by Fabìola Marelli
" first part
What kind of dysfunction is this? ... DMdM
It is a Minor Movement Disorder.
Minor does not necessarily mean simple to solve.
Minor does not necessarily mean not important to the person.
In osteopathy it is more difficult to achieve functioning normal starting from a condition of mild disturbance, rather than from conspicuous alterations in motor coordination generically diagnosed as psychomotor delays, in which each step towards the desired normality it is a good step ... since the final goal does not exist.
There is no single dexterity factor.
Motor / body skills are composed of many complex sub-skills, which can be more or less developed according to the individuals and the abilities they have in "using their body in a differentiated and skillful way, with both expressive and concrete.
Body-kinesthetic intelligence (cf. Gardner) is responsible for both the control of global body movements (sense of balance, agility, motor coordination) and the manipulation of objects (manual dexterity, fine motor skills, praxis).
Although nowadays the physiology of movement and the various neuronal circuits that transmit the impulse to the motor neurons that are connected to the skeletal muscles are now known, it still remains enigmatic how a voluntary act that precedes the use of an object can turn into an impulse capable of activating the nerve cells of our brain.
Attempts to solve this puzzle have been made by psycho-physiology who have studied the brain activity that precedes the motor act (cf. Nicoletti, 1992).
This activity, defined preparation potential, is expressed with a "slow brain wave that can be recorded on the entire surface of the brain and that can be considered as the neuronal correlate of the will to make a certain movement.
If a person is clumsy, clumsy, incoordinated, with little practical sense, clumsy, it does not mean that he is devoid of bodily-kinesthetic intelligence, although a disharmony between his various components and sub-components is evident.
Perfection of an automatism does not derive from the fact of having definitively fixed a chain of muscular actions, but it is guaranteed by the growing freedom in the choice of shares muscles to be chained.
Organizing gestures and movements is essential when using objects.
The movement takes place at the level of the body and takes place in space and time.
Freedom in the choice of actions to be performed arises when one understands the motivation (primary impulses and epistemophilic drive), that is the reason why the performance of a specific action required can produce an effective advantage for oneself.
Classifying children or adults as clumsy is certainly easier than helping them to seek motivation that leads them to perform the assigned manual task well.
The acquisition of an automatism consists in making available the muscular actions that should be used, freeing them from any obstacle.
There are situations in which the manifestation of clumsiness does not depend on a bad or poor functioning of the nervous system (or a part of it) but on the "interference of influences extraneous to the movement, or those" reflex reactions "that are activated when we feel that someone is watching us and that they manifest themselves in the muscular apparatus and in the consequent rigidity of the system of postural attitudes.
It is important that all osteopaths, students and teachers, do not forget the "reflex reactions" when evaluating the posture of their patients.
We all have areas of creativity.
Graphic and pictorial skills, musical sense, bodily expression, acting.
It is desirable to approach the clumsy person (child, adult, elderly person) with a proactive attitude, starting from what is his or her favorite creative area, to introduce through the osteopathic postural examination some concrete situations that can awaken and direct the attention of the subject on the organizational aspects of the movement to help him improve the so-called "practical sense".
...
Of course, even today I can't be considered a do-it-yourself wizard, even if I no longer flinch as I used to if they ask me to hang a picture or iron a shirt. Knowing that on certain occasions I am considered a "fistùn de verza" no longer causes anger, shame or resignation in me, because I know the way to improve this disorder that makes me at the same time clumsy but skilled as a pianist in the past, as an osteopath in the present .
Fabìola Marelli - Osteopath D.O.
I registered at the Osteopaths Registry of Italy - n ° 268 and at the ASL of Como. She works as a freelance professional and researcher. Lecturer and master's speaker. Author of texts and treatises relating to Music and Osteopathy.
Administrator and teacher of the CRESO School of Osteopathy - Center for Osteopathic Research and Studies S.r.l. (www.cresonline.it)
Director of the publishing house CRESO Editions.
