Miracles Unlimited offers alternative therapy for kdis with motor disabilities


By ASHLEY LUTHERN

BOARDMAN — Just because something is different doesn’t mean that it won’t work.

At least that’s the opinion of Tracey Tatar, founder of Miracles Unlimited Inc., a Boardman-based nonprofit organization that provides alternative therapy for children with motor disabilities.

Parents can get frustrated with the standard medical treatment of their children when they don’t see results and often turn to new techniques, said Tatar, who knows those frustrations firsthand as a parent of a child with cerebral palsy.

The idea for Miracles Unlimited began five years ago when Tatar took her daughter, Brittany, to a day camp in Cleveland that specialized in “conductive education.”

The theory behind conductive education is that if children are led through the same movements daily, then connections in the brain will be reinforced so that children with motor disabilities will have better control over their bodies, Tatar said.

Impressed by the theory and the effect it had on her daughter, Tatar decided to start her own program, which is now an affiliate of the Association for Conductive Education in North America.

More than 50 children have attended Miracles Unlimited’s programs through its four years of existence. This summer, nine are enrolled.