BIRD gives Jenny new lease of life

Jan 9 2004 By Jessica Shaughnessy, Chester Chronicle

'Doctors were definitely trying to prepare us for the worst. But at the time I couldn't believe it, it just didn't sink in.

'I couldn't get my head around the fact that my two little babies were in an incubator, they looked exactly the same, yet one of them was fine and the other one was supposed to be severely disabled.

'We were told to look out for signs of cerebral palsy and gradually we started to see it. She seemed to be about two months behind Emily and when she learned to crawl, she did it commando style.'

Jenny's disability was not as severe as doctors said it could be, but she still had a pronounced gait when she learned to walk and could not use her left arm, which she bent to her chest.

Last summer, Sonja was advised to contact Barnardo's, where she was told to take Jenny to the BIRD centre.

She continued: 'We had a consultation where they identified everything that was wrong with Jenny and the things they thought they could improve.

'They then did a series of exercises with her, which we have to do at home for 20 minutes every day.

'It has been brilliant.'

The treatment Emily has been receiving is called developmental reflexive rehabilitation (DRR) and can be used to treat a variety of brain injuries or disorders.

Sonja added: 'She has only been going since September but she has started to use her left hand, her arm has straightened out and her gait has improved massively. To look at her, she seems just like Emily.

'She will have a review at the end of the year to see what has changed and improved and then her programme will be developed.'