A Good Kiss Is Like a Sandwich

Here's a love story that I'm predicting will last.  Forever.

It's called "When Bill Met Shelley".   Listen to their story and celebrate true romance where good kisses and sandwiches both have something to do with Cupid.

And then to kindle another warm glow, take time for a visit to downtown Tinley Park in Illinois, where the non-profit Garden Gallery & Studio  has created a gentle blend of art, diversity, inclusion, and good coffee.  There's just something I really like about seeing all of those words together in the same sentence.

And in other news, here is my favorite spontaneous sentence of  today, "Mom, you are my sweetheart!"

Happy Valentine's Day!

Simplifying the Learning Process

It is more fun to talk with someone who doesn't use long, difficult words but rather short, easy ones like, "What about lunch?" --Winnie the Pooh

                                                                                                                                                                            

One of the things I've been learning as I work with Wade is how to simplify a learning experience into more manageable tasks.  In other words, we might take seven steps to get up the stairs instead of only two.

Here's what that looks like for memorizing his Sunday school verses.

 We begin Monday morning by writing the verse and reference on flashcards.  I used to write one word per card, but we have now graduated to chunking the words two or three at a time.

We read over the cards several times and then begin turning one card over at a time to leave a blank spot for him to say by memory.  He can peek under the card at any time to check if he forgets the word.  As soon as he can read the verse along with filling in the blank card from memory, then we turn the next card over and he has to say the verse with two blank cards, etc.

We practice every day and when he knows the verse, he gets to call Grandma and say it to her over the telephone.

And now he's got it!

In Tune with Music Therapy

For a child, play begins in delight and ends in wisdom. (from Music Together)

The brain that engages in music is changed by engaging in music.

Rhythm helps the brain take the most direct route to a goal.




Through the kind invitation of Wade's music therapist I was able to spend the weekend at the American Music Therapy Association Convention in Atlanta.  With a gathering of over 1300 music therapists, the inspiration, talent, and expertise were abundant.

I was interested to discover someone there from North Dakota (my home state).   Andrew Knight, a professor of music therapy at UND in Grand Forks, has been instrumental in working with legislature to enable North Dakota to pass the nation's first music therapy licensing law under the State Board of Integrative Health Care.  Other states are now following their example.  UND has a great article here about the licensure law and about music therapy.  It also has a good description about half-way down the page about the rigorous requirements for a music therapist.

The concept of using music to retrain the brain is a very attractive one, not only because music makes work seem like play, but also because there is a much greater advantage in utilizing medical advancements which will reshape the brain to work better rather than depending on drugs which may be able to have similar results, but which also carry with them the price of unknown side effects and continual dependency.

Music therapy has played a significant role in U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Gifford's recovery from a gunshot wound.

These videos show sessions of Gifford's music therapy and explain how music can be used to help form new paths in  the brain to take over from the part that is injured or non-functioning.





And here is another interesting  article about how music facilitates learning.
 Music Learning Supports All Learning

In the world we live in today, sometimes it seems that everyone wants to be a star, to be discovered, to become a singer on a world stage with the millions applauding.

I'll save my applause for the talented stars who humbly sit on my living room floor.....

........and perform for one little boy with Down syndrome.

Please Wash The Egg Carton Under the Faucet

So I'm compiling the statistics on Wade's vocabulary list to turn into the speech therapist for the month of October and I notice that I have not used the words faucet and egg carton with him at all.  Not even once.  Even though I have this list before my eyes every day.  Even though those were vocabulary words I suggested myself.  Even though Randall and Christopher have an egg business in which they gather their produce in egg cartons every day.  Prime opportunity for teaching.  You'd think out of the 31 days of October I would have noticed that.

And don't I tell Wade to wash his hands every day?  But somehow I didn't take the chance to say, "Turn on the faucet."

So I'm feeling lowly and sheepish.

And then I read this article on parenting called Humble Pie: It's Good For You.

You know, I believe that's about right.

I'm grabbing a fork and eating a new kind of health food.

And there's always November.......

                                                          .........egg carton, faucet, egg carton, faucet, egg carton, faucet....

Making Connections

The more I learn, the more I am amazed at how one area of development leads to another. In His great wisdom, God has created us so that the natural, loving care of families feeds a child's development in exactly the right ways.

It is when we notice deviations from the usual that we realize extra means are necessary to bring about the same results.  With any delay in development, it is a gamble to do nothing.  We don't do early intervention so that John can compete academically with Sue, but so that John can meet early developmental goals that, in turn, become part of the process which will maximize his potential later on of living a healthy, productive life.

No, I can't predict the future with definitive certainty for my child with developmental delays, but neither can I predict the future for my other children.  For all of them, however, I wish to do what I can to guide and train them to be responsible members of society who will help to build for the good of others.

What I do today, although seemingly insignificant, becomes monumental when joining forces with the powers of yesterday and tomorrow.

And so, although I have not yet experienced the future with my children, I can learn from the lives of those who have journeyed a similar path.

So for the protein of today's post, here are some connections to explore for the education of both you and your child.

Down Syndrome 101 ---lots of helpful information here on a wide range of subjects

Down Syndrome Daily ---news articles relating to Down syndrome

Your Therapy Source  ---many terrific printables and activities here from pediatric occupational and physical therapists

And here are some things we're doing....as we continue to learn...

You might very well ask, what are we doing?  It all looks so ordinary.  No formulas for greatness there.  

And if you said that you would be absolutely right.  For we are learning that simply incorporating the daily lessons into our practical life opportunities as we go, allows the Ordinary to become the fertile ground where someday the Extraordinary may bloom.

Finding Things

Fun with sensory development

Shut your eyes!

Find the car.  No peeking!

You did it!

Shut your eyes again!

Find the block.

Yay!

Find the pig!

Find the ball!

Find the chicken!

Find the brothers.

Found them!

Best find of the day!

Getting All Emotional

Practicing new vocabulary words

Happy

Grumpy

Sad

Thoughtful

Surprised

Scared

Ice cream

Wait a minute!  That's not an emotion!

Okay, okay!  If you say so.   I feel ice cream too!

Happy now?

There Are No Shortcuts

"Take it easy today," the doctor said after surgery yesterday.  At least that's what Nevin tells me he said since I was sort of, um, out of it.  "Then you can resume regular activity according to how you feel. Your leg will let you know if you're doing too much."

Well, I'm sort of having trouble communicating with my leg.  I'd rather the doctor just said, "Get up and walk 10 minutes out of every hour."  That would be easy.

But this thing about listening to my leg.  I mean, as soon as I think, yes, it's telling me to lie back and take it easy, then it speaks up and says, "You lazy bum.  What do you mean sitting here and letting poor Nevin do all the work?  Get up right now!"

And re-wrapping it is another story.  There is a fine line between wrapping firmly and shutting off the blood to your toes.

It all makes me have to actually think when I'd rather just take a mental leave of absence for a while.

It's been said that nothing grieves a child more than to study the wrong lesson and learn something he didn't have to learn.  (Oh, no!  Extra knowledge!  What will I do with it?)

But by the time we're adults, we know that extra learning only expands the realm in which we live, creating a more vibrant place to grow.

Of course, we all want our children to learn and to enjoy learning.  But how do we accomplish this?

Meet  the Hobart Shakespeareans.  Fifth graders from the inner city.  For most of them English is a second language.

Meet Rafe Esquith.  The teacher who year after year does the impossible, transforming young minds to perform far above the expected, training them to learn for the intrinsic value of knowledge, and ultimately changing them to benefit society with their creativity.

What curriculum does he use, that can bring about such marvelous results?

The answer is this:  none.

His classroom has two rules.  Be nice.  Work hard.

And I'm guessing that's not what you wanted to hear.

But these children, whom nobody expected to succeed at anything except maybe crime, are reading above grade level, doing algebra, and performing Shakespeare's plays.  And all because of a teacher who goes the extra mile, who observes the children and sees how they really learn, who invests overtime in the future--theirs, yours, and mine.

I am not suggesting that you move to California and enroll your children in Rafe's class.  I am not even suggesting that you find a similarly talented professional to inspire your child.

We all seem to want a miracle.  A short way of getting there from here.  There must, we think, be some magical program that will get us what we want.  If we just do this 10 or 20 minutes a day, find the right teacher/therapist, gulp the right nutritional system, buy the right computer program, etc. then, at last, everything will fall into place.

But the truth is that the magic we are looking for exists between our own ears.

We live in a time when becoming empowered with knowledge is extraordinarily easy.  The Information Superhighway brings it straight to our doors.  News You Can Use falls from the sky in any form you want.  But all the knowledge in the world won't be beneficial unless we put it to work.  And we, as parents, must take that responsibility to do so.

You are the Rafe in your child's life.

Read.  Make informed decisions.

Observe.  How does your child learn?  What time of day does he function best?

Keep records.  The progress may be slow, so keeping a calendar of your child's progress helps you to see that, yes, he is performing on a higher level this month than last.  At the end of May, he might not have been answering comprehension questions with any degree of sensibility. "Is there a dinosaur in the room?"  "Yes!"   But by August, you realize that he is listening to your questions and trying to make reasonable replies.  "What did you see on your field trip to the farm?"  "A pig!  And horse!  And dinosaur!"  (Well, okay, 2 out of 3 isn't bad.)

Pay attention to the details.  Respond with enthusiasm when he uses his new vocabulary words.  Notice when he opens the middle drawer, then says to himself, "No, bottom drawer!"  Celebrate and reinforce.  "You found your bath toys in the bottom drawer!"

Practice new skills and build on previous knowledge.  It is of little use to have the most brilliant professionals working with your child if you are not going to have the self-discipline to reinforce at home what they are teaching.

These things sound so simple.  And that's probably where we tend to fall down.  There is no glamour in doing the same type of thing day after day.  But it's in the repetition and the knowledge of when to move forward that the foundations of learning are laid.

We just have to listen and think and act.  In short, connect with your inner Rafe.

Now let me go speak to my leg.  Did you say purple?  Aaaarrrrgghhh!

The Language of Music

"It's easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself."- J.S. Bach

Wade began music therapy with a Kindermusik class when he was 3 years old. After that class was completed, we continued with one-on-one music therapy over the summer. We have kept on with music therapy ever since except for a break this summer. He now has music therapy twice a week with two different music therapists.

One of the first benefits of music therapy that I saw in Wade was an improvement in rhythm. Because rhythm is included in the backbone of speech, as a child's rhythm improves, so also does his vocabulary.  I had thought that it would take much hand-over-hand tutoring to accomplish the art of staying in rhythm, but Wade was soon tapping to the beat, inspired by observing and imitating (what seemed to be) playful games with the music therapist. And along with a better sense of rhythm came new words and longer sentences.

Another huge benefit of music therapy for Wade is that the music therapist is able to take any of the child's other pt, ot, or speech goals and incorporate them into the music. Because music has always been a passion for Wade, it provides the key to unlock the doors of fundamental learning by seducing his attention and holding it. Music becomes an invisible schoolhouse in a natural setting enabling him to learn and meet his goals without ever realizing that he is working. Music has helped to stretch his attention span until now he is able to put small puzzles together independently and to complete tracing pages mostly on his own. Days of the week, months of the year, weather, abc's, and numbers have all been learned through music. When he was younger, music was the best way to teach him sign language. Additionally, isolating problematic letter sounds and putting them to music also helped to make him aware of remembering to say them the correct way.

Music therapy's incorporation of movement and learning corresponds well to the explosion of current research on the connection between movement and cognition, whose findings imply that education should involve movement to enhance learning. When Wade manipulates learning mediums with his hands, or moves with purpose related to mental activity, he processes and retains new information much better. It stretches his ability to complete sequencing activities correctly and aids in the process of permanently downloading new vocabulary into his brain.

When Wade turned 4, the music therapist began to do adaptive piano along with the other mt activities. Once again, I have been amazed at the performance of cognitive skills this has showcased that I might otherwise have missed. This is a great picture of order in the environment creating order in the mind. Now, at almost 5, Wade is playing simple songs on the piano (by reading color-coded music) and is isolating the appropriate fingers to use with the coordinating keys. He is also best able to follow a sequence when it involves the keyboard, leading me to believe that music has enhanced his listening skills and helped him to focus with much greater clarity. Research again backs up this theory by showing how brains can organize themselves in response to sensory input. An interesting study was done in 1980 by M. C. Piper and M. K. Ramsay on the effect of early home environment on the mental development of infants who had Down syndrome. In this study, organization in the home was a direct factor in predicting the IQ of these children.

More recent research reported by Oliver Sacks in Musicophilia reveals the fact that a professional musician's occupation can be identified by simply seeing a picture of his brain. In other words, the study of music has given him more connections between the hemispheres of his brain than most other people have. If that is true, then it seems likely to me that a well-ordered introduction and guidance to music beginning when my child is very young will have long-lasting impact on his cognitive development throughout life.

It is a passion worth cultivating.

* For further information on music and Down syndrome read this article written by Stephanie Bennet in 2009 entitled "Music may improve verbal memory--Implications for children with Down syndrome".

* And do take a look at this clip about Bryann Burgess who will be singing the national anthem for our Buddy Walk in a couple of weeks. Bryann is currently a junior at the University of South Carolina where she is participating in their non-degree program, living on campus, and attending classes on her own without a tutor. Her passion for teaching and her talent for music come together in the work she is doing in assisting with a Kindermusik class.

Hello, My Name is Wade

I just had a birthday.  I am five years old.

When I was born, my mom wondered what I would be like when I was five.

I could have told her she didn't need to worry.

Because now that I'm five I can do lots of things.

Take a look.

Ah, Mom! You don't need to worry about me!

I can even take pictures with your camera.

Oooops!

Oh well, a fella can't be good at everything.