"Szeged 2003" by Susie Mallett
A five mile hike, 8th January 2010
Nearly home http://www.ric.org/aboutus/mediacenter/press/2009/0714.aspx
And see an article that goes with it:
Now read on
I have been sitting and thinking about that dreadful film. Since I watched it I have been looking at other videos on the Internet, some awful, some nice. I also looked at Beth Brydon’s video-film:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58Dt4RQfu4k
I was thinking the same as Norman. The nice ones are just that nice. By nice I mean here that they show hands-off, well-organised conductive programmes, they are saying the right things and not the wrong things, clients are busy and smiling. But even the nice ones are still showing children bending legs, lifting sticks, hurling bean bags and sitting in a circle.
That is what is missing even from the nice films.
The nice films show Conductive Education as what it is in the centres where the films are being made so that it comes over as just another form of physiotherapy. Instead, it would be a good idea to get out there, filming the daily lives, making films to show how conductive lives are led. Or if you do keep on making the films in the groups, but transform the “one, two, three, four, five” into conductive living, right there in the centres.
If I have all the sorts of the activity that I listed on photographs, why can't centres get it on their films?
People who have a spastische Lähmung (spastic disability) were often tied to a wheelchair but then a Hungarian doctor came along, Dr Petö, and they stood up and walked. A miracle was taking place.
Yes this is how the introduction went, well, something along these lines. You can check it out on the link below, unfortunately I still can’t get the sound to work so I can not translate word for word.
The insurance just won't pay
The film went on to show Mario Schumacher and his mother in their home. Mario was showing us how far he had learnt to walk and his mother was explaining how the Petö-Methode had helped them gain some independence in their lives.
The aim behind making this programme was to bring to national attention the problem that the health insurance companies do not pay the cost of Conductive Education.
This family has debts of thousands of euros, the price paid privately for Mario’s increased independence, because the health insurance companies refuse to pay for it, because it isn’t in their “Book of approved provision”.
These companies are still looking for the written proof that it works. They do not believe their eyes, or the words of the people who experience it personally. The word Studium appeared again, as is usual in such reports.
The health insurance company in question (DAK) did not want to talk about individual cases, which suggests that perhaps the Schumachers are not the only family putting on the pressure.
It was a surprise when I saw this family. I had actually known that this film was being made. I had been invited a few months ago to help with its production. The charity that I work with in Nürnberg had offered help too, by covering my costs, both travel and time, and by providing any information needed for the programme. I hadn't heard any more, though, until today.
The report moved from the Schumachers very briefly to Würzburg, with some shots of children “walking” in a kindergarten session, and Wolfgang with a very short spot.
On the whole it didn’t say an awful lot about the "miracle" Petö Methode, certainly not enough to cause damage. The film had been made primarily to bring into the spotlight the position of many families in Germany, highlighting their struggle with health insurance companies. The families want financial support to pay for the method the they choose for their children with cerebral palsy.
The “Petö-Methode”
This could turn out to be a change for the better.
A change to a title that is far better than Konduktive Förderung, something that has been around since CE came to Germany.
Using this name could perhaps stop the immediate bundling of anything "conductive" into a specific drawer. The initial mention of the Petö-Methode would make no association to either education or health (though of course it would be best if pedagogy and upbringing were the words that we used here in Germany and that the whole thing was in the hands of the Education Department).
But for Frau Schumacher and the others who are fighting the health insurance companies for payment of Conductive Education perhaps the name Petö Methode might prove to be to their advantage.
Notes
" 13.00 hours"
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