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Functional Integration® is one to one, hands-on movement. Infants and children love to be touched and moved in this gentle way. This form of teaching is with the hands of the practitioner helping the child become aware of the pattern of movement that exists and then slowly allows the child to experience a greater range of movement possibilities and problem solving. Such as, rolling, crawling, reaching, walking and speaking. There is no imposition of a correction of movement, it feels like movement play. The work is extremely precise. The practitioner must at all times be aware of the response of the child. Feldenkrais described this work as “dancing together” and as “two nervous systems connected as one.” This work is useful to children and infants with cerebral palsy, learning difficulties, emotional difficulties, autism and orthopedic injuries. It applies to any stage of human development.
Awareness Through Movement®, (the verbally directed movement lessons) benefits Children in the following ways:
- Experimental learning of anatomy, physiology, physics, mathematics and arts.
- Holistic leaning that integrates thinking, sensing, creativity and social interaction while learning.
- Creating a positive self image through movement awareness
- Embodiment of spatial concepts; for example, up/down, inside/outside, right/left, above/below.
- Learning scientific thinking. Each Awareness Through Movement® lesson is an experimental laboratory experiment. Pupils learn how to create a hypothesis, test it and compare outcomes through their sensory motor experience.
- Children discover the importance of efficient, coordinated movement for sports and everyday skills.
- “Donna Ray has practiced Functional Integration (FI) in her private practice for 23 years. She trains Feldenkrais practitioners in this specialty. She teaches teachers, physical therapists and occupational therapists, how to apply the Feldenkrais Method in their professions. She has taught Awareness Through Movement® from preschool to high school. All children enjoy and benefit from the lessons. Learning movement concepts such as up, down, inside, outside, right and left give confidence and security to everyone participating. Donna believes that this type of learning helps remove the self-doubt we experience when we don't know where we are in space, and when we don’t know right from left. Donna sees that FI and ATM lead to better movement, which enhances listening skills, social conduct, improved thought processes, more efficient movement and successful learning of all kinds.”
“Awareness Through Movement may be yet another approach which, all parents, and especially the parents of children with special needs might like to investigate. "
Gayle Moyers, Educator and Director of the Moyers Center for Learning, Author of the auditory stimulation and training program called “Listening Ears
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