Parenting A Special Needs Child

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 want  to find out what many Occupational Therapists recommend you should have in the house to reduce meltdowns in your special needs child? Read on.

Deena can have a meltdown while doing homework a zillion times like any child with focusing problems as it is too overwhelming.

That is where bouncing on a MINI-  trampoline can be a life-saver.  There is something about the repetitive action that is so grounding and calming for her. I don’t mean the large trampolines where you bounce out of control in too large an area in danger of breaking your leg- I mean the mini ones which are the size of a large hoop. That is the best place for memory games or going over math problems while she rhythmically bounces away. Then she can return to homework in a state of physical and mental relief.

Watch this video clip to see how her mood changes in seconds. How about leaving a comment to let us know if you have found an effective way of calming your special needs child?

And if you want to see me demonstrate on video the Number One Calming Technique I use most with my child—click here.

In her article “Screaming Kids and Airplanes: Mayday!Mayday” which appeared in the LA Times, Amy Alkon rants and raves against parents who can’t discipline their own children, thus disturbing everyone around:

A little late in making those Thanksgiving flight plans? Wondering how you could possibly afford your ticket — that is, without putting a kidney up for sale on Craigslist? Good news! You can get a free flight home on Southwest plus a $300 travel voucher. Just do what I plan to — get on a Southwest flight in the next few days, and when it’s taking off, shout over and over, “Go, plane, go!” and “I want Daddy! I want Daddy!”

The problem is, how many parents really have the skills to prevent major meltdowns from occurring? All to often, exhausted parents are reduced to warnings and threats to shush up their children. That is pretty ineffective and can sometimes make kids scream even louder.

How about practicing everything in advance in the form of a stage-rehearsal? How about really role- playing scene for scene what is going to happen on the day of the flight so that everyone is acquainted with all the different stages of the journey in advance?

When one has children with special needs who are particularly sensitive to changes, noise, long hours of unpredictable travel, there has to be a well organized method of preparing the child beforehand, so that you all work as a team. Then, you can remind the child who is about to scream as you board the plane,”Do you remember when we practiced this at home? Do you remember how we talked about  doing some deep breathing when you feel like this? Then the child will be able to feel more in control.

Have you ever been in a public situation when your child was out of control? How did you deal with it? Let’s hear about your experience.

And if you want to see me demonstrate on video the Number One Calming Technique I use most with my child—click here.

Hello Parents! Let us look at this together!

I think it is so important to give a feeling of security to one’s child, especially a special needs child who has doubtlessly experienced a lot of mocking, loneliness and insecure feelings.

As much as possible, I try to create a “safe space” for Deena, so that when she shares with me she knows I won’t mess with her feelings and put her down. I try to be there for her and understand her emotions, from her point-of view and then I try to help her get things into perspective.

Haven’t we all had times when we poured our heart out to someone, and instead of getting a sympathetic response that we needed, we got a “Don’t make such a big deal” answer which squashed our feelings? I certainly have been through that myself so in this clip I just wanted to share a more encouraging way for a parent to respond. Then we become a partner in a time of need and not another obstacle to deal with.

Hey! Where are your comments? I really want to hear from you.

And if you want to see me demonstrate on video the Number One Calming Technique I use most with my child—click here.