Imagine a ten-year-old learner with limited verbal capacity, physical challenges including tics and seizures, vision problems, and cognitive impairment. Does this learner not deserve to discover that he can’t get a box open with his hands? That there may be a tool he can use? That using a plastic knife is not as effective as …
No one ever thinks the worst is going to happen, especially to them. Think about the last time you got hurt? Or your child? Most likely, it was preventable and you know it. Taking the steps now to make a plan, have identification on your child and common dangers …
This is a time of darkness in the Northern Hemisphere. Every year on December 21st, the Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of the year. Yet equally as important, it marks the time when the days begin to lengthen, minute by minute–often as imperceptibly as the development and growth of a child.
I met Elaine Hall in Los Angeles during the summer of 2004, when The Miracle Project New York’s journey began as a pilot musical theater program for kids with autism, learning disabilities, special needs and their siblings that took place on Wednesday evenings in Santa Monica, California.
This is an inspiring video and food for thought about the simple activity of swinging, approached in a new way. I personally love to swing and always have. Even now, when I am at the playground with my family, I gravitate to the swings. I love the repetitive and soothing movement. I’ve often said if I had the space, I would install a large swing in my backyard. I would swing after work every day just to unwind and reflect for a half hour…a cathartic release of sorts. But a swing that makes music when you pump???
Music, with all of its unique & tempting elements, captivates us in some undefinable way. It certainly captivates many children with ASD. They are often intrigued by either the rhythmic qualities of music or its melodic and harmonic forms. Some children are only motivated by a particular instrument like the guitar. Lyrics are the allure for some, while other children are driven by one style of music or performer which quickly becomes a favorite. Music is an easily accessible language, requiring no translation. We all seem to understand music’s fundamental messages whether we are musical or not. We understand what music implies: like identifying anxious or sad melodies. …