Dancing helps kids with cerebral palsy get stronger

Mother of girl who has the condition teaches the class and sees the good it does, for the children and the parents.

Parents at a dance class for children with cerebral palsy say they can see their children's faces light up just before the music starts each week.

"All day long she can't wait to get here," Laura Politte of south St. Louis County said about her daughter, Sydney, 3.

Loretta Colombo of Affton said her daughter, Brittney, 10, "loves it here. She gets mad if we have to miss class."

Those rave reviews are for the class taught each Monday evening at the Brentwood Community Center by Kim Gibson of De Soto, a bundle of energy who's also been teaching dance at the Dance Plus Studio in Festus for 15 years.

This dance class, says Gibson, is special - for the kids and for her. She started the class about three years ago in large part because her own daughter, Gracie, has cerebral palsy.

Gracie, now 5, was severely disabled before her mom started the dance class. "Now she's very motivated," Gibson said. "She's getting stronger all the time."

Being a dedicated dancer herself, Gibson said she knew shortly after Gracie was born with cerebral palsy that she wanted to teach Gracie dance movements to build up her strength and mobility.

She said she shared that idea with Dr. Jan Brunstrom, a Washington University pediatric neurologist and director of the Cerebral Palsy Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital. Brunstrom herself overcame the effects of cerebral palsy to get her medical degree and work with children with that disorder, including Gracie Gibson.

Kim Gibson said Brunstrom encouraged her to start the special dance class, and she's been teaching it on Monday evenings at the Brentwood center ever since.

"Cerebral palsy is a combination of disabilities caused by an injury to the developing brain, usually before birth. It occurs in about two of every 1,000 live births," Brunstrom wrote in a recent essay.

"Cerebral palsy is a disorder, not a progressive disease" she continued. "A patient's condition may deteriorate, but this is primarily because of the lack of proper care and treatment.

"Physical fitness is essential for independence in people with cerebral palsy. Chronic pain, fractures, scoliosis and hip dislocation are all side effects of immobility and insufficient types of exercise in these patients."

Gibson's dance class for children with cerebral palsy is a fun form of needed exercise, she said.

"A lot of times they don't even think they're getting a good workout because they're having so much fun," Gibson said.

Brittney Colombo said she likes getting together with all her friends at the dance class. "It's really fun for me," she said.

Hannah Trittler, 5, the daughter of Lisa Trittler of Spanish Lake, said she enjoyed putting out all the chairs for the kids in the dance class. Hannah also proudly showed off her earrings shaped like ladybugs for the physical and occupational therapy students who assist Gibson in the class.

"It's good for them to be around other kids like them," said Brittney's mom, Loretta Colombo. "A big part of this program is trying to let other families (of children with cerebral palsy) know that all kids can dance and do sports."

Jennifer Miros, a pediatric physical therapist, is the manager of the Cerebral Palsy Sports and Rehab Center at St. Louis Children's Hospital. She helps the children each week at Gibson's dance class.

Miros noted that the center she manages also offers such programs for children with cerebral palsy as tennis clinics, basketball classes, cycling events - and both winter and summer sports camps, where kids participate in ice skating, swimming, martial arts, rock climbing, soccer, baseball and volleyball.

"Our big goal is to get the kids as active as possible and as physically fit as possible," Miros said.

She urged anyone who would like to volunteer to help at the dance class or at one of the sports camps to call her at 314-454-2604.

* Reporter Robert Kelly: E-mail: rkelly@post-dispatch.com; Phone: 636-500-4109

Copyright 2004 St. Louis Post-Dispatch

•	Dancing helps kids with cerebral palsy get stronger St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Monday, Oct. 18, 2004 Byline: Robert Kelly