October, November, December 2024
October is Spina Bifida Awareness month
Below is an article from the Spina Bifida Association which discusses the educational experiences and challenges children face with Spina Bifida. It emphasizes the importance of tailored learning strategies to address their unique needs, including cognitive, physical, and social-emotional aspects. It also reviews evidence-based practices that can enhance academic success and overall well-being, advocating for inclusive educational settings and individualized support. For more information visit Spina Bifida Association - Research, Advocacy, Education, and Support
October is Bullying Awareness Month
The CDC article on bullying outlines the definition and types of bullying, including physical, verbal, and social bullying. It emphasizes the significant impact bullying has on both victims and perpetrators, leading to various mental health issues and behavioral problems. The article also highlights the importance of prevention strategies and creating supportive environments to address and reduce bullying in schools and communities. For more information visit About Bullying | Youth Violence Prevention | CD
What is Bullying?
Center for Disease Control defines bullying as any unwanted aggressive behavior(s) by another youth or group of youths, who are not siblings or current dating partners, that involves an observed or perceived power imbalance and is repeated multiple times or is highly likely to be repeated. Bullying may inflict harm or distress on the targeted youth including physical, psychological, social, or educational harm. Common types of bullying include:
Physical such as hitting, kicking, and tripping.
Verbal including name-calling and teasing.
Relational or social such as spreading rumors and leaving out of the group.
Damage to victim's property.
Bullying can also occur through technology, which is called electronic bullying or cyberbullying.
For more information about bullying definitions, please see Bullying Surveillance Among Youths: Uniform Definitions for Public Health and Recommended Data Elements, Version 1.
Benefits of Music Exposure on Development
“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything.”
— Plato
Exposing children to music at a young age has historically and scientifically been proven to open spaces in their minds, develop fine and gross motor skills, expand vocabulary and communication skills, increase creativity and imagination, and it—simply put—makes them happy.
There’s nothing like dancing along to your favorite tune and singing your heart out into a hairbrush microphone. Although it may not seem like it, this small act alone does wonders for development. Imagine what playing a musical instrument does!
Along with tapping, clapping, bouncing, and dancing, playing musical instruments provides sensory inputs and outlets for motor skills. Learning to read music and singing karaoke increases reading fluency skills. Understanding the note patterns on instruments are science and math skills. Sharing and making music with others enhances emotional intellect and empathy while building self-confidence and teamwork skills.
The benefits of exposure to music are never-ending—there are absolutely no disadvantages to playing music. Below you will find more information on the effects of music on individuals with disabilities:
Research article on how music affects young adults with disabilities: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9816321/
Benefits of Music for Child Development: https://www.brighthorizons.com/resources/Article/music-and-children-rhythm-meets-child-development
Music Activities for Adults with Disabilities: https://ww2.danielsmusic.org/activities-for-adults-with-disabilities?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwjNS3BhChARIsAOxBM6omevQEnlYnO5MK-KB98epq8sD_oPwCZ73nuEUujX9fJCHxhMNLP0YaAkEOEALw_wcB
Sign Language and Development
Sign language is a complex form of communication that uses hand gestures, body language, and facial expressions to allow deaf individuals to communicate their thoughts and feelings with others. American Sign Language is one of 142+ versions of sign language across the world. There are also British, Danish, Japanese, Spanish, and Australian sign languages to name a few. Just like speech, sign language has various dialects. Each dialect is unique with its own distinct grammar, style, and vocabulary. While learning sign is typical for the deaf and hard-of-hearing community, young children and individuals with disabilities may benefit developmentally by learning sign.
Communication: For some, verbal communication is difficult—physically and/or emotionally. Sign provides individuals with a visual means of communication. The ability to communicate fosters language development and assists with building personal relationships, especially for younger individuals.
Decreased Frustration: Communication is often difficult and frustrating for children and individuals with special needs. The frustration might manifest itself in the form of aggression, tantrums, depression, and other socially unacceptable behaviors. Sign language provides the ability to expressively and successfully communicate thoughts and feelings and questions and concerns.
Cognitive Development: Sign language stimulates areas of the brain that are associated with speech and language. The brain makes connections through auditory and visual inputs, which are oftentimes difficult for children with special needs. The physical process of using sign language jump-starts areas of the brain that are associated with speech and language development and promotes retention of information.
Self-Esteem/Social Skills: For many, ability to communicate plays a crucial role in social development and interactions. Sign language offers an alternative way for children to express themselves to a group of peers where they can be understood. This gives some a sense of social responsibility and self-esteem that their messages will be heard.
Motor Skills: The use of sign facilitates hand and body coordination and visual and spatial awareness. This can be especially helpful for children who have difficulty with small muscle strength and coordination. Sign language provides the ability to develop both gross motor and fine motor skills.
If you would like to add sign language to your arsenal of communication tools, a great place to start would be with signs that express needs (eat, drink, toilet, etc.) and emotions (happy, sad, anxious, etc.). Learning sign will not interfere with learning to speak, and research has shown that it actually accelerates speech and verbal communication. Below are links to various websites that would be helpful in learning sign.
LifePrint: https://www.lifeprint.com/
Baby Sign Language: https://babysignlanguage.com/
ASL Dictionary: https://www.handspeak.com/word/
For Families and Caregivers:
What to expect if your child is diagnosed with hard of hearing?
By: Trinity Cole
I am a mom of a child who is partially hearing impaired. The first time you see your child you are breathtaking. You find your child beautiful or handsome. Hearing those words your child failed their hearing test puts you in a disbelief position. You do not know what to say, what to do, or what you did wrong? It is never what did I do wrong, because there is nothing you could have done or known this. You do not know what to say because you never pictured having a child that is hard of hearing but it is not the end of the world. There is a hearing screening and intervention process that newborns/children must go through when determined to be hard of hearing. It is important to find out as early as possible to find out the best way for your child to communicate. There are community partners programs that can help guide you through the process to receive the support needed for you, your child, and you family.
Don’t miss out!
One of the services offered to children with any type of disability is Early Steps.
Early Steps is an early intervention program from kids’ birth to 3. They offer any at home therapies that may be needed for your child. Once your child turns 3 your child may receive services with the school
For more information click on the links below
Halloween: How to Make it Fun for Every Child
Halloween means “the evening before All Hallows Day or All Saint’s Day,” which is a day celebrated on the 31st of October each year. Halloween is a time of the year that many children look forward to:
A time for fantasy and fun, for dressing up
and scary stories, a time for ‘trick or treat’ adventures and lots of sweets! Halloween is a fun time of year for many children,
However, it can be a really difficult time for many children with additional/special needs. For them, it can be a confusing, anxiety-inducing, or terrifying time. But it does not have to be like that. If we stop for a moment to think about the things they might find hard and how to put things in place to help them, children with special needs can safely join in the fun, too.
What are some of the things about Halloween that children with additional needs can find hard?
We tell children all year round not to talk to strangers, then on one night it is suddenly fine to go around knocking on strangers’ doors. This can be hugely difficult for some autistic children, who are often very literal in their understanding and can be very confused by this change. Garish costumes can be genuinely terrifying for a child who struggles to tell the difference between fake and real. Increasingly, we are seeing dress-up outfits become more realistic, with fake gore and movie-quality makeup that makes people look truly terrifying. Can cause sleepless nights, panic attacks, and meltdowns
There are kids with special needs or disabilities who do not get invited to parties or to go out trick or treating with their big brother, sister, relative, or friends. This is because they are viewed as ‘different,’ usually by other parents and other children.
It is best to help them feel less left out, rejected, and uninvited because they have not been included. There are loads of other reasons besides these, but there are also many ways to make Halloween easier for children with additional or special needs, so
that they can join in too.
Some Things to remember:
Choose sugar-free sweets, or better yet, try some healthier snacks
Prepare special needs children in advance
Have fun, but keep checking on how your child is feeling
Food Fatigue in School Lunches
Avoiding Food Fatigue in School Lunches as school rolls on, something that is a constant part of our kids daily life is lunch. Food being one of our basic human needs is something that, especially our kids, need in order to have a full and productive day. For those of us with children who have sensory issues this can be extremely difficult. Food textures, tastes, and smells can all be overwhelming or dissatisfying to our children with sensory issues and preparing a lunch can be overwhelming when there are so many restrictions. This article explains what food selectivity is and what it may look like in individuals with autism, explains what food fatigue is and offers tips for avoiding food fatigue, explaining what a food jag is, and offering tips on how you can attempt to expand your child’s food
repertoire.
Click on the link for further Information Avoiding Food Fatigue in School Lunches
Communicating with your Doctor
As we grow we hit milestones in our lives and some of these milestones are harder than others. Transitioning from high school to college or the workforce can be a scary and unfamiliar experience for both parents and their children, especially when it comes to our kids hitting the age of majority where they have to make their own decisions concerning their health. For those of them who are not so conversational or anxious at the doctor, communicating their needs may be difficult. They may miss important details or not say anything about what is going on because they are more worried about getting the task done with. This short article is an example and outline to demonstrate the importance of teaching your child how to communicate on their own with their doctors.
For more information click the link Dear KASA Board— (familyvoices.org)
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