It really Matters :)))
(I am not talking about just business)
Have a great time in 2012.
Saturday, 31 December 2011
Mind your Own Business. Literally…
Saturday, 3 December 2011
Spectacular Charity Concert Supporting Parkinson's UK
Please reserve Saturday 9th June in your 2012 diary for a spectacular event which will be raising funds for Parkinson’s UK.
For those who are unfamiliar with Romsey Abbey it is a lovely setting especially on a June evening www.romseyabbey.org.uk.
More about the Choir can be seen on its website www.southwalesmalechoir.co.uk
Hope to see you in June.
For further information please contact Alan Willsher
or 01794514763
Alan is organising this event through the Romsey Branch of Parkinson's UK .
The Choir has just come back from a trip to the Baltic on the cruise ship Balmoral, having given 3 concerts on the ship and concerts in St Petersburg, Tallinn, Helsinki and Kristiansland in Norway. It proved to be a very successful and enjoyable trip.
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
"Congratulation Andi! Gratulálunk Andi! Hungarikummal Amerikában." Ádám Makk, Pető Intézet
Annual benefit video celebrating the achievements of CLC children and the generosity of supporters like Meijer Foundation and Meijer Corporation, Rosenzweig Coopersmith Foundation and so many faithful donors whose generosity has paved the way for CLC to serve hundreds of children, enabling them to achieve greater independence.
Previous posting about the Conductive Learning Centre:
Conductive Learning Centre's web site: http://conductivelearningcenter.org/
Source links:
Ádám Makk
Marketing Manager/Conductor Pető Institute Budapest, Hungary
Pető Institute's website: http://www.peto.hu/hu/
Saturday, 15 October 2011
Conductive Education Course Parkinson's UK Bristol Branch
The Bristol Parkinson’s Disease Society has been providing conductive education for many of its members for over a year.
The latest course started on 9th August and will finish on 6th December.
Conductive education is a specialised rehabilitation system, which was created and developed, by Dr András Pető a physician and pedagogue in the mid 1940's in Budapest, Hungary.
By regular attendance conductive education can help with:
Bradykinesia (slowness of movement)
Dyskinesia (side effect of medication)
Rigidity
Tremor
Freezing
Lack of facial expressions
Micrographia
The Pető System:
Improves concentration
Improves strength and stamina
Improves health and general well being.
Improves mobility, co-ordination, dexterity and fine manipulation
Improves breathing, speech and communication skills.
Increases motivational levels.
Increases self-esteem and boosts confidence.
Provides natural pain relief for muscle spasms and joint pains.
Contributes to significantly reducing stiffness by maintaining and
improving range of movements.
Increases independence.
Delays the need for hospitalisation/nursing care
Provides training and guidance for family members and carers.
Provides a comprehensive support system for the whole family.
Photos are taken by Amanda Elliott Conductor during the conductive education programmes.
Friday, 14 October 2011
Conductive Education Course Parkinson's UK Romsey Branch
The Romsey Parkinson’s Disease Society has been providing conductive education for many of its members for over two years.
The conductive education system with its dynamic, active movement classes and programmes aims to provide holistic and integrated solutions for dealing with the symptoms and manifestations of Parkinson’s.
Conductive education also provides solutions for individuals with other neurological
conditions.
The complexity and the design of the programmes assist active problem solving and management of everyday living and functioning.
The participants practise solving a series of motor tasks which gradually increase in complexity in lying, sitting and standing positions and through a specialised walking programme.
With speech, rhythm and movement elements engaged, conductive education promotes conscious control of movements.
The classes, which last for two hours, are both fun and inspirational.
For further information or if you would like to be involved please complete the following contact form: http://www.szathmarytc.com/contact.php
Photo is taken by Amanda Elliott Conductor during the conductive education programmes.
Tuesday, 11 October 2011
Fundamentals of conductive upbringing
"In fond and respectful remembrance of Mária Hári
by Katalin Bíró
ABSTRACT. Over many years the author collaborated with Mária Hári, helped her express her ideas in writing and lectured to student-conductors on conductive upbringing. Derived from this experience and in remembrance of Mária Hári the present article offers ten principles
underlying conductive upbringing and pedagogy: valuing life, respect for humanity; pedagogic optimism; pedagogic value; tolerance; activity-centredness; communal upbringing; teaching through conflict; integration; bipolarity; complexity."
Link to full article: http://www.e-conduction.org/depository/BiroJun06.pdf
Reference: Andrew Sutton
Photo: Dr. Mária Hári, Ireland 1989 from Google Images
Friday, 9 September 2011
“Whoever offered the wine of movement;
The beautiful intoxication of motion
And whoever has been taught to walk
That person will always know
How incredible it may be
That everything is possible anywhere
People can overcome any monster
If they have the will, heart and the intelligence
The magic consciousness always helps.”
Zoltán Vitό Hungarian writer and one of the students of Pető András
Photo: András Pető Memorial Plaque , Szombathely Hungary.
A MOZDULAT MÁGUSÁRÓL
(szobrának avatására)
Ki emberként gondolt egy istenit,úgy döntve, hogy ő azokon segít,kiknek béklyózva görcsbe, bénaságba,mozdíthatatlan a keze, a lába;s mint egy haragvó, igaz-öklű isten,eltökélte, hogy ő rajtuk segítsen,de ami tervével egyet jelent:a test káoszában rendet teremts bele építi a Mozdulatot, -ki ilyen istenit gondolhatott,ki szellemében ma is itt van, nem más,neve szerint: "professzor Pető András".
Vagy egyszerűen csak "doktor Pető":A címet, rangot megvetette ő,aki előtt a Tudás volt a mérce;s az önmagát adó Emberség érceolyan keménnyé ötvöződött benne,mintha gyémánt-kikezdhetetlen lenne,pedig legendás szigora megettegy világ-óceánnyi szeretetsarkallta tudatni, mire jutott,s átadni nékünk azt, amit tudott:ha a szívben elég az akaratés az értelem tétlen nem marad,akkor tudnunk kell; nincsen lehetetlen,s nincs kóreset, amelyik menthetetlen. S számtalan görcsös lábba, béna kézbegyakorlással szinte bele igézteés mágikus türelemmel napontaonnan úgyszólván előparancsoltaa születő drága Mozdulatot,mely lassacskán így életre kapott...
S még mit mondhatna mást e költemény- mely Róla szól -, hogy most is van remény,hisz' akinek a mozgás volt a lelke,azt nem elég szoborrá merevedveidézni; arról vallhatod velem:az ő szelleme ma is eleven;s akit megkínált a mozgás borával,a Mozdulat gyönyörű mámorávalés a járásra rátanult a lába,azon túl már úgy jár-kel a világba',hogy mindig tudja - bármily hihetetlen -,semmilyen téren nincsen lehetetlen;hogy akarattal, szívvel értelemmelbármilyen szörnyet legyőzhet az ember;mindig segít a mágikus tudat,s segít a megváltó Mozdulat, -
s olykor meghitten érzi, nem maradt más:csak megköszönni, néked - Pető András!
Vitó Zoltán Hungarian writer one of the students of Pető András.
Reference:
Photo: András Pető Memorial Plaque , Szombathely Hungary.
Thursday, 1 September 2011
Semmi sem lehetetlen. Nothing is impossible
Quote from the film:
'I was his pupil for 7 years. I couldn’t even
stand up on my own, when they took me to his institute.
At the age of 15, I boarded the tram and walked
home on my own…'Zoltán Vitó Hungarian writer
“Whoever offered the wine of movement
The beautiful intoxication of motion
And whoever has been taught to walk
That person will always know
How incredible it may be
That everything is possible anywhere
People can overcome any monster
If they have the will, heart and the
intelligence
The magic consciousness always helps.”
Zoltán Vitό Hungarian writer
Friday, 26 August 2011
Dr Melanie Brown from the National Institute of Conductive Education talks about conductive education for individuals with MS
For further information please visit :http://www.conductive-education.org.uk/adults
National Institute of Conductive Education
General Enquires: 0121 449 1569
Fax:0121 449 1611
Email: foundation@conductive-education.org.uk
Website: http://www.conductive-education.org.uk
Address
Cannon Hill House
Russell Road
Moseley
Birmingham
B13 8RD
General Enquires: 0121 449 1569
Fax:0121 449 1611
Email: foundation@conductive-education.org.uk
Website: http://www.conductive-education.org.uk
Address
Cannon Hill House
Russell Road
Moseley
Birmingham
B13 8RD
Sunday, 14 August 2011
Not a therapy, Andrew Sutton explains Conductive Education
"Conductive Education – Learning for a living
It’s not so much a “therapy”, as a way of learning new ways of doing things. Andrew Sutton explains the ins and outs of Conductive Education, and what it might do for you and your family.
“I was very sceptical of trying this treatment as I thought – how can any intervention help me now at my age?” says 51 Maria, who has cerebral palsy. She has continued with sessions of Conductive Education for five years. “My general well-being, self esteem and confidence are vastly improved. I don’t feel as exhausted as I did and have more energy. I have learnt so much about cerebral palsy and now understand how my body functions.”
Maggie from Hull, a former teacher and education advisor, was diagnosed with MS in 1994, and was equally sceptical of the claims made about Conduction Education. “From the start, I was struck by the way the conductors worked in such a precise and focused way,” she explains. “I was dumbfounded when – from the very first session – I was able to do things I thought I just couldn’t do. For anyone outside the MS world, it might seem that my new-found – or should that be re-found? – ability to stand, my better balance and control, plus improved co-ordination and circulation, are minor. But I feel these things represent a significant move away from a passive role in the disease’s progression. I am now playing a much more positive part. I have some control over what is happening to me now.”
New Zealander John, who had a stroke at the age of 44 that left him paralysed down his right side and with speech and cognitive problems, believes that he wouldn’t have made the progress and achievements he has without the input of Conductive Education. “The result – besides the physical improvement, like speech balance and walking – has been a vast improvement in my confidence with people and the awareness that life goes on after disability,” he says. “I am able to drive, hold down a job five days a week and do most of the maintenance and day to day chores around the house. If I was to sum up my experience at Conductive Education, it has helped me gain my independence, confidence and pride back in myself and it has given me the awareness of what I am capable of achieving.”
People with Parkinson’s disease and other rarer movement disorders have testified in a similar manner. So, what’s going on here?
HOME TRUTHS
Behind Conductive Education – sometimes called “conductive rehabilitation” – lie simple, human truths: that people with difficulties controlling their movements can learn different ways of approaching what they want to do; that they will learn better if they enjoy the process and the success that it brings, and that they’ll do best under the guidance of skilled and motivating teachers.
Conductive Education’s breakthrough is applying these truths to difficulties that physical impairments bring to everyday life and living. Specially trained “conductors” bring together in one person different elements needed to learn to solve new problems and complete new tasks.
Like any good learning and teaching, how this is done in particular circumstances depends on a mixture of factors; what you want to learn to do, how much time and energy you have, where you’re starting from and what you’re aiming to achieve. There are also questions about the resources and personal teaching styles of individual conductors.
A ROUGH GUIDE TO CONDUCTIVE EDUCATION
While Conductive Education can differ for different people in different places, there remain some easily identifiablefeatures.
• You’ll be struck by the conductors’ immediate and persisting confidence that you can learn.
It may take time to find out how, and the best ways to teach you, but the only way to do this is to begin – showing, explaining, teaching. It will be surprising if you leave your first meeting with a conductor without taking away something new, however small – and without some of the conductor’s confidence beginning to rub off on you. This is the start of establishing your confidence (first in the conductor then increasingly in yourself).
• You’re not “doing Conductive Education” alone.
You’ll learn as part of a small group, since group learning is often much more fun and much more effective than “one to one”. You will be taking part in a social activity, along with others – including conductors – who’ll share the activities with you, including the difficult bits. Many people have experienced the positive effects of working together as a team in other walks of life, and this way of working still enables you to receive highly personalised teaching.
• The room will be sparse, almost empty.
This is no place for specialised “therapy equipment”; you’ll find simple wooden furniture and perhaps a few everyday items – such as paper and pencils – if needed for specific tasks. The highest technological mechanism known is the human mind – and you, your fellow learners, your conductors and your family, will bring this incomparable asset along with you free of charge!
• What happens is what matters.
Conductive Education is about active and positive teaching and learning. Conductors do not sit quietly; they move around, they lead, and they speak. A lot; encouraging, instructing, rewarding, questioning binding the group together, providing motivation, rhythm and meaning essential for learning human movement.
This is work, lively and cheerful work, ‘disciplined’ in the best sense of the word. You soon begin to sense that conductors ‘understand’ how your body works together as a whole, more importantly how you can take control of this to achieve things that you could not previously manage. As you proceed together so this knowledge will be transferred across to you. You learn.
• Time spent with the conductor in the group is a ‘session’.
Sessions with your conductor will last an hour or so; they’re social occasions, so you’re likely to spend some informal time – over tea and biscuits – beforehand or afterwards (or both!) with family, carers, fellow-group members and their families, conductors, and other staff. People working hard together on a common task soon find that they have lots to talk about! This chance for further bonding, information-sharing etc is an important part of the conductive experience.
HOW OFTEN, AND WHERE
Ideally, this depends on who you are, your condition, your family situation, and what you want to achieve – all very human questions.
Disability is for life; ideally, so should access to Conductive Education. This doesn’t mean attending every day – it could mean attending weekly meetings or just once in a while. Or, alternatively, attending for a period measured in weeks or months, stopping for a while and then returning for a “top up” if circumstances change.
Admittedly, in our less-than-ideal world, what you’ll get may well depend not on what you and your conductor consider is required, but on how much can be afforded. There is no routine public funding for adults in the UK, although a few enlightened local authorities provide funding for some centres. For the most part, though, Conductive Education in the UK is paid for by charities or by disabled people themselves and their families.
NOT A THERAPY
Conductive Education is not “hands-on”. It is a psychological and social method, achieving psychological and social outcomes. There is no physical manipulation and the target is not the limbs, the joints or the muscles – it’s the mind.
If you must think of it as a therapy, think of it psycho-therapy, but conductors prefer to think of it as teaching and learning. The focus is people’s morale, their self-image and self-confidence. It’s about helping them set new goals and find new ways to achieve existing ones by teaching new skills, providing reassurance and encouragement, and supporting new-found confidence.
Nor is it just about the disabled person. The changes Conductive Education bring can change family life too – for the better.
As Mary from Australia explained: “Conductive Education teaches people how they might better take charge of their own bodies in order to achieve what they themselves want. It does not set out to ‘cure’ anything, but to help people to live their lives.”
MORE INFORMATION
There are currently 12 conductive services working with adults in the UK; some are small one-man/woman bands, while the biggest is the National Institute of Conductive Education (NICE), which is located in Birmingham. NICE also trains conductors.
http://ce-library.blogspot.com/2009/02/adult-conductive-education-on-internet.html
http://ce-library.blogspot.com/2009/02/what-has-conductive-education-done-for.html
Alternatively, call Gill Maguire on 0121 449 1569."
Reference: Able Magazine
http://ablemagazine.co.uk/conductive-education-learning-for-a-living/#more-415
Photos: Andrew Sutton a now retired director of the Foundation for Conductive Education.
http://www.conductive-world.info/
http://www.facebook.com/conductive.world
Captures of the work at the National Institute of Conductive Education published in Able Magazine along with the article.
Sunday, 31 July 2011
Unveiling Nonye’s warm hands in the ‘game’ of life…
Nonye lives in Nigeria. Last year she contacted me to help her to set up Conductive Education services in the Cerebral Palsy Centre which she established in Lagos.
After reading her e-mail I telephoned her. I like to talk to people who approach me with such a desire, rather than just read their words over the ether.
From that first conversation we exchanged many e-mails and discussed the potential benefits of Conductive Education for Nonye’s daughter and for other children at her centre.
In June this year Nonye came to England to visit her family.
With the help of Norman Perrin, CEO of the Paces Centre for Conductive Educationhttp://www.paces-school.org.uk/ and Gabor Fellner Head Teacher, Nonye’s daughter had her first Initial Consultation.
The Sheffield Centre was closer to her family’s residence than our base at the south of England.
This is what Nonye wrote to me after her visit: “Yesterday at Sheffield, I found it difficult to withhold my tears, now I made no effort to stop the tears. Knowing that my child would have been doing a lot better than she is now…”
After returning to Lagos she has been working hard to get things off the ground. The article below is the first public appearance of her vision to bring Conductive Education to Lagos.
Nonye is powerful and very courageous as Norman said to me after meeting her. We all keep our fingers crossed and waiting for more news on the development of her quest.
Unveiling Nonye’s warm hands in the ‘game’ of life…
FRIDAY, 29 JULY 2011 00:00 KEMI AJUMOBI
“The fact that your child has cerebral palsy is not going to change; you have to change! The last thing you deserve to feel is pity, guilt or shame! It is not their fault that they have cp, nor is it fair that they have been dealt the "hand" the game of life has given them.
But it is an opportunity for us to help these children develop their fullest potential while educating them and the society to accept individuals with CP. It is only the parents who can advocate for these children because no one, but the parents, have their interests at heart.”
With this above statements coming from Nonye herself, she unwittingly tells you who and what she stands for. And if your inner mind doing a quick check on every member of your family as she reels out some salient tips to watch out for, then you realise, you’re in for an educative and informative time with this kind woman of deep inner feelings for the deprived and denied in the society.
With arms akimbo, you replay her questions one after the other in your mind as you struggle to provide some answers. Ever observed that your child has delayed milestones such as controlling head, rolling over, reaching with one hand, sitting without support, crawling, or walking? Then, it is called Cerebral Palsy (CP).
The Cerebral Palsy Center is a Non Profit Organisation started by Nonyelum Nweke in February, 2010 to cater to the needs of children with Cerebral Palsy.
This Center was started with the hope that children with the defined condition will live happily with their families not in institutions, and get help in achieving their potentials to become productive adults living with their disabilities, even among their peers.
The Center provides early intervention services, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, special education services. It also gives information on newer alternative therapies. Most of these therapies work on the principle of neuroplasticity of the brain.
But how did this woman of passion and large heart come about this Centre? Nonye explains in her very words, hear her: "Chizimuzondu (Zimuzo as fondly called) was adopted as a six day old baby. She gave so much joy to her mother (still does) who adopted her because she did not have a baby of her own but had so much love to give. However, she noticed after a couple of months that Zimuzo was not developing appropriately, she was not achieving her developmental milestones. At four months she was yet to hold up her head, reach for toys or do any of the things babies her age would do. She used to shake and shiver like she was always cold, what Nonye now knows to be spasm and seizures. Her concern was dismissed by a doctor with a wave of hand, saying that some babies are naturally slow developers.”
At five months, Zimuzo was diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy (CP) at Owerri Sick Bay, a private children’s hospital in Owerri, Eastern state of Nigeria. Coincidentally, Zimuzo was adopted from Owerri through the Ministry of Women Development and Social Welfare. The doctor, the owner of the hospital advised Nonye to take back the child to the ministry that she would not be able to take care of such a child.
On getting to the ministry, Nonye met with the head of the unit, Madu, who insisted that she leave the child, that, she would not be able to take care of the child, assuring her that they would arrange for another baby for her. When asked by Nonye what would happen to the baby, she said they would just leave her in the orphanage. Nonye, according to her, had not heard the word Cerebral Palsy prior to that day, but from the way the lady was going about it and the doctor’s reaction, she knew that it was a huge issue.
“I left Zimuzo, much as I hated to do that, went back to Lagos and started reading Cerebral Palsy from the internet. I called my friends and informed them of my predicament, and how I wanted to go back and take that baby, all advised me not to, that it is an uphill task to take care of a baby like that. The more I read about the condition CP, the more I was convinced that I needed to go back for the baby, convinced that such a baby needed a mother to love her specially, she must not be a number in the midst of many. In less than a week, I had read enough to convince myself that the baby needed a lot of help which only a mother can offer her. I picked her back and I am glad she is part of my life till date,” Nonye declares enthusiastically.
Continuing on the establishment of the Center, “At the CP Center, we encourage parents to register their children as soon they are diagnosed with Cerebral Palsy because early intervention therapy is the key to successful rehabilitation. With proper management and adequate therapy, children from the center can function well in regular schools. We advocate their inclusion in these schools. The Center provides physiotherapy, occupational and speech therapies. It also provides the services of special educators and information on cerebral palsy in general. Families of children with CP are welcomed in the center to interact with their children and with each other. This Center is not just a place therapy, but a place where families can find each other, share joys, heartaches and learn from experiences gained from raising children with Cerebral Palsy.”
And to the government, she admonishes, “The government needs to support children with CP. Support our center in our attempt to bring in Conductive Education to Nigeria. Conductive Education was started inHungary in the 1940s purely for children with CP and motor issues. Today, it is entrenched in UKeducation curriculum and it is free. For me, I have long since accepted that God allowed me to adopt a child with CP, I no longer ask why , instead I ask how I can possibly met my daughter's needs, help her achieve her fullest potential and walk the part God has placed before me, hence I ask, CHIZIMUZONDU!!!”
Further Reading: http://juditszathmary.blogspot.com/2011/06/wish-my-child-was-born-in-kuwait.html
http://juditszathmary.blogspot.com/2011/06/gail-edgecombe-comments-on-andrew.html
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