Cecilia Koester

Cecilia Koester, is internationally known for her work with children and adults who have special needs. She has worked since 1979 with children of all abilities––typically functioning, attention deficit/hyperactive, emotionally/behaviorally challenged, autistic, developmentally delayed, Downs Syndrome and severe handicaps. The remarkable and provocative book I Am the Child: Using Brain Gym® with Children Who Have Special Needs, published in 1998, journaled Koester’s experiences over a two-year period as a teacher in a public school classroom, drawing out the gifts of eleven children who had complex developmental needs. This book is an inspirational book that offers the reader insights of the kinds of things that can be done with children who have severe physical challenges to improve their quality of life.

Since 1998, Koester has been teaching workshops throughout the United State, Canada, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia to teachers, counselors, occupational therapists, physical therapists and parents. These workshops have been based on Brain Gym® which is a program of 26 easy and enjoyable targeted activities/physical movements that enhance learning and performance in all areas. Through these years, Cecilia Koester has developed a movement-based learning curriculum that specifically addresses children and adults who have special needs. This curriculum specifically teaches adults how to work with any child/adult–– resistant, unable to walk or talk, a typically functioning child who is having difficulty focusing or reading or any adult who is challenged with daily life activities. The uniqueness of this Brain Gym® for Special Needs Providers grows from the methods and techniques that are offered in her workshops. These “new tools” empower and guide the adult into an awareness of how to assist all children and adults in their journey. Perhaps Cecilia’s greatest gift is being able to show you how/where she begins. Her grounded teaching style makes the information easy to assimilate––she teaches verbally and then demonstrates visually and physically how to use what has just been learned. Cecilia has taken the work of Brain Gym® and blossomed the information into working with children/adults of all abilities through providing a foundation of developmental building blocks.

Brain Gym® 170 has been developed by Cece for the Educational Kinesiology Foundation, and she is currently the only instructor registered to teach this specialized course. She has studied at length with the founders of Brain Gym®, Dr. Paul and Gail Dennison, to deepen her understanding of these simple and effective tools for optimal living.

Visit her website at: www.movementbasedlearning.com