Call it cognitive overload.
Call it dendrite building.
The drill is to jump as far as you can, like a kangaroo.
Then do it again.
Until you get to the end.
Turn around and do it back.
Ah yes, jumping.
Here is John trying to be a kangaroo, in a taekwondo warmup exercise.
Jumping jacks or high-knees running in place are equally challenging (and entertaining to watch).
A good 2-footed launch.
Like a 2-year old has.
Except John was easily 6 before he could get both feet off the ground together.
And back then we had to practice a long time, jumping on a large white exercise ball, to gain the underlying skills.
We also embedded social engagement, expressive speech, and shameless use of a preferred stim.
This is how Rosemary taught me, and how you can do it at home with your child:
Wedge with your knee a big exercise ball into a corner.
Like a small domed wobbly trampoline.
Tell your child to climb up on top, only supported (barely) by your two index fingers
(stick out only your index finger on each hand and let him hold on).
Make him count 20 good jumps, launching from both feet simultaneously.
At the same time, he counts each jump out loud, while you look each other in the eyes.
After 20, he gets to do one thing he loves (like open a cabinet door).
After another 20, he gets to close that door.
Eventually your child will build the muscles, the dendrites and the confidence to take both feet off the ground at the same time.
Because now they know where their body is and where the floor is.
Jumping, in all its forms, builds many forms of body confidence.
It also naturally shifts the child forward into fine motor and oral motor skills.
So, try this at home with your kids?
You will be helping them move forward in their learning.
At a very reasonable cost.
Peace be with us,
Gayle
Alma, John’s occupational therapist, explained it this way:
Sometimes removing something beloved works wonders for John.
Getting out of the house on time on school mornings has recently become so very much easier.
Some kids are runners. John was more a wanderer.
So, we made it through John’s 10th birthday party.
John has two sacred things these days.
First, a bit about capsule sizes: #5 is the smallest, working up through #00, then on to horse-sized.
John wanted Burger King (they have paper towels in their bathrooms).
See that pink paper in John’s friend’s hand?
What we call bio-medical (bio-med) usually involves nutritional supplements.
But recently, something happened and I had to re-think this.
One vacation morning this summer, John whipped out his worst restaurant manners in a long time.
order his own food, ask for his own straw, help with check-out procedures, and to curtail the rowdy napkin tricks.
John was all movement, and not near the physical space I needed him to be.
The Fine Arts Museum, huh? Something Mom chose selfishly instead of the Kids Museum.
In the modern art section, I pointed to different paintings and asked him what he saw.
many times (with and without other people), the cafe and his first-ever panini-style grilled cheese.
escalators, even going up backwards while holding his books for motor-planning fun.
John wanted to return the empty shopping cart to the right place.
https://www.amazon.com/Place-Hide-Strategies-Behaviors-IfWeLearnDifferently-com-ebook/dp/B01JVB0742/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1470624922&sr=1-1#nav-subnav