23.7. 1993 Vitoria-Gasteiz / Spain - World Federation of Music Therapy

one behave towards him, and why? How can we
decrease his limitations in motor and sensory
perception? and how can we stimulate his capacity for
rehabilitation?
In the course of our work, the first time we meet the child
and his family we devote the encounter to looking for
answers to these questions. We also pay particular
attention to the harmony of the child's movements, as
evidenced in the intermediate passage from one
position to another, and how the child uses the flexion -
extension-rotation mechanism in relation to the median
line of his body.
The child's refusal to use some positions (lying face
towards and supine) motivates us to look for an ideal
situation in which the child can accept this position, to
allow him to armonise his movements better.
In the Fondazione Robert Hollman of Cannero
Riviera, physiotherapy methods in early intervention are
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applied according to the concepts of BOBATH,
CASTILLO MORALES, and JEAN AYRES. Generally, in
informing the family, we lay no particular emphasis on
the specific method which is being used: we prefer
rather to stress the kind of techniques employed for the
overall development of each individual child.
Our experience ha taught us the great importance of
orofacial therapy, indispensable in the treatment of
disorders of sucking, chewing, swalloing and language
in children with sensorimotor problems in the face,
mouth and throat areas. But it is very difficult for many of
our children to keep still in one position ("calma
motoria") and to accept being touched in the mouth
area (many of them were intubated and still present
pathological reflex movements, etc.).
Also in this case, in looking for an ideal situation for the
child, after we have established a good relationship with
him and the parents, we noticed that through
proprioceptive stimulation, as on the swing, the child is