Hey ,

I think it was back in 2009 when I heard Prof Margaret Mayston giving a keynote talk at a conference in South Africa. She shared the honour of Keynote Speaker with the Prof Peter Rosenbaum and it was an NDT/Bobath confrence. Can you imagine two such opposing figures in the world of pediatric neurodisability getting into the pro's and con's of Bobath therapy!?!

Well all these years later and I'm not sure either of them has managed to convince the other of their point of view - but I can guarantee you conversations were NEVER boring.

Prof Rosenbaum took a seat at my interview table a wee while ago to share his fascinating journey, and I am thrilled to be able to balance out his view point with the formidable Prof Mayston.

Margaret Mayston trained initially as a physiotherapist in Melbourne, Australia and worked at the Royal Children’s Hospital before traveling to London to undertake specialist studies in childhood neurodisability (aka Bobath). She pivoted to a career in science with an MSc in Human & Applied Physiology, a PhD in neurophysiology, and then 3-year Wellcome Trust funded postdoctoral fellowship at Kings College London, where she is currently a Professor in the Division of Biosciences teaching neuroscience, general physiology and advanced pediatrics.

And yet, despite the strong academics, she is still a Senior Bobath Tutor, teaching both foundational Bobath and training tutors, which begs the question...

Why, despite the poor evidence, do intelligent, scientifically minded, educated and experienced therapists still value Bobath? Or do they?

Margaret's recent publication on the Bobath Clinical Reasoning Framework with the equally formidable Gillian Saloojee and Sarah Foley is worth knowing about in this context. It marks a shift in the conversation of what Bobath actually is.

Their paper uses Systems Science to shape the conversation and I have to confess to being ridiculously excited about it! And if you're a proud neurorehab / neurodisability / neuroscience / neurodevelopmental nerd like me, then I'm guessing you might be a little excited too.

Have you got questions for Margaret?

I would LOVE to know what you would ask her.

Ask Your Question Here!

Quick before Friday!!

With oodles of enthusiasm,

Mindy

PS if you don't like clicking links, you could also just hit reply to this email. That comes straight to my inbox!