Article first published as Diane Sawyer’s “American Heart”: Cincinnati Grandmother Founds School for Children with Motor Difficulties on Blogcritics.
“Impossible situations can become possible miracles.”~ Robert H. Schuller
Donna Speigel is a young and attractive, sixty-year-old grandmother, who owns a successful chain of consignment shops called “The Snooty Fox” in Cincinnati. She is raising her grandson, Dayton, and was told by doctors when he was less than two years old that he would never walk or talk, due to a motor challenge syndrome that mimics cerebral palsy. Donna’s initial reaction was one of disbelief; however her strong faith and invincible spirit kept her going. She has never been one to give up easily.
Donna Speigel with her grandson, Dayton
She began searching for a program that might make a difference in Dayton’s life. Her research soon led her to The Peto Institute in Budapest, Hungary. Their innovative method was called, “conductive education.” Conductive Education is based upon the principle that the nervous system has the capacity to form new connections. By repeating basic motor skills, in some cases four to eight hours a day, the brain manages to send new messages to the muscles to create a desired movement. Five days a week, the child works with “conductors”, or specially trained teachers. The program is used in a group setting because in this setting, the child will be motivated by his peers to complete certain assigned tasks. This environment also helps to promote the growth of positive self- esteem and confidence.
Donna Speigel believed Conductive Education could help Dayton but the problem was that there were no schools using Conductive Education in the Greater Cincinnati area. For twelve months, when Dayton was only 22 months old, Donna would drive her son back and forth to a conductive learning center in Grand Rapids, Michigan for twelve months. She saw a tremendous amount of progress. Dayton went from being unable to move, to rolling over and sitting up. Soon, she decided to open her own center in Cincinnati, to help Dayton and other children with motor related challenges.
Donna contracted the Conductive Learning Center in Grand Rapids to help with the start up, and acknowledges that they were instrumental in helping her get things off the ground.
She also consulted with Patti Herbst, the Executive Director for the Center for Independence, a successful conductive learning center in Chicago. Herbst was instrumental during this undertaking and on a continuous basis, she provided Speigel with support, information, advice and encouragement.
In 2006, The Conductive Learning Center of Greater Cincinnati opened. Today, the center has ten students enrolled and one of them is Dayton, now age seven. Because of this program, Dayton is now walking and becoming increasingly vocal.
Donna Speigel’s new mission is to help educate parents, educators and caregivers on Conductive Education. Presently, there are only 32 schools across the United States and just 22 schools in other countries.
The word is getting out in part because Diane Sawyer recently highlighted Speigel on an ABC World News report. To view the clip, click this link: Finding The American Heart
Sawyer described Speigel’s journey as; “The power of one grandmother and her love – giving children a new lease on life.” Sawyer also went on to say that because of this grandmother’s powerful love, Donna Speigel, is “The American Heart.”
A very fitting description given that yesterday was Valentine’s Day!
For more information on Conductive Education, please visit the Conductive Learning Center of Greater Cincinnati website at www.clcgc.org.
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