Parenting A Special Needs Child

Do you ever feel you walk alone, handcuffed to an insolvable problem?

Sometimes I feel overwhelmed and hopeless before the challenge of nurturing our wonderful child.

She needs me SO much SO often. Sometimes an awful sensation of stuckness grips me—that I will be forever stuck in this treadmill of solving basic problems that will never  improve, never get better. EVER.

(And of course there are lovely moments as well, but that is not the topic of this blogpost.)

We are fortunate in our world that some people are filled with unlimited positive energy to uplift us and guide us. Such a person is Professor Reuven Feuerstein (pictured above), a cognitive psychologist (that means he studies how we learn and think) who has devoted his life to finding ways to work miracles on unpromising conditions most scientists gave up on ever improving: attachment disorder, fetal alcohol syndrome, autism, down syndrome, brain damage, etc.

He has researched and scientifically proven that our brains can constantly develop—even after being born deficient or after suffering damage. WE ARE NOT AS STUCK AS YOU MIGHT THINK. Our children can develop beyond what we see at the moment.

Below is a concise transcript of the video that follows, in which Professor Feuerstein urges us all: Believe you can overcome! If you do—you will create amazing results!

In practical terms for us, parents of special needs children the message is this: Believe that you can constantly improve your child’s functioning—and you will discover ways to improve it. AND IT WILL IMPROVE.

My daughter was lucky to have a teacher who studied with Professor Feuerstein in Israel. I can attest to the positive effect it had on her learning abilities.

Here is the transcript and the video:

“Belief is generated by a need.

You, the parent, have the need:  if you need to help your child you begin to believe you can change their disability. And if you believe—you begin to achieve.

Human beings are modifiable. Not only their behavior can be modified, but also their neurosystem—marvelously, miraculously!  Actually, the behavior which we IMPOSE upon our brain really SHAPES the hardware of the brain.

Neuroscience today support this view: we can help a person’s brain no matter what their genetic condition or age.  Even severely limited children can be significantly modified. More than we previously believed.

In the past we didn’t believe we could do it—so we didn’t!  But once we believed we could do it and we tried—we achieved very meaningful results.”

You can visit Professor Feuerstein’s website here.

Do you realize how much your special needs child can benefit from participating in dance or movement groups?

As a movement therapist,  I am totally in favor of a Mind-Body approach which advocates activating the body in order to more readily access  and focus the mind.

Have a look at this  Brain Dance Video that I discovered on this wonderful site http://www.sensorystreet.com/ It is the brainy invention of Anne Green Gilbert of the Creative Dance Company in Washington.

She shows how a fully functioning body can create a fully functioning brain and claims that this kind of dance can actually rewire the brain for the better .

Her dance moves contain 8 steps that mirror the behavior of babies during their first year of development.

• 1. Breathing
• 2. Tactile Stimulation
• 3 . Core Distal Patterns of reaching out and contracting
• 4.  Head Tail movements for alignment
• 5.  Upper and Lower body Movements for Emotional Grounding
• 6.  Body Side Movements for Balance
• 7.  Cross- Lateral Reach for Robust Thinking
• 8.  Spinning to work the vestibular system

Anne claims that these movements promote cerebral health and is a strong advocate of dancing one’s heart out for the sake of one’s mind.

Let’s hear your reactions to this incredible video.

To learn more about a Mind-Body Movement program that can help your special needs child, click here

DO YOU NEED TO BE INSPIRED: READ ON FOR GOOD CHEER!

Hello to all parents of children with special needs. I wanted to share with you a song I just discovered from youtube  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=84FHZhB5__Y&feature=player_embedded

It was written by Karen Taylor-Good and Lisa Aschmann and performed by Karen Taylor-Good in Orlando December 9th, 2008 for the first time to the parents of those that the song was created for.

THIS  SO EXPRESSES WHAT WE ARE GOING THROUGH AS PARENTS OF A “SPECIAL” CHILD:

• we need you to listen
• we need a hug or 2
• we need  friendship
• we need your understanding
  
• Don’t ignore or desert us if we have special needs

What does this song do for you? please share with us………

Does your child have fetal alcohol syndrome? Are you dealing with so many behavioral hassles every day that you feel drained as a parent of a special needs child?

Is there any positive aspect?

Some times it’s possible to forget that special needs are only part of the story. Everyone, and I mean everyone, has their strengths as well as weaknesses, and it can be so refreshing to discover what those qualities are.

Deena has a beautifully creative side to her and today she surprised me by making beautiful drawings of people that were made out of Band aids. They were quite unique in their detail and I loved them.

So, every day, amidst the difficult moments , I remind myself to also be on the look out for :

• poignant conversations
• original humor
• personal insights
• surprising reactions
• unexpected giving

Has your special needs child made or done something that took your breath away? Can you tell us about it? If you like the video below you can see a video of my Number One Calming Technique right here