Why are Ordinary Experiences so Difficult for our Children
The focus of my lessons is on creating experiences together.
Why do parents of neurodivergent children have to be mindful of creating experiences with their children?
To answer this question, we have to ask:
Why are ordinary experiences so difficult for our children?
Starting from this lesson, I will focus on one or two experiences in each lesson and talk about how various therapies and educational approaches have helped us move forward in addressing challenges and in developing unique solutions!
In this video, I talk about some challenges that Ananth faced with birthday parties.
For the last two years, we have developed our own unique way of celebrating birthdays! Thanks to Shilpi Mayank-Awasthi for encouraging Ananth to narrate The White Peacock story on his last birthday. This led to another birthday celebration with a dance this year!
We had fun celebrating the birthday with family, friends, people from our neighborhood, members of the LIFESMART community, and members of SpecialSaathi community.
Rethink birthdays and celebrations!
Every celebration is an opportunity to
L: Enhance daily learning (Ananth had been practicing the story/dance regularly to perform on his birthday)
I: Share interests (Ananth enjoys dance and storytelling. We are now using celebrations as opportunities for Ananth to share what brings him joy with others)
F: Family interactions (Each celebration provides a way to enhance interactions with family members in a meaningful way when we celebrate in a way that builds on Ananth’s interests)
E: Engagement with Community (Each celebration provides a way to enhance interactions with community members in a meaningful way when we celebrate in a way that builds on Ananth’s interests)
Read the article below. As mentioned in the article, many neurodivergent individuals are monotropic with interest areas where they are motivated to spend much time. All of us are motivated by our interests. But how about those whose way of being is monotropism? Should celebrations be redesigned for neurodivergent individuals?
https://neuroclastic.com/its-a-spectrum-doesnt-mean-what-you-think/
Author Dr Dasaratha Rama
Dr. Dasaratha Rama is a professor and home educator. She was the editor of a monograph on service-learning published by the American Association of Higher Education. This monograph was a part of a series of monographs on service-learning published by AAHE. She was also an Engaged Scholar with the Campus Compact, an association in the US dedicated to higher education civic and community engagement at colleges and universities. She has served as the Chair of the Teaching and Curriculum Section of the American Accounting Education. She is a certified leader in systems thinking, mapping, and leadership under a program offered by Cabrera Research Lab. She is currently doing a certificate in Theater Arts for Holistic Development (TAHD) from RASA (Ramana Sunritya Aalaya).