I would like to share a developmental story about an 8-year-old boy with Down syndrome.
He first came to me one year ago with low muscle tone, no speech, and poor fine and gross motor planning skills.
His mother’s goal was simply to support his improvement in any area possible. She did not place expectations on specific outcomes — she just hoped to help him progress.
I began with movement-based learning activities such as foot lengthening, core activation, and spinal walking. I also taught his mother these activities so she could practise them with him daily at home.
After two months, she noticed clear changes: less drooling, he was able to walk without holding hands, and he began imitating simple sounds such as “mum,” “ball,” and “eat.”
This is a testimony about Kobe, a young cheerful man, was stricken with epilepsy when he was a young child. Since then, he has faced numerous challenges that comes with this condition. He has endured frequent bouts of seizures that leave him weak and tired. During seizures, the Hook-ups and Belly Breathing truly help him remain calm, increase oxygen and rest before going to hospital.
Life is about celebrating the good. Kobe’s greatest enjoyment was his music. He shared his favourite songs with all those around him. Over the years, he has overcome his learning difficulties and now finds joy writing again. Reading and writing was a challenge for him back then. Now he is able to write his own playlists confidently. He is learning to cook and make meals for his beloved family and friends too. The Lazy 8 movement is the activity he would choose before doing his work. Going on 8 years and it’s still his favourite movement.
He never fails to reached out to all of us in his own special way with his big, big happy smile and kind words. He embraces everyday with happiness and excitement. He is always looking for ways to connect with his family and friends, whether its over a lunch meal, sending an emoji to say “hi” and a surprise gift. The positive energy that radiates from him after doing PACE helps him easily express his emotions.
Kobe has impacted my life in many ways. Our journey together has taught me to have patience and perseverance. We need to show love and compassion to the less fortunate and especially to those who are differently abled. To be true to oneself is the key to happiness and a great life !
I owe my sincere thanks to Paul and Gail Dennison, the founders of Brain Gym ® for their love and support. Life is worth living and I feel the fulfilment by reaching out to others and helping them.
As a therapist, I like to use the Lazy 8 activity to facilitate my students’ learning, especially students diagnosed with dyslexia.
I had a client who was 7 years old when I first started working with him. He was about to be referred to Pendidikan Khas because he failed his kelas pemulihan.
His mother brought him in with the goal of improving his reading. At that time, he could not recall or write alphabets and numbers without prompts.
The main learning activity for him was Lazy 8.
I first had him draw circles three times in a Double Doodle Play format, followed by five repetitions of Lazy 8. After that, I taught him the letters a, c, e, and w, which appear in his name.
For home practice, he drew Lazy 8 three times on the wall using his hands and also walked in a Lazy 8 pattern formed using a hula hoop.
After one week, he returned for review and still remembered the alphabets I had previously taught him. He also told me he could see words more clearly on the whiteboard. His eyesight had been confirmed as normal by an optometrist.
When he made this comment, his mother was surprised that simply practicing Lazy 8 could help him so much.