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

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.