Freeing Peter

Child writhes faces behind the glass

When Peter started Fractal Therapy and he was also given a series of physical movements and sensory activities that he needed to do for several minutes every day at home. His mother had to help him.

Within weeks of starting his therapy Sally noticed that Peter was calmer and had fewer repetitive hand flapping movements. He became less upset if they could not stick with his daily routines and when his mother didn’t wear the same colour scarf every day it did not bother him.

He became more affectionate and while they sat on the couch watching television in the evenings he now liked holding his mother’s hand, something he had never done before. He stopped hitting and kicking her.

On the bus to school he was caring towards other pupils who were in distress. At home he was helping himself to snacks from the pantry and even tried to make his own sandwiches. He was happier in himself.

How Fractal Therapy Matures The Brain

Peter was behaving in a more independent and balanced way, because Fractal Therapy was triggering his brain to grow and use more mature neural pathways.

Instead of relying on the brain stem, a lower region of his brain, he was now using more of his neocortex and the left and right brain hemispheres, which are higher regions of the brain. By using the higher regions and mature pathways in his brain, it was now possible for Peter to be emotionally more stable and balanced, more adaptable, more empathic to others, to bond with his mother and also to be more independent in his behaviour.

Autism interferes with normal brain development. The sequences of development that are usually seen in children with healthy brains do not take place, or are slow to take place. For example the autistic child may not be able to crawl by eight months, or walk at twelve months. Later the child struggles with movement skills such as dressing, eating and playing on playground equipment.

The emotional development is also delayed, so the child does not attempt to behave in an independent way and does not try to help himself. He relies excessively on the parent to do things for him. This delay in emotional development also makes him sensitive to stress and he gets upset very easily when he cannot get his way. To cope he is more rigid and clings to routines and rituals and resorts to typical autistic behaviours such as hand flapping and echolalia (repeating others’ words).

As the child gets older his brain is trying to grow new connections, but cannot do so, because earlier foundation networks were not laid down. This causes the child to have more problem behaviours, such as violence, and to rely more and more on typical autistic behaviours as a way of coping with these internal pressures.

Fractal Therapy helps the autistic child to catch up on delayed brain development. By repeating normal developmental movements, such as crawling, the brain is triggered to grow a connection between the left and right brain hemispheres. This connection allows the child to use more parts of his brain and therefore to conquer more skills. Now he can wash himself, dress himself, feed himself and look after his toys and possessions, tasks that were previously impossible.

Instead of life being overwhelming, he can take pleasure in being emotionally more stable and take pride in his accomplishments. There is no cure for autism, but the quality of life, the ability to grow and adapt and to give and receive love are much improved. The whole family shares in the joy this brings.