United Brachial Plexus Network, Inc.

Does anyone here really think I would do anything to upset my child....you can ask my older three no way, but like KATE P said.....I think the vision here is tying it down to their side and letting them scream till they do what they want....NO WAY. Would I let my child get frustrated to the point of it showing no! He does that daily.....but not because I restrain his arm. I just think that if they see something in their affected hand and have the ability to get it they should without switching hands. That is where I am with it. I will still take my son's arm and hold it till he does something with his arm that I KNOW HE CAN. If I knew my son was frustrated, I would discontinue immediately. But he vertainly liked the rewards of the restraint therapy and now he brings that hand to his mouth without an issue. Gayle mom of Brandon 7 1/2 ROBPI

"he was able to fetch the bottle from wherever it ended up in his crib - even up next to his ear, which took more strength and dexterity in his injured hand than we thought he had. I could go on and on..."

I can assure you that we acheived the same exact things at around the same exact age as Joshua by working with her and showing her how to use her injured arm. Honestly, it worked. Restraint therapy was not needed for things like that with Ella. It happened and it happend naturally. That is the biggest word here, naturally.

I guess I will stop posting on this thread b/c it is going nowhere. And I never said that any of you are being hurtful to your children. It is something I wouldn't do to my child and I said that a number of times. If it works for ya, then go for it. What else could I say?

~Krista~

Krista,

That's great that you "got there" with Ella through regular therapy and without restraint therapy. We didn't.

Kate

I am so glad I'm reading all these responses. There are so many points of view on this subject. I want to know everything I can to help make the right decisions for my child.
I have to apologize for my earlier responses, although I don't think I said anything that offensive. I just wrote before I read all the responses and they've made me think more about this.
I'm still thinking that this sounds like a good way to encourage children WHO ARE ABLE to use their affected arm. I think this might be a good option for a child who has good function in the affected arm, but just favors the other one.
Yes, there are other ways of strengthening the arm, but in MY opinion, the only way to get really good at something is to do it-over and over. I think of it like learning a foreign language. You can sit in a classroom and study Spanish all day long, but you don't really internalize the language until you use it, in real situations and are forced to use it to communicate. I see a parallel here.
Now if your child has very little function in the affected arm and is trying their best, but just can't do something, then maybe the best thing is that they learn to do it with only one arm. Compensation is natural thing we do to survive! It is one of our biggest strengths as people. If your child is going to have to live with this injury and have limited function then maybe they should be encouraged to compensate.
I don't know...it's a lot to think about. And in the end every parent makes the choice that they can feel good about. I don't know about you guys, but the guilty feelings that this even happened to my child are sometimes so overwhelming that I can't seem to bear it. So if restraining your child makes you feel more guilty, maybe it's not the right choice for you and your child. BUT I would be cautious not to make a decision for the way it made me feel as a parent, but instead what was truly best for them. ONLY YOU can make that choice!
Shari

I think I mentioned this in earlier posts, but I am not against this as a temporary form of theapy. Doing this with your therapist on a regular basis or at home with a parent for a few hours a day is fine with me. The thing that I disagree with (experience or no experience) is extended periods of restraint with no breaks whether the child is frustrated or happy. Still doesn't make sense to me. I just wanted to end my participation on this thread making it clear that I am not agianst all forms of it. I am against the extended periods of time. What is extended to me?...anything over several hours!
~Krista~

Me again. I think that everyone has made their points clear. I do have a concern and wonder how others feel. Like I said, Britt used to have to arch her back completely backwards in order to lift her arm. She has had scoliosis since she was 4 and her latest spine x-rays (at age 14) weren't too great. I know that restraining for her would have forced her to over compensate on the wrong muscles in order to use her injured arm. I'm wondering if those doing restraint therapy see any muscles being strenthened that could possibly teach the child how to compensate the wrong way. Just a thought - and I really am just curious but I do not judge anyone for what they feel is best for their own child.
Christy

Actually Krista if I am to understand you... you are against the extended form of it FOR YOUR CHILD but you accept that I may choose to do this with my child. Although in your heart you may still some how think it is unfair, cruel, and wrong.

I am not in anyway trying to get you to change your mind. I don't care if you disagree with this form of therapy for your child. I don't care if you think it is wrong for my child as long as you keep that part to yourself. Once someone starts telling me that I am cruel, improper, with out compassion, etc... then I care.

I am not saying that you have specifically said these things to me but they have been said to me by other. And when topics like this get hot and we say things like cruel, harsh, unfair, etc then people are bound to take it personally. Which is why it is often best to just stick to saying that we would chose not to do something for our child because we would feel _____ way. It would be _____ for me to do to my child.

Even saying that you don't see the need for your child is great too.Although peoplare are still going to disagree. Just like they do over many treatment aspects. Docs, surgery, restraint therapy all seem to be very hot button topics.

I truly don't get why you say "still doesn't make sense to me" I don't get how you can't see that for some kids this type of therapy (long or short term) don't make sense. And especially if they kid isn't frustrated by it.

And you ended your time on this thread but come back to make one final comment which is just restating what you said.... and since you are not against anything except extended time then that puts you still against me since that is exactly what we did. It was much, MUCH more effective than what we had been doing before and in the long run safer since with a cast he had a lot better balance and movement... anyway I posted that.

You said you are open minded but IMHO that is untrue about this topic.

Blessings,
Kristie

Christy,
It is hard to say really about the over compensating thing. We did special therapy many times a day at home plus extra with the therapist. When we were doing that we helped him not compensate by holding his scapula or shoulder or arm where it needed to be. The cast helped because it was like training his brain that his other arm could work too... it was as if he had forgotten it was there... or maybe even assigned different tasks KWIM? The great thing about the cast was that since it could not be removed after a while he would start to just use the affected arm first. Plus with the cast his movements were more normal whereas with us just putting the arm inside a shirt or tying it down that changed a lot more of how his body worked... does that make sense.

Blessings,
Kristie

It makes sense - Thanks.
Christy

I just read over my post to you Krista and my last comment did not come out the way I wanted for it too. I so wish this message board had an edit feature like many of the others that I use do. If I could I would delete it since it could come off badly.

I don't mean it that way. And you have every right to not be open minded about something that you think would cross a line that you have for your child. In no way do I want to change your mind on that issue.

Anyway, I am sorry if my comments read in any way as snotty, mean, rude etc!

Blessings,
Kristie