Special needs infants

The Brown University, USA, has conducted various studies with special need children and adolescents. Their findings indicate that massage can be viewed as effective complementary therapy for asthma, autism, severe burns, cancer, dermatitis, diabetes, bulimia, juvenile rheumatoid arthritis, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), psychiatric problems including depression and conduct disorder.

The Touch Research Institute in Miami, Florida has also found that Autistic children benefit from touch therapy. In studies conducted with men they also found that massage therapy is associated with enhancement of the immune system's cytotoxic capacity and in a second study with fibromyalgia subjects concluded that massage therapy was the most effective therapy with the studies fibromyalgia patients.

IMIS believes that massage therapy may also show positive results with infants suffering from fetal alcohol syndrome, hyper or hypo tone infants, paralysis, ADD, blindness, deafness, multiple handicaps, amputation, epilepsy, deformities, and abused infants.

Infant massage may also help terminally ill infants and their families by providing a means to communicate their love through touch. IMIS believes that massage for terminally ill infants is particularly beneficial to the parents providing them with something positive they can do for their child during a time where there is little else they can do to help or bond with their child in the short time provided.

Instructors are informed on appropriate alterations to massage techniques for various special need infants and children.

For further information or for instructor appointment enquiries, please contact IMIS or your local instructor from the listing available on this website.