18/03/2023
"Children who come to be designated unteachable are usually fighting a heroic battle for survival."
Louis Cozolino, American psychologist and professor of psychology
When children are fighting heroic battles for survival, they need allies, not detractors. The most profound book I have read about an unteachable child being 'held in unconditional love, by a teacher is "One Child" by the brilliant teacher, author and psychologist Torey Hayden. "One Child" did not start out as a book. Torey wrote it as a personal story to record for herself her extraordinary time with Sheila. It is a beacon to what is possible.
05/03/2023
Understand and help rather than expect. ❤️
02/03/2023
Individualistic approaches to trauma and mental health that don’t consider the systems that affect us, are only acting as a band aid in a wound that keeps getting bigger and deeper.
The systems that hold societies together, and that have shaped our past, present and will shape our future, are at the core of all traumas. But, as you know, the individual shapes the collective as much as the collective shapes the individual. We are not just shaped by these systems, we become the systems and continue carrying the same dynamics as long as we don’t address them in our body first.
We can’t bypass our individual effect on the whole, as much as we can’t bypass the effects of the whole in our individual experience.
That’s why we do trauma work in the body, because trauma, ours, our ancestral and also the collective, lives in our body now, not in the memories of the past. There is no past other than our body in this moment to moment present experience.
The good news is that our body contains all the answers and healing medicine we have been longing for.
23/02/2023
Reset Your Vagus Nerve in 5 minutes
I’ve not tried it yet…. feedback please if you do try this?
Reset Your Vagus Nerve in 5 minutes
Experience a 5 minute powerful practice to self-regulate your vagus nerve and build pathways of healing and self-revealing.
23/02/2023
Intention and self belief. Powerful 💙
This man couldn’t speak until he was 11. He couldn’t read or write until he was 18. He was told his autism and learning delays would hold him back. But, he believed in himself. He worked hard and studied day and night. He even wrote on his bedroom wall; "One day I will work at Oxford or Cambridge." Now, against all odds, he’s achieved his ultimate dream and has just become the youngest-ever black professor at Cambridge University - one of the top universities in the whole world. His name is Jason Arday and he’s an absolute inspiration 🙌❤️
http://bit.ly/3ZecaYe
22/02/2023
The following is important although I wouldn’t be so focused on the suggested time. Helping babies who do struggle or are expected to struggle, to work at the positions and movements is very beneficial to them later on when life gets complicated and more is expected.
I have helped an infant who has been challenged to reach these milestones and it was a joy to watch and she is really reaping the rewards 💕
19/02/2023
Why I insist that children who come to see me watch tv on a gym ball. Telling them to explore movement, positions they can hold on it and have a little bit of fun. I don’t tell them what to do, I suggest on their back, sitting up, lying down, walking forward and backwards, but most of all explore…all this is excellent for building their balance
More about why balance is important for learning and attention in the classroom:
https://ilslearningcorner.com/balance-system-connected-to-learning/
16/02/2023
Babies, infants need nurturing whilst their primitive reflexes are still active. This is the reason for the reflexes….helping the baby and infant to keep safe.
Gestation & Exterogestation
Gestation - The period of development in the uterus from conception until birth; pregnancy. Exterogestation - The period of continued development after the birth. Latin gestation, gestatio - from gestare to bear, to carry.
There are 40 weeks of gestation on the inside and 40 weeks of gestation on the outside. The second 40 week period is called extero-gestation, ‘the in-arms period’, and it has even been called the ‘4th trimester’ in order to emphasise the baby is still in formation with her mother.
This is why the bonding of the baby with the parent is the child's most basic need. The child is 'at home' within the bonded relationship, that is their place of safety from which they will venture out and explore the wonderful world they live in.
14/02/2023
Timeline photos
So...what IS Rhythmic Movement Training? RMTi is a reflex integration program based on movements and other activities that replicate our earliest movement patterns to establish, strengthen or retrain the foundations of posture, central nervous system (CNS) maturity, vestibular function, sensory processing, memory, learning, emotions and behavior. -Moira Dempsey, founder of RMTi
10/02/2023
Timeline photos
People with dyslexia often have motor coordination problems. They are clumsy and have poor posture. Many did not crawl and either walked very early or scooted around on their bottoms for extended periods of time. Crawling is important for infants. It helps the corpus callosum (the pathways between the brain hemispheres) to myelinate; is an important step in helping to understand left and right; essential for the development of binocular vision and accommodation (near/far vision).
10/02/2023
Kingswood Shetlands & Friends - Community Interest Not for Profit
Loved talking to Sarah from this wonderful place.
https://www.facebook.com/kingswoodshetlands
Kingswood Shetlands & Friends - Community Interest Not for Profit
A Community interest offering Animal Assisted Therapy to children and young adults with additional needs and disadvantages . We offer bespoke events for schools, birthday parties and care homes for a truly memorable visit.
05/02/2023
Change is scarey but it needn’t be
05/02/2023
Success came from having a team behind this person, waving this person on and encouraging at every step.
We are not all of the same mould, right?!
💛I have recently started overseeing the EOTAS package of a young person with PDA.
💛I last worked with this young person about two and a half years ago when they were still enrolled in school, and things were very difficult for them.
💛Yesterday, I was blown away by the progress that this young person is now making.
💛They are thriving on their EOTAS programme and now want to work towards the qualifications that they need to go to university.
💛During the meeting, one of the amazing team working with this young person came up with a brilliant analogy. They explained that they see the young person striding forward, leading the way and waving a flag.
💛This young person is finding their own, unique path that is shaped by THEIR interests, THEIR passions and THEIR goals.
💛As a team, we are behind them and around them supporting and facilitating their journey. We will be with them all the way, giving them what they need until they reach their goal. We will guide, support and inspire (and be inspired.)
💛THIS is how a child or young person with PDA should be supported through their self-directed educational journey.
💛The image of that analogy stuck in my head, so I described it to my friend Eliza from Missing The Mark who as usual recreated it perfectly!
💛To learn more about the best way to support a learner with PDA please join Eliza and I for our brand new webinar which is based on my new book, “The Educator’s Experience of Pathological Demand Avoidance” on March 15th at 7.30pm UK time.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/the-educators-experience-of-pda-webinar-tickets-529654870977
05/02/2023
Love, love, love this so much from Maggie Dent 💜
04/02/2023
I know this is very different but you will have heard me talk of rhythm and how our movements are rhythmical. I also talk about the beat and the pause. All of this is part of the world of music. To hear music we need our senses and the emotion of feeling it. All very closely linked.
Hear/listen
Touch/feel
Look/see
03/02/2023
Helping a child regulate doesn't mean you are giving in to your child. You can compassionately hold a boundary and help them Co-regulate.
Learning to Co-regulate with your child is a skill that you will be able to draw on during stressful times. It helps children and adults to manage emotions while maintaining connection. It will also help children to grow with a sense of security and the ability to eventually self-regulate. Surely, if you are the parent or the child, this is something we could all use regardless of age.
More information on my blog
https://www.thetherapistparent.com/post/co-regulating-with-children-of-all-ages
02/02/2023
A tricky one to work on but the retained Fear Parslysis Reflex can be helped
The Fear Paralysis Reflex (FPR) is thought to be one of the earliest set of reflexes that develop during the second month of the embryonic stage of development. This reflex is withdrawal by nature and characterized by a rapid amoebic like involuntary withdrawal away from a tactile stimulation especially to the primitive mouth region.
01/02/2023
TMJ RESET
The TMJ muscle has a central role in cranial and spinal dynamics and affects the quality of the brain/muscular feedback system. The slightest tension in the jaw muscles can alter the normal balanced position of the TMJ causing confused messages to be relayed throughout the body.
With the trigeminal nerve being the largest of the cranial nerves its job is to assist in the primary survival system by connecting the body fascia, the face and head together. This tension can be carried around in the muscles years after the stress, resulting in a Defensive Jaw. Using TMJ Reset can not only release the Defensive Jaw but also the long held on to subconscious emotions.
The work I carry out resets the system and by relaxing the jaw muscles the TMJ is correctly reset.
Arthritis
Anxiety
Stress
Dental work
Inability to open the mouth wide
Bed Wetting
Child Stress
Chronic Fatigue
Clenching of teeth
Grinding of teeth
Difficulty moving the neck
Pins and Needles in the neck area
Digestive problems
Frozen shoulder and headaches
Sinus pain
Jaw clicking
Inability to relax into sleep
Migraines
31/01/2023
Hands and mouth so connected.
The left brain also moves the small muscles of the throat and mouth in rapid sequence so a child can speak. Likewise, it translates the rapidly differing sounds of letters and syllables into language. The left hemisphere is the verbal side of the brain. Everything that has to do with language resides here. Reading, writing, speaking, and interpretation all take place here. It reads individual words in a sentence and translates their meaning, letter by letter.
⭐An excerpt from the book "Disconnected Kids" by Dr. Robert Melillo
👉 https://amzn.to/3xWWBtl for all of Dr. Melillo's books on Amazon!
31/01/2023
Hands and mouth so connected.
The left brain also moves the small muscles of the throat and mouth in rapid sequence so a child can speak. Likewise, it translates the rapidly differing sounds of letters and syllables into language. The left hemisphere is the verbal side of the brain. Everything that has to do with language resides here. Reading, writing, speaking, and interpretation all take place here. It reads individual words in a sentence and translates their meaning, letter by letter.
⭐An excerpt from the book "Disconnected Kids" by Dr. Robert Melillo
👉 https://amzn.to/3xWWBtl for all of Dr. Melillo's books on Amazon!
30/01/2023
We found this of benefit.
30/01/2023
via BrainPower Neurodevelopmental Center
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