Medford mail tribune., November 17, 1957, Image 35

Babes
in
Toy land -
Medical
Style
Clay, slates, and other toys help
develop manual dexterity (above).
Swan (right) is rocked by elec
tricity, providing therapy and fun.
Doctors call boat's motion "cyclo
massage." To kids, it's just wavy.
! I
v
v .... - - .... ... ' 1 - - :-n
o
by Jerry Klein
To a white frame house in Meadville, Pa.,
each day there comes a pitiful parade of children
stricken by multiple sclerosis, palsy, polio, dys-
trophy, and other crippling diseases.
But as they enter the house, they forget their
pain and their faces light up. For this house is
a fairyland full of colorful toys: a fire engine, jet
plane, sailboat, steamboat, and rocking swan. And
the best thing of all is that playing with these
toys actually helps the youngsters to recover!
Each toy is designed so the child has an incen
tive to play with it, and while playing with it, he
receives a therapy treatment. Each plaything con
tains a hidden device that gives the child a cyclo
massage a circular stimulation of the body.
The toy steamboat, for example, has pedals
which pump soap bubbles up the smokestacks.
While a girl forces her legs to move the pedals,
she is receiving cyclomassage through the seat and
back of her chair. '-
Similar massage is given a boy as he pretends
to be a jet pilot. Meanwhile, he's also encouraged
to exercise his arms to operate the toy machine
gun which is mounted in front of the "cockpit."
This curious combination of healing with play
was the idea of two men, Dr. Edward Connor of
Meadville and Owen K. Murphy of nearby Adams
ville. In 1954 Dr. Connor was searching for a way
to help crippled children of the area, many of
whom had been rejected by various institutions
as beyond help. As head of the Niagara Manufac
turing Corp., Murphy was making electrical de
vices used by hospitals to administer cyclolherapy.
But because of their handicap, crippled children
often were so afraid of such mechanical equip
ment that they derived little benefit from the
treatment. Simultaneously, Murphy and Dr. Con
nor realized that this problem could be overcome
by hiding the equipment inside playthings and
associating massage with fun.
In a few months, they were ready to test their
idea in the Fairyland Clinic. No profit was to be
involved, treatment would be free, and no dona
tions would be accepted.
Today, after two years of testing, the two men
have no final answer on the role cyclotherapy
eventually may play in the treatment of crippled
children. But such massage does seeming wonders
in many cases, and Dr. Connor says preliminary
results have encouraged continued research.
He cites the case of a seven-year-old girl so
severely handicapped she would frequently fall,
could not climb stairs alone, and had difficulty
feeding and dressing herself. Her speech was
poor, she tiled easily, was depressed and unable
to attend school.
After six months of cyclotherapy, this girl at
tends school regularly, her speech is much better,
and she can dress and feed herself. She goes up
stairs unaided, has better control of her muscles,
and is cheerful. She's also four pounds heavier
and almost two inches taller!
Along with his young charges. Dr. Connor takes '
cyclomassage every day and it's not purely in
the interests of scientific research; for the doctor
was himself stricken by multiple sclerosis four
years ago. Blind and paralyzed, he fought his way
back from the shadows and vowed that he would
someday help others do the same.
Family Weekly, November 17, 1957 27
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