I am using the Functional Neurology title to cover all of the chiropractic intervention Robert has received, though some of his practitioners may not embrace the term.

My other possible title for this post was M.D. versus D.C. While we have interacted with some great M.D.’s during Robert’s journey, we also encountered a majority who would only tell us what Robert would never do and offered advice such as ‘let him pass’ or ‘cut out his tongue, he’ll never need it’. This has never occurred with the D.C.’s we’ve worked with. All of the Chiropractors talked about improvement from the first visit. They have also all been exceptionally good at education, explaining why Robert’s body was doing what it was doing, what was needed for healing and then offering a path to achieve improvement. In our first meeting with Dr. Crawford, he made statements about ‘when Robert talks’ and ‘when Robert walks’. This subtle shift in outlook was profoundly encouraging and both talking and walking have now occurred.

For years prior to Robert’s accident we worked with Dr. Traver Sopoci, D.C., PSc.D for general health support. When he heard about Robert’s accident he came to visit us in hospital and was able to quickly get Robert’s highly toned muscles to relax. While the relief was temporary, he was able to explain the mechanism of toning and that it would be relieved with brain healing. This gave us the confidence to resist the high dose drugs and surgeries offered by the hospital.

After Robert was released from hospital and we returned from HBOT in New Orleans, we were contacted by Dr. Amber, Connect2Health Family Chiropractic. Dr. Amber offered to see Robert as she was convinced she could assist in his healing. Having never been a fan of “Snap, Crackle, Pop” chiropractic I was somewhat skeptical but Robert still had significant alignment issues in his cervical spine and sacrum from the time he was bent backwards in hospital and we needed to find a way to address these issues. Dr. Amber took the challenge. The first thing we noticed immediately was that Robert slept better the nights following his adjustments. With time and consistent adjustments, Robert’s cervical spine and sacrum issues have resolved. I’ve switched from skeptic to sneaking in for the occasional adjustment of my ‘old man’ back. Dr. Amber continues to attend classes and research techniques and equipment she feels may benefit Robert.

Robert has become a poster child for Austin Center for Developing Minds and Dr. Brandon Crawford. (See related post on Laser Light Therapy.) Many therapies rely on stimulation and repetition to create new neural pathways and connections. However, Dr. Crawford has accelerated this process by hyper stimulating multiple pathways simultaneously and then using the laser to cement these new connections. In a typical session Robert will be using electrical stimulation (often several modalities simultaneously), visual stimulation with feedback, sound stimulation, purposeful motion and have several lasers pointed at him, all at the same time!! Dr. Crawford even developed his own family of lasers as nothing on the market was suitable for penetrating the skull and delivering the energy levels required. In addition to the processes described above, Dr. Crawford also addresses primitive reflexes and has access to a number of tools to measure brain function and provide active feedback and training.