“Crying was viewed by the ABA people Melanie worked with as a “breakthrough” With no alternative means of communication, and no way to talk, Melanie failed miserably on simple tasks that were well beneath her capabilities, and her confidence and energy for life, what was left of it, slipped away as well. The only thing Mel…
Education
Newborn Babies Cry With An Accent
“Newborns are likely highly motivated to imitate their mothers in order to enhance bonding” ~Kathleen Wermke PhD Language begins with the very first cry A study published in 2009 in the journal Current Biology suggested crying infants may be imitating the patterns of the language they heard while in the womb. Essentially they found babies from…
Planning Your Child’s Transition to Preschool
Planning Your Child’s Transition to Preschool: A Step-by-Step Guide for Families Original Paper by Lynette K. Chandler, Susan A. Fowler, Sarah Hadden, and Lisa Stahurski A publication of FACTS/LRE, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign I’ve referred to this paper for over a decade and the original website that hosted this has been gone for…
Tips On Easing Preschool Separation Anxiety
According to a newsletter published by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), early childhood educators suggest staying in the new situation with your child the first few days, for decreasing amounts of time, until he is comfortable with his new environment. Your child will feel more comfortable with you there for…
Notes From A Warrior Mom For IEP Meetings
“I went in there so prepared….. but most of all, I had a belief of what was right… and I was not going to settle for anything BUT what was APPROPRIATE for my Son…. LOL- my hubby used the word “best” a few times…. it was perfect….. and gave me a chance to say “that…
Wise Words About Stupid Standardized Testing
“I asked the district at that point to give me the closest thing they could legally to the FCAT reading and math test, and I took it. That test labelled me as a poor reader, and I have a couple of masters’ degrees, and I’ve been re-elected four times and I teach 39 graduate courses at six universities in this country.” ~John…
Sample Letters To Your Child’s New Teacher For Apraxia Autism Or Any Special Need
“Teachers need as much parentel help as they can get. I appreciate parents who become involved in the learning process and interact with me about testing. If your teachers school has email for the instructors as my school does email can be an easy way to find out just what is each teacher doing with…
The Communication Book
One of the best ways of keeping everyone in the loop is through a “communication book.” It’s the child’s diary, except that there may be half a dozen different contributors If you don’t know what a communication book and you have a child that has a communication impairment, this will be much needed information from…
Don’t Test Ability On A Disability
Testing your child’s ability on their disability is a violation of your child’s civil rights in the United States. You’d think it wouldn’t happen then, but you’d think wrong if you are talking about communication impairments. When speaking in regards to civil rights I like to refer to communication impairments as a verbal disability. A…
Organic Oreos With Organic Water
The original definition of the word organic from the 18th century is: “the condition of being ordered as a living being.” While a blow drier, a fork, and a toenail clipper are not organic, yet, we now have organic Oreos, organic water, and organic Kraft mac and cheese. Manufacturers know that consumers see the word organic…