Children with special needs Improve your child’s abilities through neuroplasticity and movement

The Feldenkrais Method provides a gentle, personalized way to support children with special needs by focusing on their abilities and helping them achieve greater ease in movement and learning. Through guided movement and sensory exploration, the practitioner engages the child’s nervous system to develop new patterns of action, fostering growth and self-awareness. A core element of the work is helping the child carry out their intentions – whether reaching for an object, turning their head, or sitting up – by offering subtle support and facilitating smoother, more coordinated movement. This process nurtures the child’s capacity to initiate and complete actions, reinforcing confidence and expanding their physical capabilities. Sessions are playful, adaptive, and free from pressure or correction. By using light touch and small movements, the practitioner creates a safe space for the child to explore and learn at their own pace. Over time, the child begins to experience more comfort, better coordination, and greater emotional stability. Parents play a key role, observing and learning simple techniques to continue the child’s progress at home, ensuring that improvements extend beyond the sessions.

These sessions are for children with specific needs, including:
• Cerebral palsy (IMC)
• Brain injuries or stroke (AVC) recovery
• Premature birth with developmental delays
• Autism spectrum disorders (ASD)
• Learning difficulties and motor impairments
• Genetic conditions affecting movement and coordination
• Congenital injuries (e.g., brachial plexus lesions)
• Dystonias and other neuromotor disorders

The Feldenkrais Method is designed to support children with diverse diagnoses, fostering their unique potential for growth and movement.

Expected Benefits of Feldenkrais Sessions for Children and Parents:
• Increased Comfort and Ease – Children experience less physical tension, allowing for smoother, more natural movement in daily life.
• Enhanced Ability to Carry Out Intentions – By developing clearer motor pathways, children gain confidence in initiating and completing actions like reaching, sitting, or turning.
• Improved Emotional Regulation – A greater sense of physical ease often leads to calmer, more stable emotions, helping children manage new or unexpected situations.
• Expanding Possibilities for Action – Small but meaningful changes open new opportunities for play, interaction, and independence.

For Parents:
• Deeper Understanding of Their Child’s Needs – Parents gain insight into how their child learns and moves, fostering empathy and patience.
• Simple Tools to Support Progress at Home – Parents learn gentle techniques to help their child feel more at ease, reinforcing improvements between sessions.
• Increased Confidence – As parents witness their child’s growth, they feel more equipped and reassured in supporting their development.

The Feldenkrais Method empowers both children and their families, enhancing quality of life and strengthening the connection between action, intention, and emotional well-being.

1. Enhancing Body Awareness and Coordination
Helping children develop a clearer sense of their bodies to move with greater ease and control.
2. Supporting Neuroplasticity and Learning
Engaging the brain’s capacity to form new connections through gentle movement and sensory exploration.
3. Reducing Tension and Discomfort
Softening habitual patterns of physical tension to promote freer, more comfortable movement.
4. Encouraging Emotional Regulation and Calm
Fostering emotional stability by creating a sense of physical ease and security.
5. Building Independence and Confidence
Empowering children to initiate and carry out actions, enhancing their sense of autonomy and capability.
6. Strengthening Parent-Child Connection
Equipping parents with tools to support their child’s development and deepen their understanding of their needs.

1. Movement with Attention
Paying attention to how you move helps the brain form new connections, improving coordination and refining movement.
2. Slow
Moving slowly allows the brain to detect subtle differences and learn more effectively, reducing tension and unnecessary effort.
3. Variation
Introducing small variations in movement prevents habitual patterns and encourages flexibility, expanding the brain’s movement repertoire.
4. Subtlety
Gentle, small movements heighten sensitivity, allowing the nervous system to notice and integrate new possibilities without strain.
5. Awareness
Becoming aware of how you move and feel enhances clarity, helping the brain reorganize for greater efficiency and ease.
6. Enthusiasm
Positive emotions and curiosity engage the brain’s reward systems, making learning more enjoyable and effective.
7. Flexible Goals
Focusing on exploration rather than rigid goals creates space for organic progress, fostering creativity and reducing frustration.
8. Imagination and Visualization
Imagining movement activates the same neural pathways as physical action, reinforcing learning without the need for repetitive practice.
9. The Learning Switch
Keeping the “learning switch” turned on by staying curious and engaged maximizes neuroplasticity, allowing for continuous growth and adaptation.

Feldenkrais sessions are open to all children, regardless of their current physical abilities or diagnoses. There are no specific motor skills required, as the sessions are tailored to meet each child at their unique starting point. Children with neurological, motor, sensory challenges, or autism spectrum disorders can benefit from this approach. Parental involvement is essential – parents or caregivers are encouraged to be present during sessions to observe, ask questions, and learn simple techniques to continue supporting their child at home. The process is gradual and focuses on exploration and small improvements, rather than immediate performance-based results. Sessions often rely on non-verbal communication through touch and movement, fostering learning in a calm, supportive environment. Regular participation helps reinforce progress, allowing for meaningful and lasting changes over time. No prior experience with the Feldenkrais Method is necessary.