COLLEGE PROGRAM CHANGES COURSE OF SINGLE PARENT FAMILY

ULLIN -- Breakfast at Donnie Brown's house gets the day started with toast, juice, milk, and massage. Massage?

Yes, Brown, a single father, and massage therapy student at Shawnee Community College, says he has found a way to be a better parent through massage. And there is no argument from his son's kindergarten teacher that things have improved.

"Overall, I will say his (Brown's son's) behavior is better," said Susie Henley, who has been teaching kindergarten at Cypress Grade School for more than 35 years. "He still has his ups and downs, but he comes to class much more relaxed and in a better frame of mind."

Brown said before massage his son was being disciplined at the school on a daily basis. He said the situation at home wasn't any better.

"I am not kidding you when I say that I was at my wit's end in trying to control my son's behavior," Brown said. "I thought I had tried everything under the sun besides prescription drugs when I decided to give massage a chance."

Why not? At age 32, Brown had turned to Shawnee Community College to try and reinvent himself. He had been a truck driver, a welder, and a mechanic, but he wanted a career that offered his life more.

Brown said he turned to the college's massage therapy program after he gave his uncle a back rub to help ease pain due to fibromyalgia. The uncle was so impressed that he told Brown "you have a gift" and he encouraged him to use this gift as a career.

Brown has now completed his first year at the college. He has also brought "peace" to his home.

"I went from being the big, bad wolf having to discipline my son for bad behavior everyday to finally enjoying being a father," Brown said. "Instead of going to bed crying because I felt like I was failing, I sleep peacefully now."

The way he did it, Brown said, was to begin each day by giving his son a 15-minute massage. Somehow that touch and that attention, he said, have turned into positive behavior in the classroom and at home.

"When I signed up for classes at Shawnee Community College, I never dreamed it would change my life this much," Brown said. "I was looking for a new career, but never considered it could bring this much harmony to my home."

Andra Fahlberg, massage therapy instructor at Shawnee Community College, said there are studies that suggest that massage can help to modify behavior in children. For more information about the college's massage therapy program, contact 618-634-3200, Ext. 3282.