Maggie is our third child, it wasn’t a traumatic birth but Maggie was different from my other children.

As a baby Maggie screamed all day, every day – she was uncomfortable in her body, feeding was difficult as she couldn’t coordinate sucking and breathing, her sensory nervous system was easily overloaded by just the slightest breeze, she would arch her back uncontrollably.

Getting Maggie to sleep was difficult, keeping her asleep even harder.

Eventually Maggie was diagnosed with spastic quadriplegic cerebral palsy and global development delay. All four of her limbs are affected, as are her facial muscles so speaking, chewing and swallowing are all impaired. She has an intellectual abnormality and her vision is also impaired.

We knew a friend who had done neuro development therapy with her son and had achieved amazing results so we got in touch with her and began our journey when Maggie was 11 months old. We also reached out to BICT and Shirley.

Initially we worked with Ian Hunter and we saw immediate and amazing results in Maggie, we have no doubt that if we didn’t start here we would be nowhere near to where we are now – therapy was an absolute game changer and we made it our number one priority.

We are incredibly fortunate that BICT have continued to support and work with us for the last three years as we have undertaken the Doman program with Maggie.

The Doman development profile is accurate, relevant, measurable and logical, the staff are committed and passionate people. They have become like a family and they have so much love for Brain injured people as well as an unshakeable belief in them. It is truly beautiful to watch them interact with your child who most people in society are scared to even say hello to.

There is no pity at Doman, just practical advice on how to incorporate your child into this world. Little things like supporting your child’s arm to facilitate them making choices you have written on a board or to pick what top they want to wear, making books in large print so they can learn to enjoy and read books.

Through this programme Maggie continues to get stronger; her muscle tone is improving and her spasticity reducing. She can now lift her arms up in the air and instead of obsessively opening kitchen cupboards she helps with basic chores, she is calmer and can focus for longer periods of time, she can read hundreds of words and her communication is clearer.

She has a hunger for developing and living life to her full potential; a determination to succeed; and perseverance like no other.

My daughter can run, climb, ride a 2 wheeled bike, do the monkey bars, jump with 2 feet, read, talk, communicate her needs most of the time, play with her sister, take part in family outings, throw and catch a ball, swim, boogie board on waves, giggle and get up to mischief, help herself to food, sleep in her own bed, go to the toilet, attend school, learn and progress every day. She is capable of learning!

She lives a life with daily training and a diet similar to superstar sports people.

We chose this life for her because we believe in it.

We believe in healing her brain.

We believe in her ability.

This is her life because we have dedicated hours to daily neuro development therapy and have had the support of Doman and BICT.

Maggie was a baby who screamed all day, was uncomfortable in her own body, struggled to feed as she couldn't co-ordinate sucking and breathing and had a sensory system which was so easily overloaded, however through hard work Maggie became stronger and her muscle tone started to improve which reduced her spasticity. She began to lift her arms over her head and help with basic chores, she became calmer and could focus for longer periods.

Maggie even started to read words and her communication has improved. Her family were so excited by these improvements and were motivated to continue their hard work with the help of BICT and Doman.

Now, another 9 months on and she is continuing to improve making huge strides in neurological, social and behavioural domains. These are some of the things that make the Doman Method so successful and Maggie is such a great example of this. It doesn't just focus on one thing but all aspects of the child so we get to see growth in a number of areas.

I find the therapy really great, and I enjoy...  actually, love doing it with Maggie. Maggie responds well to the therapy programme; she is enthusiastic about it & has a love of learning.
I think there is a huge change in Maggie’s overall growth in all areas and I see how the repetition part of the Doman therapy really works for Maggie as well as everything else. Her strength is amazing, she has become so much stronger over this time. Her social skills and the time she can sit at a task is just inspiring to see, it is improving every day. Maggie also never really played with other kids last year but this year she has made real friends that adore her, and they all play together at morning tea & lunchtime.
Her spelling is up there with her class pairs, we did a spelling test today in class, so I adapted things, and she got 99% correct. Her speech is coming along greatly, and her comprehension is astounding.

Joellene (Maggie’s Teacher Aide)

BICT are so proud of everything Maggie has achieved and it was a delight to see her on stage showing everyone that the impossible is absolutely possible.

Doman Progress Report

Maggie’s ability to use both eyes together for tracking, depth perception & visual focus has improved greatly. Her persistence and ability to work at this is incredible which has brought improvement to her fine motor abilities, coordination & eye contact.

COORDINATION
Coordination when walking, running, and moving around objects has improved significantly. Maggie recently learned to ride a bike without training wheels, and her overall mobility is becoming smoother and more coordinated.

TWISTING BRACHIATION
Twisting brachiation (arm-over-arm movement) remains a challenge, but she is becoming more consistent and can now complete multiple round trips. 

Maggie is speaking more words and couplets, and she has started using three-word sentences.

Communication on her iPad has also improved, with Maggie typing words and couplets using a special keyboard that speaks the letters aloud. This setup, which requires her to press each key for  a few seconds, helps her stay focused and organised.

Maggie enjoys copying three-word sentences from the wall and is very engaged in this activity, though she needs physical touch and support to stay on task.

Maggie has made huge progress in regulating her behaviour, particularly in social situations. During a recent on-stage interview at a presentation, she sat on a couch with her parents and sister, participating for 30 minutes. Though she needed breaks to run around, she was able to wait patiently for multiple five-minute periods and even answered questions into a microphone.

She is becoming more independent with toileting, now able to go to the bathroom on her own.

Hyperactivity has reduced significantly, though Maggie still craves attention and sometimes displays different behaviours to get it. Socially, she is learning to engage more appropriately.

Maggie’s tactile responses remain a work in progress. While still drawn to hot objects, she has improved in her reaction time.

Over The last 9 months, Maggie’s weight has increased from 15.7kg to 18.5kg, and she no longer appears small for her age. This represents significant progress in her overall health and physical growth.

Maggie only became ill once in the last six months, recovering within 2 days, a noticeable improvement in her overall health.