Jun
18

Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes - Day 4

posted by admin in Reflections/Ruminations/Random Thoughts, Special Needs Resources 3 comments

Sound Bites

I have only good news to report.  We are through Day 4 at Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes (Lulabell as my daughter calls it)  and my daughter is working hard and having a good time doing it.  She easily gets out of bed and through her morning routine so that she is the first child to arrive.  She greets me at the end of 4 hours with a wide, enthusiastic smile, bubbly demeanor and bouncy step. 

I can see a few things that they are doing which contribute to her successful day:

1 - Frequent Breaks: The teachers are flexible.  When my daughter gets stressed out, she gets a 5 minute break to move around.  For example, she may run to the consultant’s office and demonstrate a newly acquired skill.  She’s still working, but having fun at the same time.

2 - Frequent and Positive Feedback/Reinforcement:  Teachers constantly praise the students for their work.  They give stickers, prizes, high fives, play tag and more as often as a child may require.  For example, my daughter has a marble chart.  She can earn 5 marble stickers each hour.  If she earns 15-20 marble stickers at the end of the day, she gets a special treat from me.

My daughter’s opinion about the program so far can be summed up with these few sound bites:

Daughter: “Wow Mom, the people here are so wonderful!  Don’t you think so?” (said with true disbelief)

Daughter: “Mom, can I stay here longer with the other kids?”  (gave me a pouty mouth for more empathy)

Daughter: “Mom, I want to work with Mr. Peter.”  (she typically dislikes males since bullying from boys at former school)

Daughter:  “Mom, I’m going to do a fantastic job tomorrow too with my work.”  (said from the child who bargains tirelessly to avoid school work)

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Jun
16

Lindamood-Bell Learning Processes - Day 2 and counting…

posted by admin in Special Needs Resources 1 comment

My daughter and I just left town for the summer so that she can attend the Lindamood-Bell Learning Center.  She’ll work to develop sensory cognitive processes to improve her reading, spelling, comprehension, attention and critical thinking.  The program is Monday-Friday, 4 hours each day for 8 weeks and, no holidays.

Everyone at Lindamood-Bell has been great about welcoming us to our summer home.  The Learning Center is comfortable and warm, like the personnel.  Also, the kids really look like they’re having fun!

Today, my daughter couldn’t wait to tell me about the new word she learned.  As we got into the car she said, “Mommy look at me.”  I looked at her face as she opened her mouth, put her right hand against her cheek and quickly sucked in her breath.  Then, she said, “gasp,”  … and she gave me a big wide smile.  She asked, “do you get it Mommy?  I did the word ’gasp’.”

Yes, I got it!  I understood that she was demonstrating the meaning of her new word for me.  I can’t wait to hear the word for tomorrow.

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Jun
01

Easter Seals and Your Extra Stuff

posted by admin in Special Needs Resources 0 comments


 

 

School is coming to an end and I’m cleaning out my closets and garage.  I can’t believe how much stuff we have!  I think that I’m a pack rat.

I’ve tried to develop some kind of strategy for addressing the mess.  I separate things into piles: donate, sell, repurpose and trash.  Once my piles are big and somewhat overflowing, I haul the stuff away to its destination.

These days I frequent the Easter Seals Donation Center.  They make giving so easy.  They help me to unload my car and will find me extra bags for the stuff if I have some loose items.  Also, I just learned that they will send a truck to my house for larger items or large loads.

Have you noticed an Easter Seals Donation Center in your area?  If so, let them help you get rid of some of your extra stuff.

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May
21

Social Skills Lessons For Exceptional Kids

posted by admin in Special Needs Resources 2 comments

my-turn-cd-cover

 

My daughter who has dyspraxia routinely interrupts me when I’m carrying on a conversation with others.  Sometimes she really needs my help but, most often she interrupts to get attention.  I’ve talked to behavior specialists and psychologists throughout the years about effective ways to cue her  to wait until I signal okay or acknowledge her before she begins speaking, rather than have her repeatedly call my name. 

One behavior specialist recommended that I use a behavior chart.  When she attempted to interrupt me I was told to respond with a raised index finger and she was taught to know that this gesture meant wait.  If she waited while my finger was raised, I added a sticker to her behavior chart.  If she earned 5 stickers while I talked, then she got a treat.  Over the weeks, I  increased the amount of time she waited and, added to the number of stickers she needed to earn for a treat.  This  method worked for awhile and she began to wait quietly for longer periods of time.  She was 5.

Then, a psychologist introduced me to social stories.  She and my daughter wrote several stories where my daughter was the main character and in the story she had to navigate some kind of social situation and respond to that situation with appropriate social skills such as waiting.  The psychologist told me to review the stories often with my daughter and to practice the skills as they were shown in the story during real life moments.  This strategy worked for awhile too then the stories bored her.  She was 7.

She’s 9 now and we are still at it.  I am most excited about our latest strategy because it involves one of my daughter’s favorite things - music.  Recently, I found a CD by Cathy Bollinger.  Ms. Bollinger is an award winning songwriter who collaborated with Dr. Jeffrey Weisman, the creator of Ultimate Learning for Kids,  to produce this CD called “My Turn Your Turn - Songs for Building Social Skills.”  My daughter luvs this CD.  We listen to it daily.  The songs address skills such as how to enter play with another child, how to deal with feeling angry and my favorite…how to say excuse me and wait when mom and dad are talking!   If you’d like a copy of this CD, go to  Children’s Publishing.com. 

Given our routine, I will need a new strategy in another year.  What strategies do you use to help your kids with delayed social skills behave appropriately?

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May
18

Siblings of People with Special Needs

posted by admin in Special Needs Resources 0 comments

What is life like growing up as the sibling of a child with special needs?  Journalist Karl Taro Greenfeld answers this question in his new book, “Boy Alone.”  “Boy Alone” is Karl’s honest account about life with his brother, Noah, who is affected with autism.  Karl writes about his earliest memories of his brother and when he realized that Noah was different than himself and other children.  In the book, Karl also addresses societal challenges around caring for adults with autism.   An excerpt:

 

Noah Greenfeld was the subject of an earlier trilogy of books by their father, screenwriter Josh Greenfeld: “A Child Called Noah,” “A Place for Noah,” and “A Client Called Noah.”

Are you prepared to begin talks with your child’s siblings about family finances, therapies, doctors and more future care decisions they may face as you age?  What advice do you have for other parents who are contemplating having this talk?

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May
13

“For The Love Of Claire” - Public School Budgets vs. Kids With Disabilities

posted by admin in Special Needs Education 0 comments

 

What do you think?

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May
11

Special Education and Inclusion - Is Your Child Happy?

posted by admin in Special Needs Education 1 comment

Do you wonder how your child with special needs feels about school?  Is she  happy and does she have friends?

Watch this video and enjoy Morgan’s experience: Are You Happy? 

 
Have a great Monday!

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May
10

Happy Mother’s Day

posted by admin in Neighborhood announcements 1 comment

Happy Mother’s Day!
 
Dear Neighbors,

May you enjoy an extraordinary Mother’s Day! 

 

Support another Mom this Mother’s Day.  Add the name of 1 place where you

get help for your kids or, add an Event on Special Needs Neighborhood.com. 

 If you have resources related to the special needs community,

add your contact information today on Special Needs Neighborhood.com.

 
         
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May
08

A Mother’s Love

posted by admin in Special Needs News 0 comments

naplesthanksgivin99

 

I read an article in today’s paper about a mom who I know.  She’s suing the Eanes Independent School District for alleged violations of her daughter’s civil rights.  The mom’s name is Cheryl and her eleven year old daughter has cerebral palsy.  Although I am familiar with Cheryl’s efforts to work with the Eanes School District to address her daughter’s needs, as I read the newspaper account of the lawsuit and the comments, I was struck by my feelings of enormous support for her and her tough fight ahead. 

As we prepare to celebrate moms this weekend, my thoughts will be with Cheryl.  I will think about her courage in taking on this wealthy and powerful school district.  I will think about her patient, steady, yet persistent and difficult conversations with school administrators.  I will think about how grateful I am for Cheryl’s courage to address obviously unfair and discriminatory systems.  And, I will think about how glad I am for extraordinary moms and role models such as Cheryl.

Happy Mother’s Day Cheryl and all moms!

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May
07

Mother’s Day Giveaway

posted by admin in Neighborhood announcements 0 comments

A mom’s role in each household can be very stressful at times, especially when parenting kids with special needs.  Therefore, a great Mother’s Day gift idea is the new, award winning book,    The Mother’s Guide to Self Renewal: How to Reclaim, Rejuvenate and Re-Balance Your Life by Renee Trudeau, a nationally recognized career/life balance coach (a $20 value).            

 

rtrudeau     

Download a FREE copy of life balance expert Renee Trudeau’s award winning The Mother’s Guide to Self-Renewal: How to Reclaim, Rejuvenate and Re-Balance Your Life for 48 hours: May 8th-May 10th at www.mothersguidetoselfrenewal.com.  Sign up today!

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