Author: Gwen

I am a mother of one toddler, but before I became a mom I worked in all things kids. I have a B.S. Early Child Development and a M.Ed. Special Education. I have eight years experience of working directly with children with special needs, as well as, an additional six working with typically developing children. I also grew up with a sibling that is bipolar and am currently helping my four-year old niece navigate through Arizona services to get help for a speech delay and ADHD. This site is published as additional information only and is not meant to serve as a plan for any specific child. Please find a developmental pediatrician in your area to get help tailored for your child. Enjoy;)

getting your child to sleep alone through the night in their own bed

Getting Your Child to Sleep Alone Through the Night in Their Bed

February 20, 2013February 20, 20131 Comment

Getting your child to sleep alone through the nigh in their own bed can be challenging and exhausting. Here are some ideas to help both of you get a peaceful night’s rest.

First: Assess the child. What is enabling their sleep pattern? What steps do you need to take to change things?

Second: Assess what stage you are at. Is it an all night thing, or somewhere in the middle of the night they end up in your bed? Are they in their bed and just having a rough go of making it through the night?

Third: Take the next natural step for your child. Come up with a road map for your family and stick with it. Nothing great happens without a plan and people that will see the plan through. Think of this as your personal agreement to getting your child to sleep alone through the night in their own bed and to saving everyone’s sanity.

Ideas for your Road Map to Getting your Child to Sleep Alone…

You could: let them sleep on the floor next to your bed, let them fall asleep and move them, snuggle with them in their bed. My son’s sleep is a little out of order lately because I’ve had some recent health issues, but normally to get him to sleep where I want him to it uses a little bit of reason, a little bit of reinforcement, a little bit of love, and a little bit (or lot) of patients. It all depends on what makes your child tick and motivates them. Do they like their bed? Are you projecting any anxiety over the big kid move? Assess the full situation, take it all into account, and then lay down the rules about how the night routine is going to work. Special clocks, special doors to keep children locked in and following the plan (I like barn style kid room doors personally), and great bedding might just work. Good luck on this great adventure!

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Learning Disabilities: Definition, Rights, & Education

February 13, 2013Leave a comment

Learning disabilities are defined by IDEA, Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, as: A disorder in one or more of the basic psychological processes involved in understanding or in using language, spoken or written, that may manifest itself in an imperfect ability to listen, think, speak, read, write, spell, or to do mathematical calculations, including conditions such as perceptual disabilities, brain injury, minimal brain dysfunction, dyslexia, and developmental aphasia.

Rights of Those with Learning Disabilities

Those with learning disabilities have rights, such as:

Entitled to an Individualized Education Plan (IEP)
An education in the least restrictive environment (LRE)

Four Key Components to Educating Those with Learning Disabilities

Motivation: Helping a child to succeed without their own motivation is impossible. Find what makes them tick or what is really going to motivate them to reaching for a better education and truly overcoming their learning disability. This may mean positive reinforcements that can be provided by the teacher or in cooperation with the parent. If money is an issue, think outside the box. Motivation can come in all shapes and sizes and once the child experiences success, they are more likely to try again without any external motivation.
Acquisition: This simply refers to them acquiring the information. People have all sorts of different learning styles, so make sure that you are teaching the child how they learn. Do they need hands on projects? Do they need flashcards? Learning comes in all shapes and sizes.
Retention: Many individuals with Learning Disabilities have a hard time remembering and recalling information. This means constant review is necessary
Performance: Having a child know information is great, but they also need to be able to apply the information both to tests and into the real world

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Educating Special Needs Children: How to Truly Help

February 5, 2013Leave a comment

Educating special needs children provides it own challenges and rewards. Children with mental retardation, autism, severe disabilities, and multiple disabilities need special education that focuses on their current developmental levels. By focusing on their current levels, instead of the information normally provided in their chronological age/grade level, the children can be given goals that they can obtain, which can lead to more successful accomplishments. Here are some ideas to help children with special needs succeed in school:

Educating Special Needs Children with Intellectual Disabilities

Intellectual disabilities include a disability characterized by significant limitation in both intellectual functioning and conceptual, social, and practical adaptive skills. It is also characterized by people at or below the IQ range of 70 to 75. There are more than 250 identified causes of intellectual disabilities. They include prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal factors that may be influenced biologically and/or environmentally. Children with intellectual disabilities may have complications learning because they can have difficulties differentiating important issues/material from unimportant issues/material. They may also have problems generalizing experiences from one setting to a universal application. Because of this, it maybe helpful for teachers to stimulate real world experiences into the children’s classroom education.

The strategy of picking curriculum should include:

being team-oriented
set curricular goals
being socially valid and practical
reflecting priorities from ecological assessment
requiring active student participation in learning
fostering self-determination
be individualized so that the curriculum can achieve increased priority skills related to ecological assessment
expanded relationships with schoolmates
foster membership in the school and community
real world experiences that help them generalize information
By coming up with an individualized plan and strategy, the teacher can get the most out of the child’s learning experience.

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Allergies and Special Needs: A Key to Making a Difference

January 28, 20131 Comment

Allergies can play all sorts of rolls in children with special needs. We commonly hear about autism and the roll food allergies can play. From being ‘the cure’ to minimizing some of the issues, it can help children succeed. This video for Real Look Autism.com shows us how therapists and parents are helping a six-year old boy, with severe food allergies, learn to eat safely.

Allergies can come in all shapes and sizes however. It maybe food but it also may be environmental or seasonal allergies that set off a string of issues in a child or adult. I personally have lots of allergies from fragrances to dyes to preservatives, and even when I am not having a super bad allergic reaction if I do something as simply use normal soap, I can become super itchy and as a result super distracted. If you add a disability to this, their problems to be compounded. It can also be exhausting to try and overcome these allergies while dealing with other health issues.

I found an interesting article that stated:

“People with autism are more susceptible to allergies and food sensitivities than the average person; and this is likely due to their impaired immune system.Food sensitivities are considered to be allergies due to the fact that in autism, one’s immune system is overly reactive to these substances. The most common food products to which this sensitivity develops are grains (e.g., wheat, rye, oats) and dairy products (e.g., milk, cheese, whey).”

I have also heard a great developmental pediatrician talk about a child that was misdiagnosed. He was really allergic to a chemical used in the cleaning supplies at his school and as a result showed problems that gave the illusion to an emotional disability.

If you suspect you or your child have such an allergy, get tested. You can also try omitting certain things from your diet or body for ten days and see if you notice a difference.

Behavior and Cognitive Interventions: Finding the Best Solution

January 25, 2013Leave a comment

Behavior and Cognitive interventions can help children succeed when they have been having difficulty. The following are activities, strategies, and methods for teaching appropriate behavior and cognitive skills to children with Emotional Behavior Disorders. Although these tools are primarily for those with Emotional Behavior Disorders, they can be applied to all children learning these skills.

Behavior Interventions

Behavior interventions can be necessary for children who act out in class or home and have difficulty following along. These children may need extra guidelines and assistance to stay attentive in class or at home with appropriate behaviors. They also may assistance in forming a positive self-value and learn new coping skill. In order to help them:

Set up minimal, concise, and clear rules
Get on the same page as parents, therapists, and other professionals
Reinforce positive behaviors
Stay patient and remain objective
Establish routines so that children know what to expect
Allow times for children to practice their responsibility
Concisely identify the behavior that needs to be changed

Cognitive Interventions

Students with Emotional Behavior Disorders are often challenged throughout school in a variety of academic skills and as a result may need some cognitive interventions. These interventions can help to challenge them and encourage them to become successful in the classroom. Cognitive interventions can also apply to helping children’s mental health. The following ideas are strategies that can be used to encourage cognitive development:

Direct families to seek professional psychological help if necessary.
Keep children challenged and push them without being scared of their outburst and/or other reactions
Set up appropriate academic goals, which challenge the child’s academic skills and cognitive development
Assess the child to see where they currently are psychological and developmentally
Set up a plan to help children cope independently as well as facilitated
Have children as part of the IEP team to set up goals, which can focus on academic and psychological health

A Child With Needs

Early child development from a mom and professional.