A wonderful link that expresses with simplicity and clarity the ways a child can protect him/herself by differentiating the different types of touches.May be an uncomfortable topic for many parents but in the real world it needs to be dealt with complete awareness and honesty that it does exist..
It is one that children can watch and understand : -
Recognising good and bad feelings when you are touched
Understanding that it is your right to protect yourself from what you dont like
Ability to say no, not feel guilty or embarassed
Confiding in a trusting adult.
Thanks Shilpa
Watch this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0_PUSb8GrY
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Sensory Integration-handling sensory issues
This is something i have really researched upon not just to use for Anandita's sensory needs but also to gather more understanding about it as a whole..I have written here chiefly focusing on my daughter's issues but the area is so vast that it would be better to google it for more informaiton.
Imagine this situation: My child is playing quietly in the dining room when the pressure cooker suddenly blows its whistle in the kitchen some meters away. My child is not just startled but becomes totally frightened and stiff with fear. Nothing can soothe her in that moment of anguish.
My child has a primal fear of climbing anything where her feet have to leave the ground. No amount of reassurance/encouragement can relieve her fear and gravitational insecurities. She will hold onto me for dear life if she is unsure where to walk say on the road/kerb or even while climbing a stool. She can’t stand on one foot and has difficulty with any action that needs balance.
I find almost all her crayons and pencil points broken as she is unable to decide how much pressure is needed to be applied on the object. She is unable gauge how much pressure is required to turn the pages of a book or to hold a cup of water.
If she has to fall down, her reflexes are slower to respond. Her poor body awareness is visible during activities. Even while helping her get dressed and undressed she does not know how to move her body. The difficulty is in motor planning here where she cannot conceptualize or figure out what each part of her body needs to do in order to move a certain way or complete a task (what is an unconscious sense to us, becomes an active, conscious, frustrating sense to them).
Each of the above is to do with our senses. Our sense organs are highly sensitive and extremely complex.
The above scenarios all come under the purview of SENSORY INTEGRATION.
Sensory integration: What is it?
All of us receive information from our environment-internal and external through our senses-vision, hearing(auditory),touch(tactile),taste(gustatory),smell(olfactory, vestibular(movement) and proprioceptive(joint and muscle).All of us respond to these stimuli simultaneously. And the term ‘sensory integration’ is the process by which we receive this information. Our central nervous system directs this information to the appropriate parts of the brain where the information is integrated so that we can respond to the stimuli.
When we cannot automatically integrate sensations and respond in an adaptive way, we get a disorder of sensory integration. It is not just an ordinary disorder. This complex neurological disorder can have a negative impact on the child’s capacity to learn, to function in socially appropriate ways and perform the daily tasks of living, and self esteem.
In the above instances I have touched upon only those areas whereAnandita has a lack. The spectrums of sensory integration issues are many involving all of the senses. My concerns for her were due to her poor motor control, postural instability, auditory hypersensitivity and poor hand eye coordination.
During her annual assessment it was recommended that she get a SI assessment done by a specialist Sensory integration therapist. I was asked to fill up a form that was so detailed and exhaustive that it consumed my attention totally. The questions asked were specific, some so relevant to me, some unnecessary. I came to understand how many areas were covered under this issue. It had extremely specific questions on her Social interactions/Sense of sight/touch/smell/taste/vestibular/body movements/hearing. And I had to tick the fields under Always/Frequently/Occasionally/Never.
Usually before a therapy session that involves the tilt board/obstacle play; my daughter is always fearful and scared. She keeps repeating the same things again and again that she is scared, will break her knuckles and look fearful. Soon after meeting the SI therapist I understood two things-
(1)She has a PROPRIOCEPTIVE DYSFUNCTION. The proprioceptive sense refers to the sensory input and feedback that tells us about movement and body position. A dysfunction in the Proprioception system affects the child’s awareness of their body position in space It's "receptors" are located within our muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons, and connective tissues. It is one of the "deep senses" and can be considered the "position sense" These activities are almost endless in choices. It refers to motor control and planning, body awareness, grading of movement (knowing how "hard" or "soft" to perform a task), and postural stability. If the proprioceptive sense is not working well, it will be difficult to move in smooth, coordinated, and properly graded movements. These children will have difficulty with both gross and fine motor tasks such as riding a bike, writing, walking, crawling, or playing sports. Some children also require additional proprioceptive input just to keep their bodies calm, organized, and arousal levels regulated.
(2)Although all obstacles play and tilt board climbing and balance activities are extremely vital for her, doing them consistently would certainly not help her overcome her fears. Unless she was taught certain calming techniques. Here calming techniques meant training her brain in such a way she would be able to overcome the fears gradually once her senses were integrated. Calming techniques are not learnt overnight or in one SI therapy session. It is something that has to become a part and parcel of her day to day life.
Calming techniques:
(1)I didn’t know that heavy muscle and joint activities could calm and organize her body until I related it to myself. When I did yoga or hit the gym, there were days when I would end the session with the feeling of “just right’. The same applied for her too. Activities such as crawling, pushing, pulling, lifting, climbing and "crashing" all provide inputs to receptors deep in the muscles and joints that provide calming input to the body. Children also get this same "ahh this feels right" feeling by doing play activities that give them this input. By providing this type of regular input it would be possible to feel "just right" throughout the waking hours. When in doubt, "move, move, and move!” Activities that one can include are trampoline jumping with assistance in holding, crawling through a tunnel, climbing, using a swing, wheelbarrow walking, bouncing on a large ball.
Swinging is the best technique to improve balance. For anandita it was recommended that we could try different positions on the swing-face down, sideways sitting, even standing and along with this to gradually introduce resistance activity. She could be asked to stretch and pull an object towards her while on the swing. The pace of movement should be changed every time, and the direction of the movement too.
A simple exercise that she did with anandita was like this-Diti was face down/tummy down on the swing and swinging at a moderate pace and with her right hand she was asked to pull an object towards her. This combined two aspects-balance and resistance activity. Small gentle doses of swing activity are required for children with gravitational insecurity.
Walking on unstable surfaces is also important to enable the body to learn what it needs to do to maintain its balance. Body adjustments come with practice on different surfaces.
Teach the child to gently rock herself. Or opt for a rocking chair/rocking horse. The rhythm should be gentle not over stimulating.
Essentially any activity that involves movement and joint action must be a part of this such as exercising to music- including walking, skipping, jumping, running, galloping and hopping,whatever the child is capable of doing.Engage in activities that require pushing, pulling, squeezing, lifting, carrying, twisting, and lugging along.Even jumping activities like jump rope or jumping on the trampoline,Playing catch with a variety of objects,activities that involve climbing, hanging from bars, walking on a balance beam.
(2 Another form of sensory modulation is "Deep Pressure"
Deep touch pressure is helpful for many problems with sensory integration, especially those involving the tactile and proprioceptive senses. It can mean simply rubbing your child’s shoulders or giving them a warm bear hug. I was asked to try and squash up diti between 2 pillows or let her self-administer pressure to his or her joints by doing heavy work like lugging boxes, pushing and pulling a bolster, putting away therapy equipment like stools and wedges in the right place.
It is often helpful to message the child's hands just prior to attempting fine motor tasks. The assistant can apply continual gentle pressure on the child's hands with their hands as they are rolling out play dough or washing their hands. Having the children wear a weighted backpack or carry their workbaskets enables them to feel the weight on their muscles and joints. Fall into a beanbag chair. Jumping and rolling games. Slowly roll a ball or bolster over the child, applying pressure.
The Process
It’s important to determine which sensory systems are involved in the area of need. It is also essential to know where the child is developmentally. Make notes as to what the child is doing (don’t focus only on what the child is not doing) and any behavior patterns. Some children differ from one day to the next, having off days and ‘good’ days. Be sure to make note of this. The child with SD may have a difficult time reading cues in the environment (both verbal and non-verbal). If the child is receiving the sensory information, they might not have the ability to organize this information and produce an efficient response. For these children everyday ordinary tasks are extremely challenging to perform and respond to.
Key facts during the implementation of the process:
For any SI session to be effective, the stimuli used should always vary. No set exercises/play for this session. Use novel stimuli.
Use novel positions.
Use novel places-not just indoors, use the park, garden and wherever possible.
When movement is used for them, say on a swing, the pace and the direction should vary.
No predictability here because with novelty, the brain also receives and responds to the stimuli in a more aware manner.
Always be patient. Suppose you want the child to reach a ball pool by crossing many obstacles (objects strewn along the path).Try not to prompt what the child needs to do or how he needs to use his body to reach there. Always give the time to the child to figure it out for himself/herself.
Proper intake and use of sensory input is absolutely critical to a child's maturation process and the building of core, foundational skills.
Imagine this situation: My child is playing quietly in the dining room when the pressure cooker suddenly blows its whistle in the kitchen some meters away. My child is not just startled but becomes totally frightened and stiff with fear. Nothing can soothe her in that moment of anguish.
My child has a primal fear of climbing anything where her feet have to leave the ground. No amount of reassurance/encouragement can relieve her fear and gravitational insecurities. She will hold onto me for dear life if she is unsure where to walk say on the road/kerb or even while climbing a stool. She can’t stand on one foot and has difficulty with any action that needs balance.
I find almost all her crayons and pencil points broken as she is unable to decide how much pressure is needed to be applied on the object. She is unable gauge how much pressure is required to turn the pages of a book or to hold a cup of water.
If she has to fall down, her reflexes are slower to respond. Her poor body awareness is visible during activities. Even while helping her get dressed and undressed she does not know how to move her body. The difficulty is in motor planning here where she cannot conceptualize or figure out what each part of her body needs to do in order to move a certain way or complete a task (what is an unconscious sense to us, becomes an active, conscious, frustrating sense to them).
Each of the above is to do with our senses. Our sense organs are highly sensitive and extremely complex.
The above scenarios all come under the purview of SENSORY INTEGRATION.
Sensory integration: What is it?
All of us receive information from our environment-internal and external through our senses-vision, hearing(auditory),touch(tactile),taste(gustatory),smell(olfactory, vestibular(movement) and proprioceptive(joint and muscle).All of us respond to these stimuli simultaneously. And the term ‘sensory integration’ is the process by which we receive this information. Our central nervous system directs this information to the appropriate parts of the brain where the information is integrated so that we can respond to the stimuli.
When we cannot automatically integrate sensations and respond in an adaptive way, we get a disorder of sensory integration. It is not just an ordinary disorder. This complex neurological disorder can have a negative impact on the child’s capacity to learn, to function in socially appropriate ways and perform the daily tasks of living, and self esteem.
In the above instances I have touched upon only those areas whereAnandita has a lack. The spectrums of sensory integration issues are many involving all of the senses. My concerns for her were due to her poor motor control, postural instability, auditory hypersensitivity and poor hand eye coordination.
During her annual assessment it was recommended that she get a SI assessment done by a specialist Sensory integration therapist. I was asked to fill up a form that was so detailed and exhaustive that it consumed my attention totally. The questions asked were specific, some so relevant to me, some unnecessary. I came to understand how many areas were covered under this issue. It had extremely specific questions on her Social interactions/Sense of sight/touch/smell/taste/vestibular/body movements/hearing. And I had to tick the fields under Always/Frequently/Occasionally/Never.
Usually before a therapy session that involves the tilt board/obstacle play; my daughter is always fearful and scared. She keeps repeating the same things again and again that she is scared, will break her knuckles and look fearful. Soon after meeting the SI therapist I understood two things-
(1)She has a PROPRIOCEPTIVE DYSFUNCTION. The proprioceptive sense refers to the sensory input and feedback that tells us about movement and body position. A dysfunction in the Proprioception system affects the child’s awareness of their body position in space It's "receptors" are located within our muscles, joints, ligaments, tendons, and connective tissues. It is one of the "deep senses" and can be considered the "position sense" These activities are almost endless in choices. It refers to motor control and planning, body awareness, grading of movement (knowing how "hard" or "soft" to perform a task), and postural stability. If the proprioceptive sense is not working well, it will be difficult to move in smooth, coordinated, and properly graded movements. These children will have difficulty with both gross and fine motor tasks such as riding a bike, writing, walking, crawling, or playing sports. Some children also require additional proprioceptive input just to keep their bodies calm, organized, and arousal levels regulated.
(2)Although all obstacles play and tilt board climbing and balance activities are extremely vital for her, doing them consistently would certainly not help her overcome her fears. Unless she was taught certain calming techniques. Here calming techniques meant training her brain in such a way she would be able to overcome the fears gradually once her senses were integrated. Calming techniques are not learnt overnight or in one SI therapy session. It is something that has to become a part and parcel of her day to day life.
Calming techniques:
(1)I didn’t know that heavy muscle and joint activities could calm and organize her body until I related it to myself. When I did yoga or hit the gym, there were days when I would end the session with the feeling of “just right’. The same applied for her too. Activities such as crawling, pushing, pulling, lifting, climbing and "crashing" all provide inputs to receptors deep in the muscles and joints that provide calming input to the body. Children also get this same "ahh this feels right" feeling by doing play activities that give them this input. By providing this type of regular input it would be possible to feel "just right" throughout the waking hours. When in doubt, "move, move, and move!” Activities that one can include are trampoline jumping with assistance in holding, crawling through a tunnel, climbing, using a swing, wheelbarrow walking, bouncing on a large ball.
Swinging is the best technique to improve balance. For anandita it was recommended that we could try different positions on the swing-face down, sideways sitting, even standing and along with this to gradually introduce resistance activity. She could be asked to stretch and pull an object towards her while on the swing. The pace of movement should be changed every time, and the direction of the movement too.
A simple exercise that she did with anandita was like this-Diti was face down/tummy down on the swing and swinging at a moderate pace and with her right hand she was asked to pull an object towards her. This combined two aspects-balance and resistance activity. Small gentle doses of swing activity are required for children with gravitational insecurity.
Walking on unstable surfaces is also important to enable the body to learn what it needs to do to maintain its balance. Body adjustments come with practice on different surfaces.
Teach the child to gently rock herself. Or opt for a rocking chair/rocking horse. The rhythm should be gentle not over stimulating.
Essentially any activity that involves movement and joint action must be a part of this such as exercising to music- including walking, skipping, jumping, running, galloping and hopping,whatever the child is capable of doing.Engage in activities that require pushing, pulling, squeezing, lifting, carrying, twisting, and lugging along.Even jumping activities like jump rope or jumping on the trampoline,Playing catch with a variety of objects,activities that involve climbing, hanging from bars, walking on a balance beam.
(2 Another form of sensory modulation is "Deep Pressure"
Deep touch pressure is helpful for many problems with sensory integration, especially those involving the tactile and proprioceptive senses. It can mean simply rubbing your child’s shoulders or giving them a warm bear hug. I was asked to try and squash up diti between 2 pillows or let her self-administer pressure to his or her joints by doing heavy work like lugging boxes, pushing and pulling a bolster, putting away therapy equipment like stools and wedges in the right place.
It is often helpful to message the child's hands just prior to attempting fine motor tasks. The assistant can apply continual gentle pressure on the child's hands with their hands as they are rolling out play dough or washing their hands. Having the children wear a weighted backpack or carry their workbaskets enables them to feel the weight on their muscles and joints. Fall into a beanbag chair. Jumping and rolling games. Slowly roll a ball or bolster over the child, applying pressure.
The Process
It’s important to determine which sensory systems are involved in the area of need. It is also essential to know where the child is developmentally. Make notes as to what the child is doing (don’t focus only on what the child is not doing) and any behavior patterns. Some children differ from one day to the next, having off days and ‘good’ days. Be sure to make note of this. The child with SD may have a difficult time reading cues in the environment (both verbal and non-verbal). If the child is receiving the sensory information, they might not have the ability to organize this information and produce an efficient response. For these children everyday ordinary tasks are extremely challenging to perform and respond to.
Key facts during the implementation of the process:
For any SI session to be effective, the stimuli used should always vary. No set exercises/play for this session. Use novel stimuli.
Use novel positions.
Use novel places-not just indoors, use the park, garden and wherever possible.
When movement is used for them, say on a swing, the pace and the direction should vary.
No predictability here because with novelty, the brain also receives and responds to the stimuli in a more aware manner.
Always be patient. Suppose you want the child to reach a ball pool by crossing many obstacles (objects strewn along the path).Try not to prompt what the child needs to do or how he needs to use his body to reach there. Always give the time to the child to figure it out for himself/herself.
Proper intake and use of sensory input is absolutely critical to a child's maturation process and the building of core, foundational skills.
Friday, August 6, 2010
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Working around a weak auditory working memory
Anandita is now over 8 years old and going up in her learning ladder with plenty of hiccups. I had always wished to have a clearer perspective on her learning issues especially those that were pulling her back. I didn’t operate on an assumption. She had suffered a brain insult and hence I was prepared, or atleast kind of. I decided to get her assessments done at Ummeed child development centre. I know an assessment is no gauge of her true potential but I am wise enough to know that an objective viewpoint often throws up answers to a struggling parent who more than often operates on assumptions. I had reached a stage where I was not sure if she remembered the concepts. Sometimes she did, sometimes she didn’t and I never did know where to reinforce and where not to.
The assessment did achieve one major thing it helped me identify where her learning disabilities were and which areas were affected..
It also made me more sensitive to her needs since I now knew where her problem was. When I read the report I realized that there was a lot I didn’t know and I had to understand what I was dealing with. So “Google” it was and I was lucky enough to have the help of my special educator friend in Madras.
“You've heard the expression: It goes in one ear and out of the other. For individuals with sub-optimal auditory working memory, this is pretty close to the truth. The same seemed to apply to Anandita, although I was never ever really certain about it. If you asked me I would say she has a brilliant memory with places and names. But it took me some time to fully understand what Auditory working memory was all about. The brain creates memories in a number of different ways, and at any point in time one may remember something as a result of having:
• Touched it
• Seen it
• Tasted it
• Smelled it
• Heard it
When this information that is added to your brain is done, using your sense of hearing, it is called auditory memory.
Can you add together 22 and 68 in your head? When you ask for directions to the post office, can you get there without writing the instructions down? Such tasks are all about using ones working memory, the memory we use to keep information immediately “in mind” so that the task can be completed. It could be compared to something like a mental workspace or notepad—a “place” where we manipulate information, perform mental calculations and form new thoughts.
What is auditory working memory (AWM) exactly?
It is one part of our two part working memory system. One part is the visual-spatial sketchpad and the other is the verbal loop, often called the phonological loop. The verbal loop is usually referred to as AWM. Relevant information is held in this auditory "storage" while a cognitive activity is completed (e.g. a multi-step math problem or remembering a teacher's lecture).
When information comes into our auditory system, we must actively rehearse what we have heard because this information rapidly decays after one or two seconds. In order to repeat the information to ourselves, we must use our selective attention facility, and screen out all irrelevant sounds to pay attention to the relevant information at hand. Research has shown that if short term memory is low, we have a hard time selecting what we wish to hear. In other words, selective attention doesn't work so well when AWM is low.AWM is critical -it affects reading, reading comprehension, and math performance. It is also essential for problem solving because we have to hold the problem in our short term memory long enough to make sense of it.
It soon started make sense to me. Every time Anandita learnt a concept in Math’s at school, I usually reinforced the same the same evening but if next day I had to ask her a problem based on the same concept, she seemed to have forgotten. It was not only exasperating but also filled me with helplessness because I didn’t know the challenge she was facing. The above kind of summed it up for me because this was what was affecting her learning abilities and memory with concepts for almost every subject. For instance, I noticed that she found it hard to write sentences. By the time she finished spelling the first few words, she had forgotten what she intended to say next. Similarly, she had trouble with reading comprehension. While she was working hard to decode written words, she would lose track of the overall “gist” of the text...
What next?
It became important for me to understand how to handle this. Can memory be worked upon? How can one work on improving it not just at home but also in her learning environment at school. I received invaluable help from two people here, one my friend from Madras who is a special educator herself who gave me few tips and another person who I met through my yahoo groups-India Developmental Disabilities. I just wrote to her about Anandita, we exchanged mails and I sent across her scanned assessment and the amount of inputs she gave me and is still giving me has been invaluable. Here is her precious websites link.
http://home.earthlink.net/~conductiva/.
Suggestions:
Before reading, warming up is essential for the children to focus on their visual attention and also to refresh their orientation skills on paper. One can play a "letter search game" for a few minutes. (Firstly make sure there is an environment with limited distractions for the child. The alphabets are arranged in a few rows on one sheet of copy paper. In the regular order as we read from left to right. The letters are printed with simple bold fonts and the four colors are repeated-RED- A, GREEN- B, BLUE- C...keeping a one-letter or bigger space in between two letters. You could do many activities with this such as, sing the ABC song and everybody points to the right alphabet. Or you can stop suddenly and ask the children to point or name the next letter that is about to come. Or I could say, find letter M... Which one is after M?? Or go to the next and jump up: which one is that?
For reading: When reading one could use a sheet of plain paper to hide a part of the writing allowing her to visualize the upcoming next word with less distraction. E.g.: one could hide all the lines under the line that she is reading at that time or hiding even the next word (meaning the previously read words would be visible and the word for reading now).
Playing games of constructing and sounding out of words, making silly words that copy cat like act or tac.As a later step, you could introduce instructions such as now the FIRST letter would be...., THEN..
FIRST and THEN are important. First is always the one on the left: this needs to be well practiced in order to read. You could practice this on other adequate occasions, too.
You could keep using lots of association (words, rhythm and images) to help the child remember things. Offer many challenges of a varied type such as trying to recall things during a day, using clear words, simple instructions at all times, remembering shopping lists or tasks to be done.
, Mnemonics – Using clever words, rhymes, and songs (mnemonic devices) to help children remember lists of items or the order of steps in a problem will be extremely helpful for students with memory problems. Using rhymes is another great way to work on the auditory memory. Rhymes are easier to remember than stories for some children, and they allow the brain muscles to build and stretch. Start with short rhymes and make them fun to repeat. Eventually go to longer and longer rhymes. You can then have the child make up rhymes themselves. Also, don’t forget about songs. Songs are a great auditory tool that you can use to help with a child’s memory.
Hands-on learning – Once a skill or concept has been memorized, teachers can then help apply that knowledge to the real world by doing hands-on lessons. Special needs children benefit a lot from hands on learning because it is more real than imaginary. For spelling or vocabulary, students can look for words in a story, or in pictures hanging in the classroom or even at home, like a word wall. The majority of activities that you can do to increase skills in young children involve telling stories. Tell a story that they haven’t heard before. In the beginning, make sure it is a short story. Then, half way through the story, ask them to retell the story back to you. If you have them, you can use puppets as a tool, or you can ask them to draw the story once you’re done reading it together.
Every night I started giving Anandita a list of groceries that I needed to order the next morning from our local provision shop. I first started with 3 items-rice, aata and butter. I asked her to remind me the next morning which she did easily. Soon the list got longer. And soon I started including the brands as well.(for examples-"kolam' rice-1 kilo,Amul butter, whole wheat aata).In this process she also learnt and remembered where these items were kept at home-bananas in the fruit basket, butter in the chiller section of the refrigerator and so on.
While cleaning up her room with her, I would tell her” All the balls in the box and the dolls on the shelf, oh no-the dolls on the table". A bit later I would ask her,"Anandita, what did I say what is our rule? Where do the dolls go?”
When playing with your child, one can do copying games, accompanied with words, such as: hands up, clap and down. Take turns: you are the leader than your child can be the leader. Believe me kids really enjoy this game and also enjoy being the leader.
One could also play echoing of various rhythms beaten by a stick: ta-ta-ti-ti-ta or clapping or playing with finger cymbals. Learning music also would help. Learning songs and trying to explaining the text also helps a lot.
Memorizing dance steps or any kind of movements by listening to music and
hearing simple instruction: to move forward, backward, to the right etc is something kids will enjoy a lot. Playing a game where the action is led by voice, such as: lift up the
yellow bean bag when the music stops. Lift up the yellow and the blue bean bags when the music stops....Or crouch down when you hear "NOW"
“Please give me the red pencil, then pick up the blue eraser and put it in the green box.” The key is to break down tasks and instructions into smaller components. It’s also important to prompt kids with regular reminders of what they need to do next to finish a task. Children should be encouraged to ask questions when they have lost their way. And kids may benefit from repeating the heard information back. They may also benefit from special training in the use of memory aids—like note-taking.
IF one is looking for new ideas here are links to few more sources:
Cognitive enhancement with programs such as PACE, or Brainware Safari
http://brainwareforyou.com/BWSDemoWebPage.aspx
free games: http://brainconnection.positscience.com/teasers/
The assessment did achieve one major thing it helped me identify where her learning disabilities were and which areas were affected..
It also made me more sensitive to her needs since I now knew where her problem was. When I read the report I realized that there was a lot I didn’t know and I had to understand what I was dealing with. So “Google” it was and I was lucky enough to have the help of my special educator friend in Madras.
“You've heard the expression: It goes in one ear and out of the other. For individuals with sub-optimal auditory working memory, this is pretty close to the truth. The same seemed to apply to Anandita, although I was never ever really certain about it. If you asked me I would say she has a brilliant memory with places and names. But it took me some time to fully understand what Auditory working memory was all about. The brain creates memories in a number of different ways, and at any point in time one may remember something as a result of having:
• Touched it
• Seen it
• Tasted it
• Smelled it
• Heard it
When this information that is added to your brain is done, using your sense of hearing, it is called auditory memory.
Can you add together 22 and 68 in your head? When you ask for directions to the post office, can you get there without writing the instructions down? Such tasks are all about using ones working memory, the memory we use to keep information immediately “in mind” so that the task can be completed. It could be compared to something like a mental workspace or notepad—a “place” where we manipulate information, perform mental calculations and form new thoughts.
What is auditory working memory (AWM) exactly?
It is one part of our two part working memory system. One part is the visual-spatial sketchpad and the other is the verbal loop, often called the phonological loop. The verbal loop is usually referred to as AWM. Relevant information is held in this auditory "storage" while a cognitive activity is completed (e.g. a multi-step math problem or remembering a teacher's lecture).
When information comes into our auditory system, we must actively rehearse what we have heard because this information rapidly decays after one or two seconds. In order to repeat the information to ourselves, we must use our selective attention facility, and screen out all irrelevant sounds to pay attention to the relevant information at hand. Research has shown that if short term memory is low, we have a hard time selecting what we wish to hear. In other words, selective attention doesn't work so well when AWM is low.AWM is critical -it affects reading, reading comprehension, and math performance. It is also essential for problem solving because we have to hold the problem in our short term memory long enough to make sense of it.
It soon started make sense to me. Every time Anandita learnt a concept in Math’s at school, I usually reinforced the same the same evening but if next day I had to ask her a problem based on the same concept, she seemed to have forgotten. It was not only exasperating but also filled me with helplessness because I didn’t know the challenge she was facing. The above kind of summed it up for me because this was what was affecting her learning abilities and memory with concepts for almost every subject. For instance, I noticed that she found it hard to write sentences. By the time she finished spelling the first few words, she had forgotten what she intended to say next. Similarly, she had trouble with reading comprehension. While she was working hard to decode written words, she would lose track of the overall “gist” of the text...
What next?
It became important for me to understand how to handle this. Can memory be worked upon? How can one work on improving it not just at home but also in her learning environment at school. I received invaluable help from two people here, one my friend from Madras who is a special educator herself who gave me few tips and another person who I met through my yahoo groups-India Developmental Disabilities. I just wrote to her about Anandita, we exchanged mails and I sent across her scanned assessment and the amount of inputs she gave me and is still giving me has been invaluable. Here is her precious websites link.
http://home.earthlink.net/~conductiva/.
Suggestions:
Before reading, warming up is essential for the children to focus on their visual attention and also to refresh their orientation skills on paper. One can play a "letter search game" for a few minutes. (Firstly make sure there is an environment with limited distractions for the child. The alphabets are arranged in a few rows on one sheet of copy paper. In the regular order as we read from left to right. The letters are printed with simple bold fonts and the four colors are repeated-RED- A, GREEN- B, BLUE- C...keeping a one-letter or bigger space in between two letters. You could do many activities with this such as, sing the ABC song and everybody points to the right alphabet. Or you can stop suddenly and ask the children to point or name the next letter that is about to come. Or I could say, find letter M... Which one is after M?? Or go to the next and jump up: which one is that?
For reading: When reading one could use a sheet of plain paper to hide a part of the writing allowing her to visualize the upcoming next word with less distraction. E.g.: one could hide all the lines under the line that she is reading at that time or hiding even the next word (meaning the previously read words would be visible and the word for reading now).
Playing games of constructing and sounding out of words, making silly words that copy cat like act or tac.As a later step, you could introduce instructions such as now the FIRST letter would be...., THEN..
FIRST and THEN are important. First is always the one on the left: this needs to be well practiced in order to read. You could practice this on other adequate occasions, too.
You could keep using lots of association (words, rhythm and images) to help the child remember things. Offer many challenges of a varied type such as trying to recall things during a day, using clear words, simple instructions at all times, remembering shopping lists or tasks to be done.
, Mnemonics – Using clever words, rhymes, and songs (mnemonic devices) to help children remember lists of items or the order of steps in a problem will be extremely helpful for students with memory problems. Using rhymes is another great way to work on the auditory memory. Rhymes are easier to remember than stories for some children, and they allow the brain muscles to build and stretch. Start with short rhymes and make them fun to repeat. Eventually go to longer and longer rhymes. You can then have the child make up rhymes themselves. Also, don’t forget about songs. Songs are a great auditory tool that you can use to help with a child’s memory.
Hands-on learning – Once a skill or concept has been memorized, teachers can then help apply that knowledge to the real world by doing hands-on lessons. Special needs children benefit a lot from hands on learning because it is more real than imaginary. For spelling or vocabulary, students can look for words in a story, or in pictures hanging in the classroom or even at home, like a word wall. The majority of activities that you can do to increase skills in young children involve telling stories. Tell a story that they haven’t heard before. In the beginning, make sure it is a short story. Then, half way through the story, ask them to retell the story back to you. If you have them, you can use puppets as a tool, or you can ask them to draw the story once you’re done reading it together.
Every night I started giving Anandita a list of groceries that I needed to order the next morning from our local provision shop. I first started with 3 items-rice, aata and butter. I asked her to remind me the next morning which she did easily. Soon the list got longer. And soon I started including the brands as well.(for examples-"kolam' rice-1 kilo,Amul butter, whole wheat aata).In this process she also learnt and remembered where these items were kept at home-bananas in the fruit basket, butter in the chiller section of the refrigerator and so on.
While cleaning up her room with her, I would tell her” All the balls in the box and the dolls on the shelf, oh no-the dolls on the table". A bit later I would ask her,"Anandita, what did I say what is our rule? Where do the dolls go?”
When playing with your child, one can do copying games, accompanied with words, such as: hands up, clap and down. Take turns: you are the leader than your child can be the leader. Believe me kids really enjoy this game and also enjoy being the leader.
One could also play echoing of various rhythms beaten by a stick: ta-ta-ti-ti-ta or clapping or playing with finger cymbals. Learning music also would help. Learning songs and trying to explaining the text also helps a lot.
Memorizing dance steps or any kind of movements by listening to music and
hearing simple instruction: to move forward, backward, to the right etc is something kids will enjoy a lot. Playing a game where the action is led by voice, such as: lift up the
yellow bean bag when the music stops. Lift up the yellow and the blue bean bags when the music stops....Or crouch down when you hear "NOW"
“Please give me the red pencil, then pick up the blue eraser and put it in the green box.” The key is to break down tasks and instructions into smaller components. It’s also important to prompt kids with regular reminders of what they need to do next to finish a task. Children should be encouraged to ask questions when they have lost their way. And kids may benefit from repeating the heard information back. They may also benefit from special training in the use of memory aids—like note-taking.
IF one is looking for new ideas here are links to few more sources:
Cognitive enhancement with programs such as PACE, or Brainware Safari
http://brainwareforyou.com/BWSDemoWebPage.aspx
free games: http://brainconnection.positscience.com/teasers/
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Books-student workbooks for Maths concepts
Here is information on books I received from a friend of mine who is a special educator in Chennai..She gifted them to Anandita.I have not started using them for Anandita yet but after going through them i found them simple,easy to understand and use and definitely worth it not just for children who have learning issues but for all children who need a strong base in mathematical concepts of Metric measurements,decimals,percentages,geometry,percent concepts,fractions..
The books are designed as Student workbooks and its original publishers are the KEY CURRICULUM PRESS,USA and in India they are published by Springer(India)private ltd,906-907,Akash deep building,Barakhamba Road,New delhi-110001.Email is svdel@nde-vsnl.net.in
Each workbook is priced between Rs 45-52 each.
In Bombay they are distributed by Book World Enterprises,9-Dr MB Velkar Street,Kalbadevi Road,Mumbai-2
tel-022-22015331,22068538
bookworld@vsnl.com
The books are designed as Student workbooks and its original publishers are the KEY CURRICULUM PRESS,USA and in India they are published by Springer(India)private ltd,906-907,Akash deep building,Barakhamba Road,New delhi-110001.Email is svdel@nde-vsnl.net.in
Each workbook is priced between Rs 45-52 each.
In Bombay they are distributed by Book World Enterprises,9-Dr MB Velkar Street,Kalbadevi Road,Mumbai-2
tel-022-22015331,22068538
bookworld@vsnl.com
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Teaching Maths concepts to a child with learning disabilities
This assumes the child knows numbers one to 10.
I taught them to Anandita using actual objects .When she was a supine child with little movement, I used the abacus board where she would move the big beads along with my help as I recited the numbers.
She soon had a little box of her own with rajma seeds and other big sized lentils. I was always with her when she used them to prevent any mishap of her inhaling it in her nostril/mouth etc.
Her finger usage was limited so counting on fingers was not feasible and would result in errors. One simply has to incorporate maths concepts into daily living to teach a child who is challenged in some way. Once she was bunny hopping all over the home, I would ask Anandita to get me one potato or 2 onions. This would help me know that she had grasped the concepts of a single object and more than one object. Small baby steps which I never had to use so intensively for my older daughter but here I was using all my creativity to find solutions for her. The same with counting backwards where the microwave came in handy.
In the same way we went onto counting through objects while laying a table. She would count the spoons laid on the table and then the forks and then the knives. For a long time we continued with teaching with actual objects. However as she shifted grades in school, she had to move ahead of simple objects. One solution was drawing the objects but due to her poor fine motor coordination her drawing skills were weak.Anandita by then was aware of bigger than/lesser than (greater/smaller) for numbers from 1 to 10.
Simple single digit addition:
With the help of a special educator, I learnt new ways to teach her simple single digit addition in a notebook without using her fingers too much.
If she had to count, say
5 + 3...the only thing she had to remember was to take the bigger number and keep it in mind and then count in the rest. Keep 5 in your mind and count 3 more.
Suppose I gave her 2 + 8, the same would apply. Determine the larger number, keep it in your mind .So keep 8 in your mind and count 2 more.
I did not introduce the concept of subtraction to her yet. The addition concept had to be reinforced as much as possible. I didn’t use a number line either, atleast not in the initial stages.
To be prepared for class1 she was also required to learn number names from 1 to 20.
However hard I tried I could not explain to her why number 2 is spelt as TWO and not as To as she would write. Same with Five-as to why is there an ‘e’ there?
She had to learn to retain and retrieve the number names.
I made small paper cards with the number names written on them from one to ten and asked her to match the names to the numbers.
Matching the numbers (figures) to the names was also done.
Gradually I asked her to sort out the names of the numbers and arrange it in order.
I drew a big circle and wrote all the numbers and she had to circle the number when I called it out.
I also tried this-In a circle I wrote, two,twelve,twenty,twentyone etc and called out 12,she would have to circle the number name accordingly.
She would also pick out the number name written on a chit and read it. If possible write it as well.
Soon after the concept of subtraction (taking away) was introduced.
The “–" (dash sign) which she recognized as the subtraction symbol was also referred to as a sleeping line.
Suppose I told her lets subtract 8 – 2 =
The 1st step would be to see for the subtraction symbol which meant there was a sleeping sign. So let’s put the bigger number to sleep. And then let’s climb from the smaller number to the bigger number. So we put 8 to sleep as we see the sleeping sign. From 2 we climb to 8 and get our answer. The strategy was to teach her to count from the second number.
She caught onto the subtraction concept faster than the addition concept much to my surprise.
When you teach a child with a weak auditory working memory a new concept, one has to repeat the concept taught the next day as well to see if the child remembers the same. Frequent reinforcement/revision is essential.
Gradually I started with teaching her numbers with Jumps of two’s (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10)
For that I made a number grid with numbers from 1 to 20 and then up to 50 at a later stage.
Jumps of 5’s and Jumps of 10’s came in later using the same number grid.
Gradually the concept of a number line was introduced from 1 to 10 so that she could add and subtract jumping from number to number instead of using her fingers.
By the end of grade 1, I has made a laminated number grid of numbers 1 to 100.The numbers were large and in black.Whenever we studied Math’s we used this grid. She was allowed the use of the same at school as well which helped her a lot.
My creativity was challenged when I had to teach her ascending order and descending order of numbers. I tried everything in the book and then asked my husband fro help.We decided to give her a white board marker pen and gave her 5 numbers to arrange in ascending order. Say 72,59,62,91,87.So Diti would mark each number on the number grid and at the end of it understood that the number that came first was the smallest number and the number marked after it was the 2nd smallest and so on and so forth. It’s been 2 months since we taught her this concept and it has stuck on.
So many concepts were taught at school using concrete objects and I reinforced the same at home. For the concept of tens and ones I used straws and made bundles and sticks of the same to help her see visually and understand that 47 meant 4 bundles of ten straws (which made 40) and 7 straws which made the 7.
There is a long journey ahead for me as far as Math’s teaching is concerned. It was never my favorite subject but then I never learnt it the fun-creative way. At times I find myself envying the way Anandita is learning and being taught. Creative teaching techniques can make even the dullest or challenging subject fun.
.
I taught them to Anandita using actual objects .When she was a supine child with little movement, I used the abacus board where she would move the big beads along with my help as I recited the numbers.
She soon had a little box of her own with rajma seeds and other big sized lentils. I was always with her when she used them to prevent any mishap of her inhaling it in her nostril/mouth etc.
Her finger usage was limited so counting on fingers was not feasible and would result in errors. One simply has to incorporate maths concepts into daily living to teach a child who is challenged in some way. Once she was bunny hopping all over the home, I would ask Anandita to get me one potato or 2 onions. This would help me know that she had grasped the concepts of a single object and more than one object. Small baby steps which I never had to use so intensively for my older daughter but here I was using all my creativity to find solutions for her. The same with counting backwards where the microwave came in handy.
In the same way we went onto counting through objects while laying a table. She would count the spoons laid on the table and then the forks and then the knives. For a long time we continued with teaching with actual objects. However as she shifted grades in school, she had to move ahead of simple objects. One solution was drawing the objects but due to her poor fine motor coordination her drawing skills were weak.Anandita by then was aware of bigger than/lesser than (greater/smaller) for numbers from 1 to 10.
Simple single digit addition:
With the help of a special educator, I learnt new ways to teach her simple single digit addition in a notebook without using her fingers too much.
If she had to count, say
5 + 3...the only thing she had to remember was to take the bigger number and keep it in mind and then count in the rest. Keep 5 in your mind and count 3 more.
Suppose I gave her 2 + 8, the same would apply. Determine the larger number, keep it in your mind .So keep 8 in your mind and count 2 more.
I did not introduce the concept of subtraction to her yet. The addition concept had to be reinforced as much as possible. I didn’t use a number line either, atleast not in the initial stages.
To be prepared for class1 she was also required to learn number names from 1 to 20.
However hard I tried I could not explain to her why number 2 is spelt as TWO and not as To as she would write. Same with Five-as to why is there an ‘e’ there?
She had to learn to retain and retrieve the number names.
I made small paper cards with the number names written on them from one to ten and asked her to match the names to the numbers.
Matching the numbers (figures) to the names was also done.
Gradually I asked her to sort out the names of the numbers and arrange it in order.
I drew a big circle and wrote all the numbers and she had to circle the number when I called it out.
I also tried this-In a circle I wrote, two,twelve,twenty,twentyone etc and called out 12,she would have to circle the number name accordingly.
She would also pick out the number name written on a chit and read it. If possible write it as well.
Soon after the concept of subtraction (taking away) was introduced.
The “–" (dash sign) which she recognized as the subtraction symbol was also referred to as a sleeping line.
Suppose I told her lets subtract 8 – 2 =
The 1st step would be to see for the subtraction symbol which meant there was a sleeping sign. So let’s put the bigger number to sleep. And then let’s climb from the smaller number to the bigger number. So we put 8 to sleep as we see the sleeping sign. From 2 we climb to 8 and get our answer. The strategy was to teach her to count from the second number.
She caught onto the subtraction concept faster than the addition concept much to my surprise.
When you teach a child with a weak auditory working memory a new concept, one has to repeat the concept taught the next day as well to see if the child remembers the same. Frequent reinforcement/revision is essential.
Gradually I started with teaching her numbers with Jumps of two’s (2, 4, 6, 8, and 10)
For that I made a number grid with numbers from 1 to 20 and then up to 50 at a later stage.
Jumps of 5’s and Jumps of 10’s came in later using the same number grid.
Gradually the concept of a number line was introduced from 1 to 10 so that she could add and subtract jumping from number to number instead of using her fingers.
By the end of grade 1, I has made a laminated number grid of numbers 1 to 100.The numbers were large and in black.Whenever we studied Math’s we used this grid. She was allowed the use of the same at school as well which helped her a lot.
My creativity was challenged when I had to teach her ascending order and descending order of numbers. I tried everything in the book and then asked my husband fro help.We decided to give her a white board marker pen and gave her 5 numbers to arrange in ascending order. Say 72,59,62,91,87.So Diti would mark each number on the number grid and at the end of it understood that the number that came first was the smallest number and the number marked after it was the 2nd smallest and so on and so forth. It’s been 2 months since we taught her this concept and it has stuck on.
So many concepts were taught at school using concrete objects and I reinforced the same at home. For the concept of tens and ones I used straws and made bundles and sticks of the same to help her see visually and understand that 47 meant 4 bundles of ten straws (which made 40) and 7 straws which made the 7.
There is a long journey ahead for me as far as Math’s teaching is concerned. It was never my favorite subject but then I never learnt it the fun-creative way. At times I find myself envying the way Anandita is learning and being taught. Creative teaching techniques can make even the dullest or challenging subject fun.
.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Teaching a child with special needs.
Each child is unique not only in his/her nature-personality but also in terms of their learning needs. One child may be a visual learner; while another may be an auditory learner while yet another child maybe a kinesthetic learner. Our education system can combine all of the above learning measures into the teaching techniques in classrooms. However almost every school follows the system where the smarter,’ quick to grasp’ child is treated on par with a child who may difficulty in grasping concepts easily. In such a situation it becomes difficult to focus on the needs of just one or two children in a classroom of 30.
.
Creative teaching techniques help not just children who have special learning needs but also normal children. Who doesn’t like playing and singing while learning rather than copying from a blackboard into a notebook? However for children who have special needs an IEP or an Individual Education Plan comes into the picture. As the name suggests the plan is individualized depending on the specific needs of the child in question.
Children who have special educational needs have learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn like most children of the same age. These children may need extra or different help from that given to other children of the same age. They may need extra help because of a range of needs that can vary from thinking and understanding, physical or sensory difficulties, emotional and behavioral difficulties, or difficulties with speech and language or simply how they relate to and behave with other people.
The parent plays as much a vital role as the teacher and special educator. While the special educator plays the guide, the teacher imparts /guides the child in the right learning technique and the parent reinforces the learning at home.
.
When a parent starts helping their child with special needs with academics, it can be a daunting and overwhelming process initially. I noticed it was absolutely essential for certain guidelines to be followed especially as she entered primary school and the concepts taught were several. A structured schedule for the day or evening or a weekend was essential.
I started off with meeting a special educator at Ummeed in Bombay who knew Anandita’s background and made certain recommendations for her school to apply on a day to day basis. She was going to a regular school which followed the policy of inclusion and integration.
One recommendation that really worked for her was,”preview’, namely a preview of class materials/assignments and some background knowledge prior to actual class discussions. A preliminary contextual base was essential. I noticed that this really helped her with ‘Reading’ as she would be very hesitant to read aloud in her class since she was not confident. By reading aloud the chapter in advance at home she became more confident about reading aloud in front of her entire class.
It also helped in mathematical concepts of addition and subtraction.
For preview, time is essential .By time it doesn’t mean just time. Structured time works well for children with special needs .Anandita would be aware that a certain time was slotted for a certain subject preview and to encourage her organizing skills, I would ask her arrange her necessary books, pencil box., practice books etc.Gradually as we learnt together I also started setting time limits for the work given. This would prevent too much of dawdling.
The school also used a parent teacher communication note books which graduated to weekly meetings with the class teacher, These meetings were informal where I could ask the teacher tips on how a concept had been taught so that I could reinforce the same at home through practice sums. The teacher would also tell me where she felt Anandita needed extra guidance so that I could work upon the same. This kind if communication does help in bridging the distance between class teacher and parent.Ofcourse it also depends on the attitude of the teacher/school. I have been lucky on that front.
Anandita responds very well to verbal cues. Certain aspects in her worksheets needed highlighting or stressing upon. Bigger squares in her Maths notebook made her less confused. A box would be placed for her to put her tick marks or YES/NO or True/False.
against the specific question asked in the assessments.
She has deficits in processing speed for information and deficits in writing (handwriting and speed).She benefits from extended time on tests and class-work. At such times, it was helpful for her to be in a quiet environment free of noise and distractions. This also helped her productivity by providing her more time to formulate her ideas before writing them down.
At home I preferred not to stress on improving her writing as she was doing a lot of writing work at school as well. I would only ensure that she had understood the concept not just of Maths but also of EVS.For instance a chapter on water was done. And how rain is formed. She had written it down as well as she could in her class work note book. But I could sense she had not understood it in detail. Instead of reading it aloud from the notebook, I took blank paper and drew the sources of water (rivers, lakes) and then explained how when the sun shines (drew a sun), the water becomes warm and rises up into the air as watervapour. (drew arrows).Clouds are thus formed with all the watervapour.When clouds get full they fall down as rain on earth (where we live) and back into the rivers and lakes as well.
So at school, during EVS assessment, Anandita was able to explain verbally to her class teacher about water and rain. The assessment was to see if the child had understood the concept, rather than rote it and reproduce it in a note book in their writing.
Through this entire process, I have learnt that as a parent of a special needs child, I am more flexible, compassionate, stubborn and resilient than other parents. I have to be.
.
Creative teaching techniques help not just children who have special learning needs but also normal children. Who doesn’t like playing and singing while learning rather than copying from a blackboard into a notebook? However for children who have special needs an IEP or an Individual Education Plan comes into the picture. As the name suggests the plan is individualized depending on the specific needs of the child in question.
Children who have special educational needs have learning difficulties or disabilities that make it harder for them to learn like most children of the same age. These children may need extra or different help from that given to other children of the same age. They may need extra help because of a range of needs that can vary from thinking and understanding, physical or sensory difficulties, emotional and behavioral difficulties, or difficulties with speech and language or simply how they relate to and behave with other people.
The parent plays as much a vital role as the teacher and special educator. While the special educator plays the guide, the teacher imparts /guides the child in the right learning technique and the parent reinforces the learning at home.
.
When a parent starts helping their child with special needs with academics, it can be a daunting and overwhelming process initially. I noticed it was absolutely essential for certain guidelines to be followed especially as she entered primary school and the concepts taught were several. A structured schedule for the day or evening or a weekend was essential.
I started off with meeting a special educator at Ummeed in Bombay who knew Anandita’s background and made certain recommendations for her school to apply on a day to day basis. She was going to a regular school which followed the policy of inclusion and integration.
One recommendation that really worked for her was,”preview’, namely a preview of class materials/assignments and some background knowledge prior to actual class discussions. A preliminary contextual base was essential. I noticed that this really helped her with ‘Reading’ as she would be very hesitant to read aloud in her class since she was not confident. By reading aloud the chapter in advance at home she became more confident about reading aloud in front of her entire class.
It also helped in mathematical concepts of addition and subtraction.
For preview, time is essential .By time it doesn’t mean just time. Structured time works well for children with special needs .Anandita would be aware that a certain time was slotted for a certain subject preview and to encourage her organizing skills, I would ask her arrange her necessary books, pencil box., practice books etc.Gradually as we learnt together I also started setting time limits for the work given. This would prevent too much of dawdling.
The school also used a parent teacher communication note books which graduated to weekly meetings with the class teacher, These meetings were informal where I could ask the teacher tips on how a concept had been taught so that I could reinforce the same at home through practice sums. The teacher would also tell me where she felt Anandita needed extra guidance so that I could work upon the same. This kind if communication does help in bridging the distance between class teacher and parent.Ofcourse it also depends on the attitude of the teacher/school. I have been lucky on that front.
Anandita responds very well to verbal cues. Certain aspects in her worksheets needed highlighting or stressing upon. Bigger squares in her Maths notebook made her less confused. A box would be placed for her to put her tick marks or YES/NO or True/False.
against the specific question asked in the assessments.
She has deficits in processing speed for information and deficits in writing (handwriting and speed).She benefits from extended time on tests and class-work. At such times, it was helpful for her to be in a quiet environment free of noise and distractions. This also helped her productivity by providing her more time to formulate her ideas before writing them down.
At home I preferred not to stress on improving her writing as she was doing a lot of writing work at school as well. I would only ensure that she had understood the concept not just of Maths but also of EVS.For instance a chapter on water was done. And how rain is formed. She had written it down as well as she could in her class work note book. But I could sense she had not understood it in detail. Instead of reading it aloud from the notebook, I took blank paper and drew the sources of water (rivers, lakes) and then explained how when the sun shines (drew a sun), the water becomes warm and rises up into the air as watervapour. (drew arrows).Clouds are thus formed with all the watervapour.When clouds get full they fall down as rain on earth (where we live) and back into the rivers and lakes as well.
So at school, during EVS assessment, Anandita was able to explain verbally to her class teacher about water and rain. The assessment was to see if the child had understood the concept, rather than rote it and reproduce it in a note book in their writing.
Through this entire process, I have learnt that as a parent of a special needs child, I am more flexible, compassionate, stubborn and resilient than other parents. I have to be.
Monday, February 22, 2010
More on thinking skills-situations and questions.
A child, who undergoes therapy, be it formal or informal sessions needs to be asked questions in a different manner. No child likes to feel as if he/she is being tested. To allow the child to be his/her natural self the therapist/parent needs to make sure the child is not feeling threatened or uncomfortable.
One can start the process of looking at picture cards and asking questions in a fun way. Gradually with time, pick up the tempo and move on the areas that interest the child. In Anandita’s case, her interest was movies, music, her sister and family. So build your questions around the interests. Try and ask them when you are in the car, or in the kitchen cooking or while in bed. Encourage the child to ask you similar questions so that it becomes a game. The funny answers can keep you in splits and without knowing; a lot would have been learnt.
Some examples.
(1) Your friend called and wants you to go to the beach. What should you not wear?
(Usually one would ask the question what should you wear. Instead here the child is asked what should you NOT wear. This is a different way of putting an ordinary question to a child which will enable the child to think differently.)The answers could be –Party dress, warm clothes, nightsuit.
(2) Your sister has dirty shoes. What should she not do?
Enter the living room with shoes
(3)You want to play outdoors. What would you not play? (Carom, chess, snakes and ladders)
(4)The teacher wants you to write numbers 1 to 10.What number will you NOT write?)Answer 11 or 12 etc)
(5)You lost your favorite toy. What will you do next? (Search for it, ask for help to find it)
(6)Your shoes are too small. What will your mom do? (Buy a new shoe).
(7)I had a headache. Now it’s gone. What did i do? (Took some medicine, saw a doctor, and slept)
(8) Dad didn’t go to work today. Where was he? (The answer would be at home or as my daughter sweetly answered-he would be at home watching TV)
(9)How can you tell if the lamp needs a new bulb?
(10)How can you tell if your friend is wearing a new dress?
(11) Mom is toasting bread and says we need to fix this. What would have happened?
The list can be endless but once your child gets the gist,he/she will understand the questions-how,what,when,why,which and what can happen in each situations.I found this an incredible way to spark Anandita's imagination.
One can start the process of looking at picture cards and asking questions in a fun way. Gradually with time, pick up the tempo and move on the areas that interest the child. In Anandita’s case, her interest was movies, music, her sister and family. So build your questions around the interests. Try and ask them when you are in the car, or in the kitchen cooking or while in bed. Encourage the child to ask you similar questions so that it becomes a game. The funny answers can keep you in splits and without knowing; a lot would have been learnt.
Some examples.
(1) Your friend called and wants you to go to the beach. What should you not wear?
(Usually one would ask the question what should you wear. Instead here the child is asked what should you NOT wear. This is a different way of putting an ordinary question to a child which will enable the child to think differently.)The answers could be –Party dress, warm clothes, nightsuit.
(2) Your sister has dirty shoes. What should she not do?
Enter the living room with shoes
(3)You want to play outdoors. What would you not play? (Carom, chess, snakes and ladders)
(4)The teacher wants you to write numbers 1 to 10.What number will you NOT write?)Answer 11 or 12 etc)
(5)You lost your favorite toy. What will you do next? (Search for it, ask for help to find it)
(6)Your shoes are too small. What will your mom do? (Buy a new shoe).
(7)I had a headache. Now it’s gone. What did i do? (Took some medicine, saw a doctor, and slept)
(8) Dad didn’t go to work today. Where was he? (The answer would be at home or as my daughter sweetly answered-he would be at home watching TV)
(9)How can you tell if the lamp needs a new bulb?
(10)How can you tell if your friend is wearing a new dress?
(11) Mom is toasting bread and says we need to fix this. What would have happened?
The list can be endless but once your child gets the gist,he/she will understand the questions-how,what,when,why,which and what can happen in each situations.I found this an incredible way to spark Anandita's imagination.
Saturday, February 20, 2010
Speech and language development
The journey towards language development/thinking skills/speech
(The initial stage-commenced in October 2004)
Children with cerebral palsy have severe delayed speech depending on the levels of the CP affliction-mild, moderate or severe...
Anandita was not a speaking child even at 2 years of age. Like all her development milestones, even speech was delayed. She was accustomed to gestures.To make matters worse we were not even made aware of by her motor therapist at the right time that she would need speech intervention. I finally started speech therapy for her in 2004.when she was 3 years old.
In the early stages she needed a lot of oral mouth and tongue exercises. Due to weak muscles tone this was essential and became a preparatory stage for further therapy.
Soon after, I was asked to make a list of the words I would like her to say right from the start of her day. My list included a Good morning,wash,give milk,Mamma-come-read,potty,etc,bye bye, see you, come soon,tape,song(when she wants music on),Mamma, give khana,give juice. Just some of the words that formed her daily needs.
So every time some task was required I would encourage her to say a word closest to that task in hand. Constant talking like a running commentary so to say was what I began doing with her. At 3 years of age she was not even a crawling child. She was on my lap and used to being carried. So whenever we went out or even if I was in the kitchen she would be with me and I would speak to her as to what I was doing etc.Initially it was tough but I soon got used to it.
Soon after this over a period of time, slowly concepts of in, on and under were introduced. Questioning was encouraged. What does Mamma like to eat? Where does Papa go every morning?
What does Papa do in office?
What fruit does Papa like?
It was initially more family focused as we were a part of her day to day life.
More creative questioning was introduced such as, objects” What is this? Diti would reply ‘chair’. Where is the chair? Is it in the bathroom? Her answer would be, ‘No, it is in the bedroom.” What is in Mummy’s’ purse? She would have to use memory to remember what was inside. She had to be encouraged to think and speech therapy I realized was not just about making her speak. It was to help her understand language, its structure, formation of sentences and enhance her thinking skills through a creative and holistic process.
Speaking of alphabets was then begun. We started with ‘F’.I would make her say FEE FI Fo Fum and bite her lower lip while saying these words. This was done more to enable her use her teeth and mouth to speak.
Oral exercises were continuing. I used a battery operated toothbrush to brush the inside of her cheeks, her tongue. She didn’t know how to blow so as a reward she was allowed to blow bubbles…or a flute and she even attempted a balloon with time. She was encouraged to use a straw .I put thermocol balls in a bottle and she would blow them with a straw. Candle blowing was her favorite pastime under supervision.
Since her lungs were weak, she was encouraged to say words with a lot of air. She learnt to say “Hello’ Hi, Haircut with stress on the H.She would always say Vuhhhh instead of Hhhhh.So words needed to be stretched out for her.
She then learnt P, T, K.
Pa ta ka
Pi ti ki
Po to ko
Pu tu ku
If you say those words you will see how for P the lips are used, for T, the upper pallete and for K, the inner mouth...
She needed a lot of encouragement to express herself. We played many games with her. We would show her a teddy bear with one ear missing and then ask her what is missing?
Or make her tear lots of paper and then blow it for fun to see how far it went. I spy games to improve her scanning skills.
In fact I noticed through the sessions that this was no formal session of teaching speech. Everything from simple games of sequencing, making stories from picture cards, picture matching was integrated into a fun creative wholesome learning experience for Anandita and the end result was to encourage her to understand and express.
For me it was an entirely new learning experience. From daily motor therapies that involved physical stretching and holding, this was not only new for me but also a very creative way of teaching children concepts.
Soon individual questions were introduced—such as ‘What?” What is this Anandita’? She would respond ‘iron’. Next question would be ‘Why do we use iron?” So her thinking process would trigger not just the question on what the object was but also the use of that object. Subtly knowledge acquisition was happening.
Sentence formations also were included.’ Where is the ball?” Ball on table (Diti's reply).’Which ball is on the table?” Her response would ‘red ball on table’. (At that stage we didn’t insist on usage of articles like "a 'and "the' as long as the reply was accurate and that meant she had understood the question.
I would be asked to show her a book, look at the pictures with her, she would name the objects and then the page would be covered and Anandita would be asked in questions .what she had seen on the page in the book.
While eating from a chips packet, I would underline the big lettering on the colorful packet with my finger and read it aloud.
To improve her muscle coordination which may have nothing to actually to do with speech lessons, Anandita would be asked-Before you clap your hands, comb your hair. This was a way of enabling her to follow instructions as well as motor movements and for her brain to understand which action followed which.
Further games like. saying a word and asking her to not say part of the word for example Swimming is the word.Dont say swim
Butterfly is the word, don’t say fly.
Then we shifted to smaller words like Papa, but don’t say ‘pa’.
I started using Dr Seuss’s books for rhyming words and a new book by Kathleen Lloyd-Times 1000 words to talk about which improved her vocabulary a lot.
The entire process was geared to improve her thinking skills.
What is always red in shape? would be one of the questions asked.
.
She would be made to link similarities between objects. I would show her a cake and a sweet and ask her what the same between them?
Same with an iron and a candle.
Tongue exercises were also ongoing. Putting the tongue out, tongue inside cheeks. Due to impaired muscle movements the tongue did not move freely...So the therapist would put a piece of sticky food item on the side of her cheek inside so that by reflex automatically and slowlyAnandita’s tongue would move towards it. There were so many things I was learning in each session spread over weeks and months.
Not just story telling, we did break up of words as mentioned before, rhyming words, picture reading and asking questions on what happened, finding out similarities and differences.
We worked on varied themes from food(what is common between apple and burger?),body parts,drinks,school(blackboard and teacher),sports,weather,things that fly, farm animals,occupations,insects,furniture,fish,birds etc—the list was endless.
And it was taught in such a creative way that it didn’t seem like teaching.
‘Niharika was hungry, her mother gave her cheese. What food did Niharika eat?
Medini aunty made Anandita do her therapy exercise. Which Aunty did u hear?
Inane questions they seemed but such immense learning for Anandita and me...
Like do doors slam?
Does an egg bounce?
Do muscles ache?
Does a friend help?
Do people dream?
Do you have a thumb on your toe?
Could you make a milk shake without milk?
Do fingernails break?
Does a candle tick?
If today is Friday then what is tomorrow?
Does a pen leak?
Does a zipper shout?
Can you use your fingers to walk?
Can you use your eyes to smell a flower?
A man was very tall. The doorway was very low. He walked into the room very fast. What happened?
My dad said ‘SMILE”.A bright light flashed. What happened?
Ananya wore nice white shoes and went out with her friends. She returned with her shoes very dirty. Where did she go?
Name something that has 4 corners? Name something that you can eat that has 4 corners?
What can you cut with scissors but not with knife? (Hair/paper).
By 2007 the sessions had become fewer but more varied and intensive. I was following a home programme in the interim period.
By January 2007, we had gradually moved on to more intricate questioning such as
Name 5 places where you can eat ice-cream?
Name 5 things you can see in a mall?
Or name 5 places where you can see many children?
When would I go shopping for toys?
How can I use the phone? (To hear, to speak, to charge, to send a message, to switch off)
Name 5 things one can eat with a spoon?
More descriptive details were introduced and the process of associating things together began.
Why do you carry a purse?
Or a situation- “I am going to have a small party. I am going to make sandwiches and pizza. What will I buy?
Why do we have doors?
And emotions, when do you get angry?
When do u feel sad?
When do u feel hesitant? /anxious/surprised/excited
“I was going on my way. Some boy pushed me, my things fell down. He picked it all up and helped me to put the things back. Was he a good boy or a bad boy?
I also started the process of ‘thinking aloud’ with her as I was walking with her or even at home as I was doing chores.
Her associations of the question “WHEN” was always to do with time and the clock. Slowly through different ways we changed that thought in her. Soon she was able to answer ‘when does Palak aunty buy chips? (During therapy)
When does Anandita wear her shoes? Etc
The ‘WHO”/WHY question was also handled through questions/situations...
“I have money to a man who uses scissors. Why did you give him money?
Who all do we give money to? It could be phone bill, therapy bill, fruit, grocer etc
Anandita had to be helped to ask questions related to any topic. I also had to see how much she could absorb from listening to a conversation. For example, I would tell her, there is a girl. She is wearing two ponytails. She is on the lawn.
Anandita’s speech lessons with Palak ended when we shifted to Pune in mid September 2007.I continue to meet her once a year.Last year; I was told that she had no speech issues except for clarity. Poor speech clarity is common in CP children and it would be unfair of anyone to expect perfect clear diction from a child who has motor impairments.
Her current oral therapy sessions involves many fun things from Om chanting to singing Sa-re-ga-ma-pa and also usage of the spiro meter to increase her lung capacity. We use different tastes-honey, lemon, salt with different textured cloth (denim, cotton, silk, wool, socks material) and stimulate the parts of her mouth-tongue, inner cheek, palate...
I would never trade this learning experience for any other because as Palak was not just her therapist and teacher. She was willing to equip me to handle Anandita's language needs in a guided manner, helping me along the way until she knew for herself that Anandita was now equipped. The resources she shared, the books and games she guided me into buying, the little nudges she gave me when she knew I was slackening just reminded me of the law of the Universe—one is always guided to the right person at the right time.Anandita and I, were to her.
(The initial stage-commenced in October 2004)
Children with cerebral palsy have severe delayed speech depending on the levels of the CP affliction-mild, moderate or severe...
Anandita was not a speaking child even at 2 years of age. Like all her development milestones, even speech was delayed. She was accustomed to gestures.To make matters worse we were not even made aware of by her motor therapist at the right time that she would need speech intervention. I finally started speech therapy for her in 2004.when she was 3 years old.
In the early stages she needed a lot of oral mouth and tongue exercises. Due to weak muscles tone this was essential and became a preparatory stage for further therapy.
Soon after, I was asked to make a list of the words I would like her to say right from the start of her day. My list included a Good morning,wash,give milk,Mamma-come-read,potty,etc,bye bye, see you, come soon,tape,song(when she wants music on),Mamma, give khana,give juice. Just some of the words that formed her daily needs.
So every time some task was required I would encourage her to say a word closest to that task in hand. Constant talking like a running commentary so to say was what I began doing with her. At 3 years of age she was not even a crawling child. She was on my lap and used to being carried. So whenever we went out or even if I was in the kitchen she would be with me and I would speak to her as to what I was doing etc.Initially it was tough but I soon got used to it.
Soon after this over a period of time, slowly concepts of in, on and under were introduced. Questioning was encouraged. What does Mamma like to eat? Where does Papa go every morning?
What does Papa do in office?
What fruit does Papa like?
It was initially more family focused as we were a part of her day to day life.
More creative questioning was introduced such as, objects” What is this? Diti would reply ‘chair’. Where is the chair? Is it in the bathroom? Her answer would be, ‘No, it is in the bedroom.” What is in Mummy’s’ purse? She would have to use memory to remember what was inside. She had to be encouraged to think and speech therapy I realized was not just about making her speak. It was to help her understand language, its structure, formation of sentences and enhance her thinking skills through a creative and holistic process.
Speaking of alphabets was then begun. We started with ‘F’.I would make her say FEE FI Fo Fum and bite her lower lip while saying these words. This was done more to enable her use her teeth and mouth to speak.
Oral exercises were continuing. I used a battery operated toothbrush to brush the inside of her cheeks, her tongue. She didn’t know how to blow so as a reward she was allowed to blow bubbles…or a flute and she even attempted a balloon with time. She was encouraged to use a straw .I put thermocol balls in a bottle and she would blow them with a straw. Candle blowing was her favorite pastime under supervision.
Since her lungs were weak, she was encouraged to say words with a lot of air. She learnt to say “Hello’ Hi, Haircut with stress on the H.She would always say Vuhhhh instead of Hhhhh.So words needed to be stretched out for her.
She then learnt P, T, K.
Pa ta ka
Pi ti ki
Po to ko
Pu tu ku
If you say those words you will see how for P the lips are used, for T, the upper pallete and for K, the inner mouth...
She needed a lot of encouragement to express herself. We played many games with her. We would show her a teddy bear with one ear missing and then ask her what is missing?
Or make her tear lots of paper and then blow it for fun to see how far it went. I spy games to improve her scanning skills.
In fact I noticed through the sessions that this was no formal session of teaching speech. Everything from simple games of sequencing, making stories from picture cards, picture matching was integrated into a fun creative wholesome learning experience for Anandita and the end result was to encourage her to understand and express.
For me it was an entirely new learning experience. From daily motor therapies that involved physical stretching and holding, this was not only new for me but also a very creative way of teaching children concepts.
Soon individual questions were introduced—such as ‘What?” What is this Anandita’? She would respond ‘iron’. Next question would be ‘Why do we use iron?” So her thinking process would trigger not just the question on what the object was but also the use of that object. Subtly knowledge acquisition was happening.
Sentence formations also were included.’ Where is the ball?” Ball on table (Diti's reply).’Which ball is on the table?” Her response would ‘red ball on table’. (At that stage we didn’t insist on usage of articles like "a 'and "the' as long as the reply was accurate and that meant she had understood the question.
I would be asked to show her a book, look at the pictures with her, she would name the objects and then the page would be covered and Anandita would be asked in questions .what she had seen on the page in the book.
While eating from a chips packet, I would underline the big lettering on the colorful packet with my finger and read it aloud.
To improve her muscle coordination which may have nothing to actually to do with speech lessons, Anandita would be asked-Before you clap your hands, comb your hair. This was a way of enabling her to follow instructions as well as motor movements and for her brain to understand which action followed which.
Further games like. saying a word and asking her to not say part of the word for example Swimming is the word.Dont say swim
Butterfly is the word, don’t say fly.
Then we shifted to smaller words like Papa, but don’t say ‘pa’.
I started using Dr Seuss’s books for rhyming words and a new book by Kathleen Lloyd-Times 1000 words to talk about which improved her vocabulary a lot.
The entire process was geared to improve her thinking skills.
What is always red in shape? would be one of the questions asked.
.
She would be made to link similarities between objects. I would show her a cake and a sweet and ask her what the same between them?
Same with an iron and a candle.
Tongue exercises were also ongoing. Putting the tongue out, tongue inside cheeks. Due to impaired muscle movements the tongue did not move freely...So the therapist would put a piece of sticky food item on the side of her cheek inside so that by reflex automatically and slowlyAnandita’s tongue would move towards it. There were so many things I was learning in each session spread over weeks and months.
Not just story telling, we did break up of words as mentioned before, rhyming words, picture reading and asking questions on what happened, finding out similarities and differences.
We worked on varied themes from food(what is common between apple and burger?),body parts,drinks,school(blackboard and teacher),sports,weather,things that fly, farm animals,occupations,insects,furniture,fish,birds etc—the list was endless.
And it was taught in such a creative way that it didn’t seem like teaching.
‘Niharika was hungry, her mother gave her cheese. What food did Niharika eat?
Medini aunty made Anandita do her therapy exercise. Which Aunty did u hear?
Inane questions they seemed but such immense learning for Anandita and me...
Like do doors slam?
Does an egg bounce?
Do muscles ache?
Does a friend help?
Do people dream?
Do you have a thumb on your toe?
Could you make a milk shake without milk?
Do fingernails break?
Does a candle tick?
If today is Friday then what is tomorrow?
Does a pen leak?
Does a zipper shout?
Can you use your fingers to walk?
Can you use your eyes to smell a flower?
A man was very tall. The doorway was very low. He walked into the room very fast. What happened?
My dad said ‘SMILE”.A bright light flashed. What happened?
Ananya wore nice white shoes and went out with her friends. She returned with her shoes very dirty. Where did she go?
Name something that has 4 corners? Name something that you can eat that has 4 corners?
What can you cut with scissors but not with knife? (Hair/paper).
By 2007 the sessions had become fewer but more varied and intensive. I was following a home programme in the interim period.
By January 2007, we had gradually moved on to more intricate questioning such as
Name 5 places where you can eat ice-cream?
Name 5 things you can see in a mall?
Or name 5 places where you can see many children?
When would I go shopping for toys?
How can I use the phone? (To hear, to speak, to charge, to send a message, to switch off)
Name 5 things one can eat with a spoon?
More descriptive details were introduced and the process of associating things together began.
Why do you carry a purse?
Or a situation- “I am going to have a small party. I am going to make sandwiches and pizza. What will I buy?
Why do we have doors?
And emotions, when do you get angry?
When do u feel sad?
When do u feel hesitant? /anxious/surprised/excited
“I was going on my way. Some boy pushed me, my things fell down. He picked it all up and helped me to put the things back. Was he a good boy or a bad boy?
I also started the process of ‘thinking aloud’ with her as I was walking with her or even at home as I was doing chores.
Her associations of the question “WHEN” was always to do with time and the clock. Slowly through different ways we changed that thought in her. Soon she was able to answer ‘when does Palak aunty buy chips? (During therapy)
When does Anandita wear her shoes? Etc
The ‘WHO”/WHY question was also handled through questions/situations...
“I have money to a man who uses scissors. Why did you give him money?
Who all do we give money to? It could be phone bill, therapy bill, fruit, grocer etc
Anandita had to be helped to ask questions related to any topic. I also had to see how much she could absorb from listening to a conversation. For example, I would tell her, there is a girl. She is wearing two ponytails. She is on the lawn.
Anandita’s speech lessons with Palak ended when we shifted to Pune in mid September 2007.I continue to meet her once a year.Last year; I was told that she had no speech issues except for clarity. Poor speech clarity is common in CP children and it would be unfair of anyone to expect perfect clear diction from a child who has motor impairments.
Her current oral therapy sessions involves many fun things from Om chanting to singing Sa-re-ga-ma-pa and also usage of the spiro meter to increase her lung capacity. We use different tastes-honey, lemon, salt with different textured cloth (denim, cotton, silk, wool, socks material) and stimulate the parts of her mouth-tongue, inner cheek, palate...
I would never trade this learning experience for any other because as Palak was not just her therapist and teacher. She was willing to equip me to handle Anandita's language needs in a guided manner, helping me along the way until she knew for herself that Anandita was now equipped. The resources she shared, the books and games she guided me into buying, the little nudges she gave me when she knew I was slackening just reminded me of the law of the Universe—one is always guided to the right person at the right time.Anandita and I, were to her.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Homeschooling experiences
My home schooling programme
Anandita was 6 years when I started home schooling her. The duration of each session was 45 minutes to an hour each day. I started off by making a weekly plan to help myself get more organized and disciplined about this process. I was not unschooling her but home schooling her. So though there was flexibility in the process, there was also planning.
(1)WE did a lot of ‘free play’. That included playing with blocks, copying shapes from blocks, playing with dough, clay, peeling potatoes, grating a carrot, beading and also playing with 8 piece puzzles. This was essential for her fine motor movements as well.
In home schooling her I used the (2) “MIND MAP” method. For example if I decided to take the topic of REPTILES, I would make a Mind map of all the reptiles I knew. The mind map would be detailed and specific in a simple way. Reptiles that lived on land, reptiles that lived in water, reptiles that lived in water and land. and other details on each reptile.
The there would be another breakup. Taking each individual reptile (snake, lizard), Anandita would be explained to in a personalized way about the specific reptile. I would have my information ready with me; saw a picture book on lizards, an encyclopaeia, .Time spent on this was about 3-5 minutes depending on her attention levels. I also linked the reptile with a TV programme (say on national geographic) or a trip to the snake farm etc., visiting the library to see books on reptiles.
This was a creative learning process for me. I realized that she loved music and song so I would make up songs on the individual reptile we were studying. I would use stuffed toys, give the lizard a name etc.The options are endless when you get into the groove.
To encourage future reading, I used (3) sight words. I showed 2 every day. I would introduce a new 3rd word every alternate day. I would flash it to her. Here again I had to see if she had not picked up the 1st two words I would not introduce another new word yet.
When I had to revise with her, I would label it as a Magic word and she would have to find it.
I am her mother who lacks objectivity many a time. So I decided to use a small puppet of Toto the monkey. It was a hand puppet that was Amits baby toy and I would tell her Toto wants Diti to find the magic word and she would respond better to this than to Mummy asking her to find the word.
I started (4) a phonetic programme for her. I made large flashcards of the BIG alphabets and small alphabets. I used ONLY the small alphabets first. When she became comfortable with them I introduced the large alphabets as Mamma ‘A’ and Baby ‘a’.
The process I used was introducing only ‘one’ sound per day. Day one was only alphabet ‘a’. We would sing a song a..a..a..a…a…a for apple
a…a…a…a…for alligator etc.The options are limitless.
I would end the session by using some general sight words using the Ladybird reader series of Peter and Jane.
I did make sure to give her breaks between different sessions.
I gave her options to paint, doodle, sand play, water play depending on her mood and my patience levels.
Lots of games like joining the dots, tracing a picture, finding out what’s the difference between 2 objects.
She learnt about reptiles this way. She learnt about different types of transport, parts of the bidy, sense organs, fruits etc.
When I started teaching her about the parts of the body, we made a body song.
“Where is my upper arm”? (Show it)
See how I lift!
Where is my elbow?
See how I bend
Where is my wrist?
See how I flex
Where are my fingers?
See how I grip!
Where are my hands?
See how I clap!
For sense organs, we cut different types of fruits, made a fruit boat out of them, a milkshake, spoke about the color of the fruit, how it smelt, how it tasted.Anandita was an active participant in this. She discovered that the coconut had a hard shell while some fruits were pulpy and some had a prickly outer surface.
I avoided using much paper. I used a white board or a simple blackboard. She needed a lot of approval, so rewards were there-stars and smiley.
Anandita was 6 years when I started home schooling her. The duration of each session was 45 minutes to an hour each day. I started off by making a weekly plan to help myself get more organized and disciplined about this process. I was not unschooling her but home schooling her. So though there was flexibility in the process, there was also planning.
(1)WE did a lot of ‘free play’. That included playing with blocks, copying shapes from blocks, playing with dough, clay, peeling potatoes, grating a carrot, beading and also playing with 8 piece puzzles. This was essential for her fine motor movements as well.
In home schooling her I used the (2) “MIND MAP” method. For example if I decided to take the topic of REPTILES, I would make a Mind map of all the reptiles I knew. The mind map would be detailed and specific in a simple way. Reptiles that lived on land, reptiles that lived in water, reptiles that lived in water and land. and other details on each reptile.
The there would be another breakup. Taking each individual reptile (snake, lizard), Anandita would be explained to in a personalized way about the specific reptile. I would have my information ready with me; saw a picture book on lizards, an encyclopaeia, .Time spent on this was about 3-5 minutes depending on her attention levels. I also linked the reptile with a TV programme (say on national geographic) or a trip to the snake farm etc., visiting the library to see books on reptiles.
This was a creative learning process for me. I realized that she loved music and song so I would make up songs on the individual reptile we were studying. I would use stuffed toys, give the lizard a name etc.The options are endless when you get into the groove.
To encourage future reading, I used (3) sight words. I showed 2 every day. I would introduce a new 3rd word every alternate day. I would flash it to her. Here again I had to see if she had not picked up the 1st two words I would not introduce another new word yet.
When I had to revise with her, I would label it as a Magic word and she would have to find it.
I am her mother who lacks objectivity many a time. So I decided to use a small puppet of Toto the monkey. It was a hand puppet that was Amits baby toy and I would tell her Toto wants Diti to find the magic word and she would respond better to this than to Mummy asking her to find the word.
I started (4) a phonetic programme for her. I made large flashcards of the BIG alphabets and small alphabets. I used ONLY the small alphabets first. When she became comfortable with them I introduced the large alphabets as Mamma ‘A’ and Baby ‘a’.
The process I used was introducing only ‘one’ sound per day. Day one was only alphabet ‘a’. We would sing a song a..a..a..a…a…a for apple
a…a…a…a…for alligator etc.The options are limitless.
I would end the session by using some general sight words using the Ladybird reader series of Peter and Jane.
I did make sure to give her breaks between different sessions.
I gave her options to paint, doodle, sand play, water play depending on her mood and my patience levels.
Lots of games like joining the dots, tracing a picture, finding out what’s the difference between 2 objects.
She learnt about reptiles this way. She learnt about different types of transport, parts of the bidy, sense organs, fruits etc.
When I started teaching her about the parts of the body, we made a body song.
“Where is my upper arm”? (Show it)
See how I lift!
Where is my elbow?
See how I bend
Where is my wrist?
See how I flex
Where are my fingers?
See how I grip!
Where are my hands?
See how I clap!
For sense organs, we cut different types of fruits, made a fruit boat out of them, a milkshake, spoke about the color of the fruit, how it smelt, how it tasted.Anandita was an active participant in this. She discovered that the coconut had a hard shell while some fruits were pulpy and some had a prickly outer surface.
I avoided using much paper. I used a white board or a simple blackboard. She needed a lot of approval, so rewards were there-stars and smiley.
Learning issues
It has taken me a while what a neurological insult means.Anandita’s MRI taken many years ago revealed she had suffered an insult to her brain or more specifically there was destruction of white matter of the brain. White matter would mean the long myelinated fibers in the brain. Damage can result in severe coordination issues (hand eye, visual, spatial) and also balance issues. Children like her can suffer in a classroom environment because there is a significant gap between her verbal and performance IQ’s.
I have seen Anandita struggle with poor visual recall and problems with spatial perceptions and a lack of ability in comprehending non verbal communication. She has had severe deficits in social judgement and social interactions in the last few years...
In Anandita’s case we were aware of the insult/damage to the brain although I was unaware of the extent of damage done and how much it would impair her educational curve and daily living journey...
I have seen her have a difficult time learning to ride a bike and actually pedal the wheels fully in a circle. She is inadequately coordinated in her fine and gross motor skills. When she learnt to kick a large soccer ball she would always lose her balance and fall. Fine motor skills like cutting with scissors or tying a shoe lace seems impossible for her. It is only now she has graduated to coloring spontaneously and still prefers finger painting to painting with a brush.
Ananditas milestones were so delayed that she never really crawled. She was either supine, prone, lying on back. We had to keep outing her on the tummy in the hope she would learn to roll over. She didn’t. She instead took to bunny hopping all over our home when she was 2 years plus. She didn’t explore much of her environment motorically due to her impaired motor movements.
I have noticed her difficulty in perceiving subtle non verbal cues of her environment. Some social skills are normally grasped intuitively by children through observation and not taught directly.
So many difficulties. It may seem trifling to one reading it. But there are always solutions to each of these issues, solutions on how to handle it, how to ease the strain on the child and how to train the parent and child.
In Anandita’s case all she needed was a supportive environment and the right blend of therapies that were continued at home by me.
How did I help her?
I always allow her extra time to get ready when she has to go somewhere. I am okay with her tardiness. I give her a lot of verbal cues to navigate through my home, For example I need an envelope in which I need to put a letter in for her teacher. She doesn’t know where the envelopes are. So instead of telling her a generalized statement that the envelopes are in the drawer, I tell her, Go to mummy’s bedroom. In the chest of drawers open the drawer to your left. Inside will be a brown envelope. Bring it back to Mummy. Instructions are explicit and clear.
I try my best to avoid power struggles with her. It threatens her totally. It can threaten a normal child too but in this case a disabled child undergoes many low self esteem issues, teasing and other sources of anxiety( loud noises, fear of animals).The goal I set for her has to be attainable. I tune into her to see how tired she is to handle her extra study assignments and I schedule it accordingly. I avoid taking away her privileges (her TV time etc) because I know it will damage her well being rather than enhance it.
When I sense she is not ready for something I do not force it upon her. Independence in tasks that are not structured can be fearful for her. At the same time there is no over protection. There is flexibility.
At school-her paper and pencil tasks are kept to a minimum due to lack of finger dexterity and visual spatial problems. Occupational therapy to improve her fine motor movements does help in control and fluency but she still finds the entire process of writing laborious. The motor skills involved in writing are very very complex and not as we assume.
She needs assistance in organizing her information and in communicating in writing. She needs a lot of spelling out like parts to whole verbal teaching technique that helps her to comprehend better.
I don’t expect her to read between the lines. No sarcasm, idioms, slang, figurative speech, instead clears and plain language has to be used.
She responds excellently when a preview is done prior to her class sessions. It not only boosts her confidence .It also gives her an understanding on what is to follow, be it a new English chapter, a new Math’s concept, a field trip etc.
She needs concrete situations and experiences. I end up verbally teaching her conversational strategies, why not to begin a sentence with a ‘because’, how to understand tone and expressions in voices. I very often see that she is unable to perceive that she is trying someone’s patience unless that person verbally explodes (usually A or me).
I have seen Anandita struggle with poor visual recall and problems with spatial perceptions and a lack of ability in comprehending non verbal communication. She has had severe deficits in social judgement and social interactions in the last few years...
In Anandita’s case we were aware of the insult/damage to the brain although I was unaware of the extent of damage done and how much it would impair her educational curve and daily living journey...
I have seen her have a difficult time learning to ride a bike and actually pedal the wheels fully in a circle. She is inadequately coordinated in her fine and gross motor skills. When she learnt to kick a large soccer ball she would always lose her balance and fall. Fine motor skills like cutting with scissors or tying a shoe lace seems impossible for her. It is only now she has graduated to coloring spontaneously and still prefers finger painting to painting with a brush.
Ananditas milestones were so delayed that she never really crawled. She was either supine, prone, lying on back. We had to keep outing her on the tummy in the hope she would learn to roll over. She didn’t. She instead took to bunny hopping all over our home when she was 2 years plus. She didn’t explore much of her environment motorically due to her impaired motor movements.
I have noticed her difficulty in perceiving subtle non verbal cues of her environment. Some social skills are normally grasped intuitively by children through observation and not taught directly.
So many difficulties. It may seem trifling to one reading it. But there are always solutions to each of these issues, solutions on how to handle it, how to ease the strain on the child and how to train the parent and child.
In Anandita’s case all she needed was a supportive environment and the right blend of therapies that were continued at home by me.
How did I help her?
I always allow her extra time to get ready when she has to go somewhere. I am okay with her tardiness. I give her a lot of verbal cues to navigate through my home, For example I need an envelope in which I need to put a letter in for her teacher. She doesn’t know where the envelopes are. So instead of telling her a generalized statement that the envelopes are in the drawer, I tell her, Go to mummy’s bedroom. In the chest of drawers open the drawer to your left. Inside will be a brown envelope. Bring it back to Mummy. Instructions are explicit and clear.
I try my best to avoid power struggles with her. It threatens her totally. It can threaten a normal child too but in this case a disabled child undergoes many low self esteem issues, teasing and other sources of anxiety( loud noises, fear of animals).The goal I set for her has to be attainable. I tune into her to see how tired she is to handle her extra study assignments and I schedule it accordingly. I avoid taking away her privileges (her TV time etc) because I know it will damage her well being rather than enhance it.
When I sense she is not ready for something I do not force it upon her. Independence in tasks that are not structured can be fearful for her. At the same time there is no over protection. There is flexibility.
At school-her paper and pencil tasks are kept to a minimum due to lack of finger dexterity and visual spatial problems. Occupational therapy to improve her fine motor movements does help in control and fluency but she still finds the entire process of writing laborious. The motor skills involved in writing are very very complex and not as we assume.
She needs assistance in organizing her information and in communicating in writing. She needs a lot of spelling out like parts to whole verbal teaching technique that helps her to comprehend better.
I don’t expect her to read between the lines. No sarcasm, idioms, slang, figurative speech, instead clears and plain language has to be used.
She responds excellently when a preview is done prior to her class sessions. It not only boosts her confidence .It also gives her an understanding on what is to follow, be it a new English chapter, a new Math’s concept, a field trip etc.
She needs concrete situations and experiences. I end up verbally teaching her conversational strategies, why not to begin a sentence with a ‘because’, how to understand tone and expressions in voices. I very often see that she is unable to perceive that she is trying someone’s patience unless that person verbally explodes (usually A or me).
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
The beginning
It began, I believe when I was leading a jaded existence. I was a mother to a 6 year old who left me amazed by her ability to read and grasp information. A mother who wondered why other mothers always griped about ‘parenting’ trials and tribulations. The simplicity of raising her had been an insightful journey in itself. In 2001, I was nestled in my own warm cocoon with my Big A and small A, albeit with challenges of my own that I was journeying through. A year after small A's birth, I discovered by chance that I was hearing impaired. It was a progressive sensiro neuro hearing loss that did not have a cure. I could take precautions like avoiding oto-toxic antibiotics, noisy places and remain destressed.At 30, it came as a shock to me and I went through the process of denial and depression. If it hadn’t been for A, I would never have sought counseling or worked upon myself and my limitation. A lady pyshocologist helped me through this phase gently and firmly till I equipped myself with hearing aids.
Our lives took the usual turn. Job transfers and home shifts, new school for small A who was now 4 years old.Amit was busy with his work, me with my freelance job with a travel portal.
I conceived Anandita during the disastrous Bhuj earthquake in January 2001.I cannot say it was an uneventful pregnancy.Healthwise I was fit as a fiddle and could climb 5 storey of steps in my 9th month of pregancy.Emotionally,now when I look back it was a terrible time. My moods were difficult to comprehend. I was on a perennial mood swing, weepy, sad, and not really happy except when I was with the family. The excitement and anticipation I had with my first pregnancy was lacking this time.Normal, perhaps but not for me. I progressed through the usual ultrasounds and vitamins and pre natal exercises, stopped watching horror shows on TV and ate as healthy as possible. No craving for meat this time. I actually turned vegetarian. I was hoping for a normal birth instead of the C section of the 1st time and was guided to read a book VBAC-Vaginal birth after Caesarean. Both A and I had the feeling of complacency. We have been through a first baby so the second is a lot easier. I am sure most 2nd time parents would get what I mean.
She was born on the afternoon of October 30’2001 in Bombay. My gynecologist of 9 months who had guided me through fell seriously ill just then. I was then taken under the care of her aunt Dr M.She called me in for a routine check on the morning of the 30th as I was feeling ill and then told me to go straight away for a C-section as there was a danger of a uterine wall rupture. I was apprehensive as I knew the painkilling drugs for the C-section would impair my hearing loss further. My gynecologist was sensitive and tuned in, she told me only mild painkillers would be used. And then Anandita came into our world at 1.02 pm
The afternoon of October 30th'2001 soon after I had recovered from the anesthesia, she arrived into my arms all tiny and swaddled. She was asleep. I was tired. The night I spent with her gave me no inkling of what discomfort she was experiencing. She spent the night with me on my bed because she refused to stay in the nursery where the nurses would take care of her. The experienced nurse told me that my baby was crying when placed on her nursery bed and wanted to be with me. I cradled her and slept. So did she. The next morning we shifted into a larger room where she had a small cradle of her own. I held her as often as I could, feeding her, speaking to her, gazing at her every feature as if she was a miracle outside of me finally. Some part of my mind was already telling me something was wrong .I felt like how a mother cat feels when one of her litter is not allright.I knew that feeling there and then with such certainty that it overwhelmed me...
I shared my concerns with her paedtrician, Dr B. He was on his routine rounds and he checked her heart and heard me out. Just when he was on his way out of my room, he turned back and looked at me and simply said, ‘I would like to have her checked out. She has a heart murmur. Most babies do but in this case I would like to get an echo done.”
I think my journey began then. With that statement of his and what was to ensue.
One may wonder how I can remember each and every minute detail of what transpired that day and during that period. It remains etched in my mind with such clarity--the face of the doctor, the face of the intern who came in to tell me that my baby was in a serious condition and would not be back to the room and had been taken to the NICU, the face of the nurses looking at me with concern and tenderness, the hospital corridors and……..Perhaps these images linger on as reminders. Or maybe I was in shock.
Anandita was diagnosed on the 2nd day of her birth as having a life threatening cyanotic congenital heart defect-Transposition of her Great Arteries (TGA with VSD/ASD).It required immediate intensive care as her lungs were being filled up with impure oxygen. She also required immediate heart surgery to resolve the issue but that could not happen in Bombay.
She remained on artificial respiration for several weeks, with many attempts being made to wean her off the machine.
The only solution was a corrective surgery for her heart defect.Till then she would have to survive on life saving drugs.
The wait began..
Our lives took the usual turn. Job transfers and home shifts, new school for small A who was now 4 years old.Amit was busy with his work, me with my freelance job with a travel portal.
I conceived Anandita during the disastrous Bhuj earthquake in January 2001.I cannot say it was an uneventful pregnancy.Healthwise I was fit as a fiddle and could climb 5 storey of steps in my 9th month of pregancy.Emotionally,now when I look back it was a terrible time. My moods were difficult to comprehend. I was on a perennial mood swing, weepy, sad, and not really happy except when I was with the family. The excitement and anticipation I had with my first pregnancy was lacking this time.Normal, perhaps but not for me. I progressed through the usual ultrasounds and vitamins and pre natal exercises, stopped watching horror shows on TV and ate as healthy as possible. No craving for meat this time. I actually turned vegetarian. I was hoping for a normal birth instead of the C section of the 1st time and was guided to read a book VBAC-Vaginal birth after Caesarean. Both A and I had the feeling of complacency. We have been through a first baby so the second is a lot easier. I am sure most 2nd time parents would get what I mean.
She was born on the afternoon of October 30’2001 in Bombay. My gynecologist of 9 months who had guided me through fell seriously ill just then. I was then taken under the care of her aunt Dr M.She called me in for a routine check on the morning of the 30th as I was feeling ill and then told me to go straight away for a C-section as there was a danger of a uterine wall rupture. I was apprehensive as I knew the painkilling drugs for the C-section would impair my hearing loss further. My gynecologist was sensitive and tuned in, she told me only mild painkillers would be used. And then Anandita came into our world at 1.02 pm
The afternoon of October 30th'2001 soon after I had recovered from the anesthesia, she arrived into my arms all tiny and swaddled. She was asleep. I was tired. The night I spent with her gave me no inkling of what discomfort she was experiencing. She spent the night with me on my bed because she refused to stay in the nursery where the nurses would take care of her. The experienced nurse told me that my baby was crying when placed on her nursery bed and wanted to be with me. I cradled her and slept. So did she. The next morning we shifted into a larger room where she had a small cradle of her own. I held her as often as I could, feeding her, speaking to her, gazing at her every feature as if she was a miracle outside of me finally. Some part of my mind was already telling me something was wrong .I felt like how a mother cat feels when one of her litter is not allright.I knew that feeling there and then with such certainty that it overwhelmed me...
I shared my concerns with her paedtrician, Dr B. He was on his routine rounds and he checked her heart and heard me out. Just when he was on his way out of my room, he turned back and looked at me and simply said, ‘I would like to have her checked out. She has a heart murmur. Most babies do but in this case I would like to get an echo done.”
I think my journey began then. With that statement of his and what was to ensue.
One may wonder how I can remember each and every minute detail of what transpired that day and during that period. It remains etched in my mind with such clarity--the face of the doctor, the face of the intern who came in to tell me that my baby was in a serious condition and would not be back to the room and had been taken to the NICU, the face of the nurses looking at me with concern and tenderness, the hospital corridors and……..Perhaps these images linger on as reminders. Or maybe I was in shock.
Anandita was diagnosed on the 2nd day of her birth as having a life threatening cyanotic congenital heart defect-Transposition of her Great Arteries (TGA with VSD/ASD).It required immediate intensive care as her lungs were being filled up with impure oxygen. She also required immediate heart surgery to resolve the issue but that could not happen in Bombay.
She remained on artificial respiration for several weeks, with many attempts being made to wean her off the machine.
The only solution was a corrective surgery for her heart defect.Till then she would have to survive on life saving drugs.
The wait began..
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