Community
Program for Exceptional
Children
Are you a parent of a child with special needs looking for ways to help your child live a bright, fulfilling life?
Have you explored various treatments for your child but still looking for a more effective approach?
COPEC is staffed by a group of experienced ABM NeuroMovement® practitioners who provide private NeuroMovement® lessons, workshops, and a safe place to connect and share your experience with other families.
COPEC is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)3 public charity
We can help you get there.
01
NEUROMOVEMENT LESSONS
02
WORKSHOPS
03
IEP SUPPORT
04
PARENT COACHING
Mission
Our mission is to transform the lives of exceptional children,
their families, teachers and caretakers through NeuroMovement® lessons, education and support.
All services are offered on a low-fee sliding scale and through volunteer work. Families may qualify for sponsorship.
COPEC is staffed by a group of experienced NeuroMovement® practitioners who provide transformational movement lessons, workshops, and a safe place to connect and share your experience with other families.
COPEC is a non-profit, tax-exempt 501(c)3 public charity
Tax ID: 83-3321408
Donations of any amount are important.
Your generosity will sponsor NeuroMovement® lessons for children as well as workshops for parents and special education staff at schools.
COPEC is a non-profit, tax exempt 501(c) 3 organization. Donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent allowable.
Weekend Intensives
One weekend each month we offer series of lessons for children. Having multiple lessons in this short period of time allows their young nervous systems to absorb and integrate the critical information provided through the 4-6 NeuroMovement® lessons they receive during the weekend.
This is a highly effective approach and often results in dramatic improvement.
We offer workshops for parents, caregivers, and teachers and we are available for presentations and workshops at schools. We attend IEP meetings and consult with your child's education team.
®
NeuroMovement® is a holistic approach to human functioning based on the understanding that movement is the language of the brain. It is movement that provides the information required by the brain to grow and organize itself to generate deliberate movement, as well as thoughts, feelings and actions.
NeuroMovement® is based on the Nine Essentials, the key principles that enhance brain plasticity. Its plasticity, or changeability, enables the brain to constantly adapt in response to internal and external events.
NeuroMovement® was developed by Anat Baniel, clinical psychologist and educator, who developed the method based on her work with thousands of clients and her training with Moshe Feldenkrais.
In our work with the children, rather than trying to fix a condition and practicing skills the child cannot do, we focus on what the child can do.
We use the Nine Essentials to activate and enhance their innate ability to learn and change. Through gentle directional touch, we highlight important structural and functional connections in the child’s sensory-kinetic awareness thereby creating opportunities for the child to feel him/herself in new ways. This prompts the brain to develop new neural connections, increasing the possibilities for more refined organization and control of movement, thinking and feeling.
In this way we engage in an open-ended conversation with the child’s nervous system and set into motion a process of potent learning and empowerment.
The human brain is a highly complex system that is unique in its capacity for ongoing growth and differentiation. This leads to the potential for unlimited refinement and ongoing adaptability to one's environment.
What does that mean for a child with special needs?
In early infancy the brain relies on the sensory experience of largely random and involuntary movements to form recognizable patterns that develop into increasingly complex skills. A child with special needs often cannot generate the large variety of movements necessary to develop along a typical path. Their brain may not grow sufficiently in order to allow for the development of higher functions such as sitting, standing, walking, talking, the nuanced expression of feelings and complex thought processes.
Through NeuroMovement® lessons, we provide the child with the new and highly-varied information that she would not be able to generate for herself. Through this process, movement patterns that are not functional are replaced with movement patterns that speed and enhance the child's development -- physically, emotionally and cognitively.
