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Padovan Method

General overview

Created by Beatriz Padovan in Brazil in the 1970s, this method, also known as "functional reorganization", aims to reproduce the stages of development in order to rebuild the foundations of neurological organization. 
It is mainly based on the theory of Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) concerning the interdependence of the 3 types of human walk-talking-thinking activity as well as on the work of Temple Fay (1895-1963) on the neurological organization of child development.

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Main objectives of the method
  • To rebuild the foundations of the nervous system to enable progress, through greater sophistication of the system 

  • Dispel stress, fears and tensions related to learning difficulties 

  • Overcoming blockages 

  • Improve concentration and attention

Specificities of the method
  • It is a work on the prerequisites of the evolution of the individual (onthogenesis).
    The objective is to fill the gap or compensate for the atypical neurological organization that has led to a delay (motor, cognitive, language, etc.) linked to a dysfunction and compensation of the nervous system that today prevents progress.
    During the session, a series of movements (gross motor/fine motor), oral-facial exercises, eye movements are repeated in the normal evolution of the developmental stages, with the aim of reorganizing the neuronal connections to create a functional system.
    Sessions last 30 to 45min at a rate of 1 to 2 sessions per week for 1 year. 

  • At each session, the body goes through all the stages from 0 to 3 years. The first movement is done in a hammock, the child is installed and swung, this movement represents the rocking of the mother's womb. The therapist then makes the patient go through all the necessary phases to acquire the roll, the crawl, the four legs and so on. It is the therapist who makes the patient execute the different movements. 

  • The session is composed of about ten exercises, according to the successive stages of development 
    The session is the same every week 
    The session does not work directly on the child's difficulty but rather on all the steps that precede it. 
    A session consists of: 
    Swings: 1st movements, allowing the stimulation of the vestibular system. 
    Body movements: the child reproduces (or passive movements, depending on the stage) a series of movements allowing a precise succession of bodily stimuli (rolls). 
    Hand movements: psychomotor stimulation of the hand
    Oral-facial exercises: sucking exercise, oral stimulation (oral neuro-vegetative functions before speech: breathing, sucking, chewing, swallowing). 
    Eye exercises: recapitulation of the directions of space followed by the eyes With rhythmic stimulation: each sequence is performed following the rhythm of a poem spoken by the practitioner, also allowing an association of language 

  • The session takes place on the floor, on the mat. There may be a hammock for swinging or vertical bars. 

  • Many speech therapists in France are trained in this method (session covered under the prescription of speech therapy).

Who is this method for ?

Neuro-developmental disorders, in particular learning disorders ("Dys" disorders, reading disorders, etc.), autism, cerebral palsy, etc.

What parents say about it

"My grandson started the Padovan method at 2 and a half because he didn't speak at all, not a word. With the PADOVAN method the results were spectacular. After 18 months with 2 sessions a week, he speaks and makes beautiful sentences. Unfortunately in France there aren't many speech therapists who use it."

"You can certainly imagine the emotion at the sight of the progress made in recent months.
What a change in her attitude when we remember the dances at the end of the year last June, where she certainly enjoyed participating and being among her friends, but where unfortunately she could hardly hold on to the choreography: she was forbidden in the midst of the other children around her, with great difficulty taking part in the rhythm of the dances, absent from the movement or one or two trains late... and with so many motor and attentional limits to manage!
Today she is so radiant, able to put her body in silence when it is necessary to wait for the choreography to begin, in anticipation of the steps to follow, able to inhibit when the others turn around her and she has to stay in place, a few moments late, but it is necessary to still have to progress!
At the motor level, what prowess, when she holds the position of the knight in shining armour and stands up without support, when she follows the steps she has been chased (and the fall of which she is the victim is not even of her own making!), when she explores all the movements of the choreographer with such pleasure in her eyes!

Scientific references
  • Thesis: "Contribution and limits of the Padovan method in the management of oral disorders in young children with trisomy 21" by Chloé ARS and Astrid CHAUDOYE-KIMMES.
    Clinical case study of three children aged 1 to 4 years. 
    http://docnum.univ-lorraine.fr/public/BUMED_MORT_2013_ARS_CHLOE_CHAUVOYE-KIMMES_ASTRID.pdf
    "The exercises offered by the Padovan method were compared to those performed as part of a more routine management regimen, from which one of our patients benefited. 
    The description of the follow-up of the sessions and the qualitative observations of our three subjects allowed us to observe a favourable evolution of these children in the rehabilitation of their oral disorders. »

Any remarks or comments ?

This work is based on a collaborative approach to sharing research and family experience.

If you have any comments, suggestions for modifications or corrections or clarifications to make, please let us know by email at contact@leneurogroupe.org

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