When Movement Changes the Brain: A Montreal Therapist’s Approach to Helping Disabled or Neurodivergent Kids Thrive

Raising a neurodivergent or disabled child in Quebec these days feels like navigating a maze with shifting walls. Parents are told to wait, to seek out therapy after therapy—only to be met with long waitlists or one-size-fits-all programs that end all too quickly. In Montreal and across Quebec, families of children with autism, developmental delays, ADHD, CP, learning disabilities or other challenges often face a painful gap between needs and services.  Children are put through painful and painstaking “treatment” options that focus on ‘fixing’ their issues rather than on developing their potential. Schools offer one size fit-all behaviour based plans, but never seek to enable learning in the child’s brains.  This leaves families increasingly isolated, facing exclusion and exhaustion.

I know this, because I have been one of those families. I have a son with Down Syndrome, and our journey shows that, when given the right tools, our children can surpass expectations.

I’m here to tell other parents like me that there’s another way forward—one that starts with understanding how the brain learns, changes, and adapts.

I’m a Certified NeuroMovement® Practitioner, NeuroSomatic therapist and the mother of a neurodivergent child. What I’ve seen—both in my clinic and in my home—is that movement is the missing link for many kids who struggle to make developmental gains. Inspired by the work of Moshe Feldenkrais and Anat Baniel[1], I use gentle, non-invasive techniques that speak directly to the brain’s innate plasticity.

The brain can change and reorganize itself even if it has challenges, lesions or genetic conditions

The Science Behind It: How movement Fuels brain development

The idea that movement shapes the brain isn’t new—but it’s now supported by a wealth of neuroscience. Research has shown that movement is not just output from the brain, but also a key source of input that helps the brain detect, differentiate, organize and rewire itself. For example:

• A foundational study by Thelen & Smith (1994) on dynamic systems theory in child development demonstrated that movement experience contributes directly to the formation of neural maps for learning and coordination[1].

• Moshe Feldenkrais (1972) was among the first to propose that refined movement and attention improve brain organization. Later clinical studies support this. A 2015 study on the Feldenkrais method found significant improvements in motor functioning for children and adults with neurological conditions.

• In clinical contexts, practitioners working with children on the autism spectrum have observed that reorganizing spinal function and trunk control can lead to improvements in perception, language, and social engagement. A case-based analysis by movement therapist Neil Sharpe described how gentle interventions targeting spinal mobility and orientation supported the emergence of new perceptual and cognitive abilities in autistic children—particularly in how they related to space and other people.

• Neuroscientist Michael Merzenich and others have shown that “differentiated movement”—that is, movement performed with attention and variation—stimulates neuroplastic change in the motor and sensory cortex.[4]

An article by Baniel, Almagor, Sharp, Kolumbus, and Herbert (2025) frames autism as a neuro‑motor‑sensing disorder, in which movement is essential for the brain to perceive, learn, and connect. Observing that 87% of autistic children experience meaningful motor differences, the authors propose that therapies like the Feldenkrais Method and NeuroMovement®—which emphasize felt, two-way exchange between guide and child—can create spontaneous learning and emergent cognition[1]. In essence: the more refined, varied, and attended-to a movement is, the more it informs the brain.

We know that the brain learns what it experiences.  Cognitive processes are deeply rooted in the body’s interaction of the world. Movement shapes perception, language, emotion and all other underlying brain functions[2].  That’s why Neuromovement®  avoids rote exercises and instead focuses on curiosity, novelty, and the felt experience of functional patterns, all steeped in a deep connection to the child in their own experience of the world.

I discovered this method when, tired of hearing doctors and therapists tell me what my son would never do, I went searching for ways to get his brain activated.  The results for us were incredible, and very quick. From walking to talking and learning to read and write, my son is progressing daily. So much so, that I decided to leave my career and train as a Neuromovement® practitioner, a 4 year process, in the middle of COVID.

Who It Helps: Not Just Motor Delays

This approach isn’t limited to children with motor challenges. In fact, it helps a wide range of neurodevelopmental profiles:

• Children with hypotonia, dystonia or cerebral palsy who are learning to roll, sit, crawl, or walk

• Autistic children who experience sensory overwhelm, coordination issues, or body awareness difficulties

• Children with speech delays, who often show parallel gaps in breath control, facial differentiation, and fine motor planning

• Kids with ADHD, sensory processing or regulation challenges, whose motor patterns are often rigid or underdeveloped

• Medically complex children or those with rare genetic syndromes, where traditional therapy paths may not be sufficient.

• Kids with intellectual disabilities, such as Fragile X, cognitive delay, Down Syndrome where delays in mobility also fuel learning disabilities.

• Even anxious or withdrawn children, who learn to feel safe in their own skin and re-engage with the world through gentle, predictable movement

This method is especially powerful because it meets each child exactly where they are—no pushing, no pressure, just meaningful sensory-motor input that their brain can use to grow.

I see it time and again in my practice.  Big and small changes, rapidly. Hope reignited.  One Montreal mom shared, “It’s like my son woke up. He started looking at us differently. He’s laughing more. He even said a new word this week.”

One little boy I worked with had not yet begun to walk at 2½ years old. He had low muscle tone (hypotonia), and although he could sit and roll, he avoided bearing weight through his legs. His parents had tried traditional physiotherapy, but progress was slow and frustrating, and painful for the child.

During our first intensive, we focused on helping his brain feel the connections between his spine, pelvis, and feet—slow, playful movements that awakened stability and coordination from within. I remember showing his mom how to use touch to awaken the brain during transitions, not to “teach him to walk,” but to give his brain better information.

A week after our last session, she sent me a video of him walking across the living room, grinning ear to ear.

“It’s like he suddenly understood,” she said. “He put together the pieces, and now he wants to move everywhere. We’re chasing him all day :D.”

It wasn’t about forcing milestones—it was about giving his brain the conditions to discover them.

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Joana Talafre is a NeuroSomatic therapist, certified Pediatric NeuroMovement® Practitioner, and the only Anat Baniel Method NeuroMovement® practitioner in Montreal. She specializes in gentle, playful, brain-based interventions for children with special needs or disabilities and offers whole family support. As a parent of a neurodivergent child herself, she brings both professional expertise and lived experience to her work. Her clinic serves families across Quebec and France. She is also the founder and director of the Society for Inclusion through NeuroSomatic Education (SINSE), a non profit that advocates for brain-based approaches in schools and therapy settings.

Learn more at www.neurosomatic.org/kids.