Ontario DMI Therapy

When we took Tommy to his first DMI intensive in Florida in January, his therapist mentioned an upcoming certification program for DMI therapists to be held in Ontario at SMILE Therapy for Kids. We were able to get Tommy approved for three personalized DMI sessions, and three sessions where he would act as a model for therapists seeking further certification in DMI therapy.

The schedule had Tommy attending two modeling sessions over the first two days, and two individual sessions on the third day. This was followed by a final modeling session on day 4, and a final individual DMI session on day 5.

For each one-hour modeling session, Tommy and a licensed instructor would work with a group of therapists seeking to further their DMI certification. The instructor would present different exercises to us and the group of therapists before walking them through the exercises to ensure a thorough understanding of the technique, the reasoning behind it, and what they should be looking for from the child during the exercise.

Some of the Therapists from the Group

One example (seen below) is an exercise where the therapist holds Tommy by the legs with one arm, and provides minimal support and input on his core to help stimulate his extension response to lift his core upright from a prone position. The instructor would explain the exercise while demonstrating, and describe the group of muscles affected, and what indicates the exercise is working as intended. For this exercise, the therapist looks for a child to show full extension of the body while the legs are held, and only a small amount of rotational force is added to the child's abdomen to facilitate the extension.

For Tommy, he was a little bit overwhelmed with the first day, and some of the exercises were a little tougher, or more advanced from where he was developmentally. He is a fighter, though, and did great in his first two sessions. Molly (his DMI therapist from his Florida intensive) was there, so he did have a familiar face, and some of the exercises were ones he'd already been working on in Florida, like the example I gave above.

These demonstration sessions were a mix of emotions for us as well as Tommy, and even Ms. Rachel couldn't draw a smile at times. By the end of the first day, he had worked so hard he fell asleep during some of the exercises!

Tommy fell asleep shortly after this picture was taken

On day 3, Tommy had two personalized PhysioTherapy sessions with a therapist with SMILE named Riley. Since the focus was Tommy, we were able to get a good look at his abilities and not only what we could work on to drive him to achieve his next milestones, but how to help progress those milestones in advance.

For example, Tommy still cannot sit unassisted (no help or support from objects). A child will naturally begin sitting upright in a crunched or hunched over position, usually after they start playing with their feet. Instead of focusing on Tommy sitting crunched forward, the team worked on helping Tommy find his center while sitting in a more upright position, like other 14-month old children may be doing after already learning how to sit hunched over earlier in their development. In this way, when he does start to sit unassisted, he will naturally assume a more upright position.

Day 4 was a return to the modeling session, but Tommy had a much better session. For this hour-long demonstration, two therapists were tasked with evaluating Tommy, and applying a personal session to see how to engage certain reactions or help progress his development. This helped as it was more one on one for him, and we were able to see how the process works, what things the therapists look for and focus on, and we were free to ask our own questions.

Day 5 was his last session with Riley, and we got a nice rundown of things to focus on after returning home. Everyone in the modeling sessions talked about Tommy's progress even over the few short days they'd worked with him, and it was bittersweet seeing how far he'd come, and how quick the trip had gone.

It certainly wasn't all work. Tommy got to see monkeys at the Toronto Zoo, Dinosaur Bones at the Royal Ontario Museum, and saw Niagara Falls. We are excited to be home, but are looking forward to the next intensive because it just feels like Tommy takes so many steps forward, and loves to learn. Thank you for reading!