emotional development

Developmental Delays Interventions and Balance

by Patricia S. Lemer, M.Ed., NCC, M.S. Bus., Chairman of the Board, Epidemic Answers All living things strive for balance. Healthy organisms manifest balance by being flexible, never static. As day follows night, calm follows a storm and death comes after birth, nature maintains balance with constant change. For humans, being in balance is more difficult. For those living and working with children who have developmental delays, making balance can be a huge challenge. How do parents balance their personal needs with those of their children? How can therapists and teachers balance work and relaxation? How do we balance lesson plans and unstructured exploration? Listening with talking? Being and doing? Thinking and feeling? Giving and receiving? An endless array of balance questions confronts us every day. Bringing these choices into consciousness may help us deal with them more effectively. Here are some ideas for balancing developmental delays interventions. Balancing Food Our bodies seek a balance of flavors, textures and tastes….

Music and Autism: Making the Connection

by Rita Whitaker-Haun and Sheldon Haun As a music specialist in the public schools for 16 years, I have had orchestral and general music experience with children from kindergarten through twelfth grade.  In 1992, my new teaching assignment included an autistic preschool class; I had not worked with music and autism before, and it became possibly the most rewarding experience I have had in those 16 years. I learned from the classroom teacher that the previous “formal music class” had not engaged the children: the songs were too sophisticated, the children didn’t play any instruments, they didn’t do any movement…they were not involved. I realized that I would need an approach that appealed to the whole child, with each class including both fine and large motor movement as well as listening, chanting, singing, and playing instruments. I would also need to make sure that there were ample opportunities for communication and interaction between the children and adults.  We scheduled the…