Adam's Numbers

Here is an example of somatic therapy and how patterning the body can help organize the mind.

Adam has traits of Asperger's Syndrome (an Autism Spectrum Disorder). ASD is often viewed as an incurable psychological mystery. However, when it is seen physically--as a combination of toxicity, allergy, gut imbalance and brain starvation--there is a lot that can be done. Adam's family is working with diet, detox, and movement therapy.

At his first session, Adam was barely aware that I was in the room. He did not look at me much, and most of his language was reciting DVDs he had watched. He had a talent for words and numbers (common in Asperger's Syndrome). He could read well, but did not seem to understand that words related to things. For Adam, my plan was to restore the body as the link between the worlds of symbol and form. The theory was that his body had become too hard to live in because of discomfort and overwhelming, dis-organized, sensory information. I used movement to help him filter and process sense information, so that he could live in his body and, therefore, start participating in the world.

This video was taken shortly after Adam had stepped up his detox and transitioned to a modified GFCF (gluten-free, casein-free) diet. His mom said they have been watching "the masks fall away".




techniques I use with Adam are: focusing, patterning and sequencing (building, breaking and editing), sensory integration and techniques where I reduce sense information and then build complexity while helping him stay oriented. For him, I use my voice a lot. Making sounds, and rhythms that express movement qualities and processing verbally what I observe him experiencing ("I am walking on the beam", "I feel my feet...I see the lights")