting results by changing the children's breathing. We began the new approached called The Scotson Technique in September 2002.

After 6 months of treatment we have a different child. At first we noticed small changes each week. Robert's appearance changed, he filled out and at last began to look healthy. Now the changes have begun to speed up.

Robert first lifted his head and then his whole body off the floor. His arms, which were either limp or moving in a disconnected way suddenly reached out for me and he gave me a hug. From that moment he began making eye contact with me and laughing and playing almost like a normal child. His head and body began to change shape and lost their flat appearance. His eyes began to sparkle and he began to push up onto all fours and pull himself up on the furniture. We can now all see the Robert who should have been shining through.

The NHS had given us no hope - now not only do we have these changes to delight us every day but a clear understanding why they are happening and why they will go on.