What does "Starting Again" mean to the many different people this book reaches out to? This positive title may draw the reader to enquire why an immensely experienced physiotherapist is considering starting again. Perhaps it challenges patients to rethink their own limitations, or therapists to reconsider their own management strategies. Does it refer to a change in life for head-injured patients and their carers, or does it hint at a fresh approach to old problems? Since "Steps to Follow" and "Right in the Middle," Pat Davies has not been idle. She has remained aware of what may be new and worthwile in therapy around the world, incorporated it into her own vast experience and taken ideas, concepts and techniques back to her patients to test their clinical validity. This is, therefore, not a pedestrian text but one brimming with new ideas for immediate use. That in itself should be a message of hope for all involved in the consequences of head injury. The future will always hold new and better management strategies, the understanding of the nature and consequences of head injury will improve, and thus there should never be limits placed on what patients can achieve. Reduced to its simplicity and presented in modem day thinking, the nervous system is a neural network. It requires input for output, yet it possesses a delicate, powerful, inherent feedback system so it can drive itself optimally, test itself out, learn and adapt.

What is it that characterises Pat Davies' second book about hemi plegia and makes it so special? It is a book which committed ther apists can really use in their practical work with patients. We ther apists need such books. The engagement and enthusiasm must come from us. It is similar to a good cookbook. Admittedly one has to know something about cooking but when learning the secrets of haute cuisine - not just the expensive frills but the real refinement- then theoretical dissertations are not very helpful. In practice com ments like "you just have to have the right touch" are useless. Many books are disappointing because the reader cannot learn how to put theory into practice, as the author does not disclose the true secrets of his success, perhaps not really wanting the eager stu dents to "bake a good cake" for example. Such is not the case with this book. In the first theoretical chap ter "The Normal Trunk - Evolutionary and Anatomical Consider ations" the reader is given information about the significance of the normal anatomical relationships in the development of the body segments: the pelvis, thorax and head. The second chapter, "Aspects of Trunk Control," deals with the muscular control of movement within each of these inherently mobile segments. In the terminology of "Functional Kinetics" the different types of muscle activities are described, defining the importance of the selective use of the musculature in reaction to the pull of gravity."

Questa seconda edizione, completamente aggiornata, descrive i progressi piu significativi compiuti nel campo della neuroriabilitazione. Il volume, con l'ausilio di 750 illustrazioni di pazienti ripresi durante gli esercizi, presenta metodologie pratiche in grado di aiutare il paziente colpito da stroke ad interagire con l'ambiente che lo circonda e a riacquistare progressivamente la propria indipendenza, anche dopo la sospensione del trattamento. Alcuni ulteriori approfondimenti arricchiscono il contenuto del volume, come ad es. Il valore assegnato alla teoria di David Butler sulla mobilizzazione delle strutture neurali in tutto il corpo e l'importanza dell'attivita muscolare addominale, fondamentale per l'assetto e l'equilibrio del paziente. Come per l'edizione precedente, il testo risultera un valido ausilio non solo per gli operatori di settore ma anche per i parenti che desiderino contribuire alla riuscita della terapia riabilitativa."

Questo libro tratta un argomento che a stato a lungo completamente ignorato nella riabilitazione del paziente emiplegico adulto: l'attivita selettiva del tronco. La perdita di controllo del tronco puo, infatti, causare oltre che problemi nell'uso funzionale di gambe e braccia, anche difficolta respiratorie e di equilibrio. P. Davies, con la sua grandissima esperienza nel campo, pone l'accento sull'importanza di integrare la normale attivita riabilitativa dei pazienti con la terapia specificamente volta al recupero di stabilita del tronco e di movimento di parti isolate di esso. La chiara e concisa esposizione del trattamento e oltre 500 illlustrazioni di pazienti ripresi durante gli esercizi, rendono questo volume un ultile e indispensabile strumento per chiunque si occupi della riabilitazione die pazienti emiplegici, in particolare medici, fisioterapisti, terapisti del lavoro, logopedisti e personale paramedico.

Il nuovo libro dell'Autrice di 'Passo dopo passo' descrive i primi interventi sul paziente che ha subito una lesione cerebrale di origine traumatica oppure gravi lesioni dovute ad altre cause. Illustrato con circa 600 fotografie di pazienti reali, il volume presenta in dettaglio tutti gli aspetti del trattamento, a cominciare dalle unita di cure intensive fino alla rieducazione alla deambulazione. Il volume, corredato di una ricchissima bibliografia dei piu recenti studi in campo riabilitativo, sara di valido ausilio per tutti gli specialisti impegnati con pazienti che hanno subito una lesione cerebrale, in particolare medici, fisioterapisti, ergoterapisti, logoterapisti e personale paramedico. Il testo e rivolto anche ai parenti dei pazienti e permettera loro di fornire un attivo aiuto nella terapia."

This new edition of a best-selling guide incorporates significant advances in the early and later rehabilitation of neurologically impaired patients. Based on the Bobath concept, Davies' approach to stroke rehabilitation stresses the need to equip the patient for a full life, rather than setting arbitrary goals for functioning in a sheltered environment. Activities are described for encouraging the recovery of active movements in more normal patterns as well as treatment to overcome oro-facial and perceptual difficulties. Ways to retrain functional walking, balance reactions and independence in daily life are explained and illustrated with 750 photographs of patients being treated.

The Peruvian Ministry of Education initiated bilingual schools in Amazonia soon after the Machiguenga people-inhabitants of the Peruvian rainforest-received a written alphabet in the late 1940s. Despite barriers of distance, language and cultural diversity, this educational program is an ongoing success. The 1993 data shows an average literacy rate of nearly 65 percent, with high literacy use-predictive of literacy continuance. This first-hand account, by the educator who helped develop the Machiguenga schools, is rich with descriptions, providing teachers and literacy practitioners an in-depth study of a minority-language educational program. Students of cross-cultural training will find a culturally sensitive model for teaching and evaluation. This study is significant since it relates the favorable attitudes toward literacy among an isolated people group, formerly in a monolingual area with no government schools until 1954. Equally noteworthy is the fact that Machiguenga teachers have conducted all primary level education even though they were at first barely literate themselves. These maturing teachers continued their education during summer sessions and shared their knowledge with their pupils year by year as they themselves advanced through the grades. Currently the three area high schools are staffed both by Spanish-speaking teachers and Machiguenga personnel with tertiary education. This book reflects the delight the Machiguenga people find in learning. They have voluntarily expended enormous effort to make reading a part of their society. This is both a scholarly work and a present day drama.

The literature reviewed in this book has to do with cognition and learning relative to ethnolinguistic minorities, and it deals with three areas of knowledge important in the field of education: developmental and information-processing theories, and learning styles. The focus of the book is on application of theory to cross-cultural education.

Pat Davies' Anleitung zur Behandlung von Patienten mit Hemiplegie ist seit Jahren weltweit anerkannt und aus der neurologischen Rehabilitation nicht mehr wegzudenken. Mit allen praxisrelevanten Fortschritten und neuen Entwicklungen ist die Neuauflage wieder rundum "up-to-date"! * Von Bobath-Konzept ausgehend werden Befundaufnahme und Therapie im fruhen und spateren Stadium der Neurorehabilitation detailliert beschrieben. * Die Probleme von Patienten und Angehoerigen im Alltag werden Therapeuten, Pflegekraften und AErzten anschaulich vermittelt. * Therapeutische Gesichtspunkte und Massnahmen, die die funktionellen Fahigkeiten foerdern und zur Verbesserung der Lebensqualitat des Patienten beitragen, werden von Grund auf erklart. * Insgesamt 740 zeigen reale Behandlungssituationen, die das therapeutische Vorgehen im Bild verdeutlichen. * Gut verstandlich geschrieben und grosszugig illustriert: Ein exzellenter Ratgeber auch fur Angehoerige, die aktiv zur Foerderung der Fahigkeiten des Patienten beitragen koennen. Neu in der 2. Auflage: * Praktische Vorgehensweisen, wie Patienten mit gestoerter Wahrnehmung bei der Suche nach Information und in der gespurten Interaktion mit der Umwelt unterstutzt werden, mit dem Ziel, wieder Selbstandigkeit im Alltag zu gewinnen. * Eine detaillierte Erklarung der Handfunktion * Eine fundierte Analyse des normalen Gehens * Aktualisierte Kapitel uber therapeutische Aktivitaten, u.a. zum Erarbeiten selektiver Bewegungen und zur Vorbeugung von muskularem Hypertonus * Neues uber die Aktivitat der Bauchmuskulatur, die wichtig ist fur Gleichgewichtsreaktionen, Sitzen und Stehen * Ein Kapitel uber die Anwendung von David Butlers Konzept der Mobilisation des Nervensystems als Teil der Behandlung * Hilfen zur Vermeidung von Sekundarkomplikationen wie Schmerzen oder Bewegungseinschrankungen und zur UEberwindung existierender Schwierigkeiten * Anregungen, wie Patienten nach Ende der Behandlung ihre Beweglichkeit bewahren, weiterhin Fortschritte machen