Frans Tax doesn't have a lot of opportunity to wind down.
With two children, one with autism, and a full-time job as a professor at the University of Arizona, things like massages just aren't in the cards.
"In a given week, in a given school year, with how our lives are, there just isn't time," he said.
Last week, at the third annual Integrative Touch for Kids healing retreat, Tax and his wife, Lisa Nagy, daughter Talia, and son Niko, who has autism, were able to take the time for massages and more.
Each year, a few families from around the country are selected for the all-expenses-paid, week-long retreat for children with disabilities.
This year, seven families - 30 people - attended, along with more than 150 volunteers. That's one more family than last year and more than double the number of volunteers. The retreat, held at the Hacienda del Sol Guest Ranch, also has a full medical staff.
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The resort is located at 5501 N. Hacienda del Sol Road, off East Sunrise Drive.
Participants have access to a variety of services and therapies during the week, including nutrition classes, equine therapy, acupuncture support groups and laughter therapy. Volunteers also host play and art activities for the children.
The goal is to introduce families to therapies that are not always used in Western medicine, so they can find what works best for them.
"We wanted to create a program that was whole child, whole family, whole community," said Shay Beider, Integrative Touch executive director.
'A real eye-opener'
The children come from a range of medical, social, economic and racial backgrounds. The organization has no specific medical criteria for acceptance. Some children have autism, cancer or Down syndrome. Some have a terminal illness.
Interested families write a letter to Integrative Touch and go through an application process. Every member of the household is required to attend the retreat.
"I think most of the families struggle with the day in, day out stress of having a child who's ill," said Ariana Foster, a local pediatrician and volunteer with the Integrative Touch medical advisory committee. "This is a place where they can relax."
Four of the seven families attending this year are from Tucson, including the Tax-Nagys, who live in the Foothills.
"It can be a real eye-opener," said Tax, a professor of molecular and cellular biology. "It can let people know that they're not alone."
Tax said the medical staff and the variety of therapies available impressed him.
"The whole idea is keeping the family structure strong," he said.
Vanessa Pauley, also from Tucson, attended the retreat with her three children after hearing about it through her daughter's teacher. The family lives on the east side.
"You're constantly worried about something. And coming here was like a realization that you can worry all the time, or you can take it positively," she said.
Pauley's 2-year-old daughter, Samantha, has hypotonic cerebral palsy. Pauley said it can be difficult for her sons, Aaron, 5, and Devin, 6, to relate to their sister. The family learned massage-therapy techniques that help the boys connect with their sister.
Stress relief, healing
Parents of children with disabilities often struggle with making sure siblings get the attention they need, so every child who attends the retreat is paired with a volunteer buddy who looks after and plays with them.
Families fill out extensive medical, personal and psychological histories so volunteers can select the best healing approach for them.
"All the stress, everything else, goes away just for a few minutes," retreat participant Alan Shoults said about water yoga. He was at the retreat with his wife, Stacy Spurgeon-Shoults, their son Chase, 4, who has histiocytosis, and Stacy's daughter, Sidney, 14, who is from Iowa. The Shoults live in midtown.
According to the Histiocytosis Foundation, histiocytic disorders are a group of diseases that occur when the body overproduces a type of white blood cells. That, in turn, can lead to organ damage and the formation of tumors.
After the retreat, volunteers follow up with the families for a year to see how they've incorporated the different therapies into their lives.
"We come out feeling like we've gone through a process of healing and transformation," Beider said.
Beider said Integrative Touch plans to have smaller weekend retreats a few times a year.
"I wish every family with these types of challenges had this type of opportunity," Spurgeon-Shoults said.
ITK info
For more information contact Integrative Touch for Kids at 303-4992
Madelaine Archie is a University of Arizona journalism student who is an apprentice at the Star. Contact her at starapprentice@azstarnet.com or 807-7776.
