Molly's Story

Molly is 18 months old and attended the centre with her parents for the first time last year. Molly's parents were very concerned about her progress and found that she was often crying and irritable. Molly became very distressed in her car seat and would arch backwards, becoming very upset. This meant her parents could not travel easily and life was very stressful and difficult. Molly had older brothers who were missing out on family activities because of her frequent distress. Molly was also not learning and developing as her continual crying and irritability made concentration on toys or activities impossible.

During Molly's 2 week therapy block she was seen by an occupational therapist and a physiotherapist. On assessing Molly, she was found to have strong painful hip flexor spasms which were preventing her from sitting comfortably and were an almost constant source of discomfort. Whenever Molly tried to play or do any activity the spasms would become worse. Sudden change or being moved quickly also increased the spasms and upset Molly more. This explained Molly's constant distress.

During the block Molly's therapists worked with specific handling to inhibit and decrease the flexor spasms. Her parents were also taught how to do this. When Molly was comfortable and the spasms reduced, Molly was able to start looking at toys and her surroundings and the therapists began introducing new experiences for her. Molly's parents were taught specific techniques to handle her slowly and gently to minimise spasms and therefore reduce pain. By the end of the therapy block Molly was a lot calmer and would now travel for short distances in her car seat without distress. She also began to use her eyes a lot more and therapists had encouraged her to 'eye point' which could be the basis of a communication system for her in the future.

Molly's parents found that understanding why Molly was often upset made life less stressful as they now had some strategies to help and comfort her.