First off, Happy Tuesday and last day of April. Tomorrow, it's gonna be May (sorry I had to!!) already. Which in turn, means it's the beginning of a crazy busy month for us! We have my oldest kiddo's birthday this weekend, followed by a little family getaway (that he has NO idea about!!!) for a few days, and then that weekend, I'm hosting our first local support group meeting. This is something I have been wanting to start locally for a long time and it's just a chance for 1) parents to take a break from caregiving, and 2) to share ideas, resources, gripes, frustrations, successes, and empower and support other parents and families that are on a similar journey. Peer support is a huge part I feel because it can be very isolating and stressful as a parent in general, let alone a special needs family. It's our VERY FIRST meeting so those who are joining us, go gentle on me! But I will take ANY suggestions, comments, feedback, etc. that anyone has.
Then, the following week I will be participating in the Circles of Life Conference in Stevens Point. I will actually be on a panel during one of the sessions on how to build community engagement. Living in rural Wisconsin, this is a big struggle so I'm hoping not only to share what I have learned, but also gain more ideas and resources to bring back to our area.
Plus we have the end of the school year for both kiddos, Mother's Day, and I'm sure at least one appointment or two thrown in there as well.
I have learned continual education is crucial for parents and for our kiddos. Constantly evolving, being flexible, and growing with our children is important and part of the process. I listened to a video today of Temple Grandin, who I'm sure many are familiar with (and if you're not you need to look her up!), but she stated two things when your kiddos are young are really important. 1: being patient. If your kiddo is speech delayed, maybe only saying some words or using word associations, to give them time to process what you ask of them. Sometimes they have so many neurons firing at once that the processing of speech sounds and receptive speech take time. If you ask them a question, it may be a few minutes before they respond, but give them time to interpret. 2: Turn taking. This is such a big part of life in general that this is a very basic skill that they can learn and build upon from early age. So right now with Brayden we work along with "my turn" and taking turns. Just gotta keep trying!
If there is anything specific I should discuss at either the support group or the conference, please send me a message. I will try to bring back as much as I can from both!
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