A word from a parent to the teacher who cared… Encouragement to go the extra mile even when it is challenging, maybe, especially when it is challenging. I’m sure it was frustrating… holding the hand of a little girl for a year as you faithfully taught her and her peers. Her eyes were always wide, but no expression would reflect on her face what she felt in her heart.I’m sure you felt discouraged… that it seemed you couldn’t reach her. She wouldn’t participate… Only stood by your side – her hand glued to yours.Yet, every Sunday you still took her...
Angie Stone is a sweet mama of two children, one of whom is on the Autism spectrum. She recently posted this on Facebook and we asked her permission to share it with you. If you have ever gotten a diagnosis, and especially a prognosis (this is what you can expect with your child’s health or development) about your child, you will be able to relate to this. If you are in the early days of diagnosis or finding yourself in a particularly difficult stage, this may encourage you… Two years ago today I was sitting in a waiting room waiting...
Our children who have sensory concerns struggle sometimes with wearing certain clothes. Some of them struggle with wearing any clothes.Some of them will only wear one dress – or one kind of pants – or one kind of shirt.Some have a great deal of difficulty with wearing socks and shoes.This can be very challenging for parents. We have solutions for you! Scratchy glove Get a bath glove. We like to call them scratchy gloves. Put the glove on your hand and then very lightly rub the glove over all four limbs, the torso, and any areas that are bothered by...
As coordinator for the Pre-K department at our church, Julie is positioned to not only serve the typically developing community of 4 through 6 year olds, but also is strategically placed to serve the children who are struggling. For example, struggles some children have been dealing with for a while become a little more obvious as they interact with their peers and the volunteer staff. These parents are being thrown into a whole new world of research and discovery. You may have encountered this situation in your church in one way or another. Maybe it looks like this: A child...
Jacob comes to church activities with aspergers-like symptoms. We love Jacob and are eager to serve him well. He is brilliant and also very rigid in his thinking. If it is not logical to him, it is not to be done. If a teacher or leader or another child is doing something that does not make sense in his black or white only perspective, he really has a hard time. The behavior he sometimes displays is impatience, and/orrudeness, and/ormeltdowns. He cannot work his way out of an “It HAS TO BE DONE like this” way of thinking. We suggest that...
Insignificant? or Major Life Change? That piece of plastic and inflated balloon that had served as an avenue for life-sustaining nutrition had been plucked out. It has been permanently removed. We are surprised by how sobering this procedure is turning out to be. We think the celebration with all its jubilance will come. Perhaps that is when the site is completely healed. Perhaps that is when a period of adjustment has happened. Just not yet. This time is one for reflecting. This time is one for reflecting. This time is one for reconciling oneself with the difference. This time is...
For those who work with children…and for all of us! Sometimes life is less about a checklist and more about teaching the heart a new way of loving. The term “special needs” can mean so many different things and is often related to one’s own personal experience or lack of experience. We may have assumptions because we have worked with someone with that label before or have a family member who has it or have observed a friend’s sibling with it. We tend to want to categorize people. “Oh — Johnny has “Downs” – okay, he is going to be...
A message to Parents: You need to recharge. You work hard. This is especially true if you are the parent of a child with special challenges. You are often, if not always, on high alert. This is not you being selfish, this is not only survival, BUT guaranteed you will be a better parent if you get refueled in a way or a variety of ways that work best for you. Ideas: read a book if that relaxes and refreshes you, go out with some friends to a ballgame, eat chocolate,sit quietly in a coffee shop ALONE or with a good friend, attend...
Visual Chart, Verbal Instruction, Loving Support Do you have a child in your ministry who struggles with transitioning from one activity to another? Here’s a few things you can do to make transitions easier: Create a visual chart showing the sequence of the agenda.Whenever possible use pictures and words on the chartTake the child to the chart as soon as they arrive and talk it throughTake the child to the chart periodically throughout the eventIf appropriate, give a copy of the chart to the parents/guardians for home.Whenever possible, give a few minutes warning before moving to the next thingGive the...
Volunteers are such a vital piece of any community thriving. The dynamics of volunteers working with each other are complex. Today my head and heart are filled with the swirls of helping volunteers serve well. As coordinator, my Sunday morning focus is ultimately on the pre-kindergarten children under my charge. When I started this gig, I was thinking there would be a fair amount of physical set up of converting elementary school classrooms to Sunday School rooms, curriculum preparation and supervising of the delivery, but I really had no idea of the 5,000 piece puzzle I was signing up for. ...
