In Case You Missed it: Daylight Savings

Photo: "Exploding Clock" Salvadore Dali

Spring Ahead...Fall Back.

This weekend marks Daylight Savings time-that once yearly practice of advancing clocks so that evenings have more daylight and mornings have less. I don't know about you, but I could give this ritual up in the blink of an eye. 

The practice of daylight saving was first proposed in 1895 & implemented during World War I. It has generally remained in use in North America and Europe since after the energy crisis of the 1970s.

The original goal of DST was to reduce evening usage of lights/electricity, but modern heating and cooling usage patterns vary, and research about how and if DST affects energy use is contradictory. 

Those of us with families know how DST can disrupt morning activities. There are many that feel that the act of changing clocks twice a year is economically and socially disruptive and cancels out any benefit. ( I would be one of them.) In addition, Seasonal Affective Disorder and other health problems may arise:

• Clock shifts disrupt sleep and reduce its efficiency. [BMC Physiology. 2008;8:3.]
• Effects on seasonal adaptation of the circadian rhythm can be severe and last for weeks. [Biological Rhythm Research. 2003;34(2):145–155.]
•  A 2008 study found that although male suicide rates rise in the weeks after the spring transition, the relationship weakened greatly after adjusting for season. [Sleep and Biological Rhythms. 2008;6(1):22–25]
• A 2008 Swedish study found that heart attacks were significantly more common the first three weekdays after the spring transition, and significantly less common the first weekday after the autumn transition. [ New England Journal of Medicine. 2008;359(18):1966–1968.]
• The government of Kazakhstan cited health complications due to clock shifts as a reason for abolishing DST in 2005.[Kazakhstan Today. 2005-03-16.]
• In March 2011, Dmitri Medvedev, president of Russia, claimed that "stress of changing clocks" were the motivation for Russia to stay in DST all year long. Officials at the time talked about an annual increase in suicides.  [BBC News, 30 Oct. 2011]

So, as you prepare to set your clocks forward one hour this weekend, take a look at some tips offered on how to minimize the adjustment:



Ease Your Way into Daylight Savings Time

Daylight Savings Tips

Harvard Professor Explains Health Risks of Daylight Savings

5 Home Remedies for Seasonal Affective Disorder

Easing the Effects of Daylight Savings Time on Kids With Autism

Spring has Sprung-and So Might Your Hypomania

Small Shifts in Diurnal Rhythms are Associated with an Increase in Suicide

Contact: barbara@bodylogique.com



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Social Activities for T'weens & Teens

Photo: www.michigan.gov

Much of the information on this blog is geared towards younger children, and I often get asked in my workshops what types of activities are good to do with teens with special needs. Today I have some great information for parents & professionals living or working with teens.

Finding and setting up activities for younger children is usually not so difficult. There is a variety of information out there about what types of things to do & play with toddlers and elementary age children. Younger children are so full of wonder and energy and will engage in play for hours. However, finding fun, interactive events and social activities for t'weens & teens is a bit more challenging. As kids get older, and outgrow certain types of social play, they begin to form peer groups based on similar (and more grown-up) interests. A child with special needs may not have a grasp yet on these complex & subtle social behaviors and relationships, and may need support in finding or establishing a peer group or activity that he or she feels comfortable in.

In addition, most adolescents want to be free of Mom, Dad, grandma or the babysitter when they are with friends. I know my own daughter is so talkative & helpful when we are home or alone in the kitchen, making dinner or braiding hair before bed, but as soon as her friends show up, she is rolling her eyes at the sight of me and cannot get away from me fast enough!

I found these two excellent articles below on One Place for Special Needs that both address social activities for t'weens & teens. They recommend planning high interest events for special needs teens, in order to allow ample opportunity for engagement, friendship & fun. Please share them generously by passing them on!


Use these links:

Social Opportunities for Special Needs T'ween & Teens

How to Create a Parent Facilitated Middle School Social Group




Have you seen our new sister website & blog?

Visit: BodyLogique Books

Contact Us: barbara@bodylogique.com



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Encouraging Eye Contact: What NOT to Do

Photo: artistshelpingchildren.org

One of the most upsetting things I observed during my time as an ABA therapist was the common practice of manually turning a child's head to encourage eye contact. In many cases it caused meltdowns & fear. In other cases, the child would just simply close their eyes tightly. It never did make much sense to me how forcing a child to look at you would somehow cause "spontaneous engagement." In fact, it caused the child to avoid the teachers that did this regularly.

There is already an imbalance of power between a child and an adult-and a student and a teacher/therapist- and I have always found this practice to be more about the adult's /therapist's needs than the child's. Its more like an intimidation technique rather than something done for the child's "own good" . The child knows you are not their "partner" if you are always trying to get compliance by using positive and negative re-enforcement. Naturally, they will at some point resist, to try and take back some of the power that has been taken from them, as they should. Besides, isn't it more logical & healthy to cause spontaneous engagement by being more engaging?

Well there is now a new study out of England that explains why we should NOT force eye contact on our students. I came across this article (link below) this morning and I am posting it here because I think its extremely important to understand that children are not (usually) intending to be willfully non-compliant, rude or all of those things that they tell a new ABA therapist or Para-professional. There is a reason that they are not looking at you, and the reason makes perfect sense. (Thank you Gwyneth Doherty-Sneddon, associate dean at Northumbria University in England.)

When a child's senses are overloaded, they need to filter out some of the input they are receiving. Since visual input takes up about 80% of our brain power, it makes logical (and neurological) sense that a child would attempt to block out that input in order to listen to you better.

In listening to better, they can then think about what the input is (such as an instruction or question) process it, and formulate a response. This process may take longer in children with sensory & learning challenges-(much like "dial-up" instead of "high-speed internet") so you need to wait for a response.

I was always taught that 7 seconds was appropriate for a response-however I really disagree with that time frame and think a child should be given more time to process if they need it. Everyone is unique-and all of our "programming" is different-and interrupting that process by placing a time limit on when they should respond, in my opinion, is absolutely ridiculous. We only do it because we've been doing it for so long. We need to change it if we truly want the kids that have the capacity for it, to be more independent. Maybe this research is a step in the right direction. (I have to add here that while I am not a therapist, I have worked with children with autism & other special needs since I was 14, and this is the common sense evidence that I have personally observed over the last 34 years.)

Its interesting to note that neuro-typical children (and adults) avoid eye contact when thinking too. How would you feel if someone grabbed your face and turned your head to face them when you were thinking of a response or taking notes during a staff meeting or workshop?

Its definitely something to think about.

Encouraging Eye Contact Disturbs Autistic Kids' Thinking



Recommended Reading:

The Way I see it: A Personal Look at Autism & Asperger's (Temple Grandin)

(Expanded Edition) In this innovative book, Dr. Temple Grandin gets down to the REAL issues of autism, the ones parents, teachers, and individuals on the spectrum face every day. She offers first-hand knowledge, helpful do’s and don’ts, practical strategies, and try-it-now tips, all based on her own perspective and a great deal of research. These are just some of the topics Dr. Grandin discusses:

• How and Why People with Autism Think Differently
• Economical Early Intervention Programs that Work
• How Sensory Sensitivities Affect Learning
• Behaviors Caused by a Disability vs. Just Bad Behaviors 
• The Role of Genetics and Environmental Factors in Causing Autism
• Understanding the Mind of a Nonverbal Person with Autism
• Finding Mentors and Appropriate Colleges
• More!

Contact: barbara@bodylogique.com


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The Importance of Comfortable Shoes

'Shoe Circle" by Jenna Lynn

“The shoe that fits one person pinches another; 

there is no recipe for living that suits all cases.” ~ Carl Jung 

We all know how important comfortable shoes are. 

When our shoes pinch us, we can't think of anything else except getting relief-

and a pair of shoes (or slippers) that don't hurt our feet.

This is how I see special education & adaptive learning: 

parents & educators supply kids with many styles, colors and varieties of shoes,

for different purposes, and each child tries them on, to find the ones that don't pinch.

What type of shoes fits your child best?

Find this Original Image:

"Shoe Circle"

http://www.flickr.com/photos/32698224@N04/3052849927/ 

Visit: 

www.bodylogique.com

www.bodylogique-books.com

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