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Today’s home life with its constant activity,schedules, demands and interruptions, can be so chaotic. Chaos can lead to stress as we all know.That stress can cause many moms or dads who work at home to give up that stay at home goal, even when money is not a factor. Why? Aren’t outside jobs chaotic too?
I believe that one reason is, outside jobs have systems in place to manage chaos. This allows productivity that can be measured. When productivity is measured, it allows a sense of accomplishment. When praised for accomplishment; it can be, to many, as rewarding as a paycheck.
When chaos is managed, it is also easier to focus, thus reducing stress. So, how is it done, and can it be done at home? The following is a list that helps me get more things done, keep them done, and still run an in home daycare full of constant change and interruption with a smile.
Set goals
This works in so many areas from keeping the every day tasks done to taking the kids out on trips. It also helps to work with lists. When you see that many of the things you needed to do are getting done, it keeps up morale. It also helps you to stay on track in the midst of many interruptions.
T.V. VS Music
T.V. slows things down, so plan it to your advantage. I used to let the T.V.stay on while the children were in play time but I found that the divided attention it caused was negative on myself as well as the children. I switched to instrumental music and found that the children treated each other better and played games that were more focused and for longer periods of time.
Phones
Managing phone calls can be tricky. Concentration on the conversations that you are having with your children is important. It is a good idea to have the ringer on a lower volume in certain parts of the day.It is also a good policy to finish conversations you are having with your children completely before answering and getting involved with another one. Having distinctive ringtones will help this if you have calls that are a strong priority.
Activities
The more activities you plan for children in and outside of the home, the less you will tear your hair out from the activities that the children come up with while you are busy else where. Art projects, sports,
field trips, board games, things that encourage communication skills, all make for a great day. I try to alternate these activities with play time and coordinate my work this way. I have some projects going at my kitchen table while I am cooking and also when cleaning after meals. These projects vary by age group but can include coloring, clay, word games Lego, magnetic puzzles, picture puzzles, paint with water, Colorforms, or paper dolls. I started this so that I would know that the children were doing something constructive while I was cooking. I do not use a microwave and so this takes time. I also noticed that even the picky eaters were hungry when they smelled the food for a while before it was served!! This method also makes it easy to take the children out to eat. they are used to sitting together at the table and do not try to run though restaurants.
Teamwork
Years ago I told my children that if we worked together to keep things done, I would have more time to do the fun stuff like swimming and parks. We decided who would take what jobs, when they needed to be done, and of course we had more time for the fun stuff. I still use this method today with my daycare children. Since the effort is rewarded we have a fun time doing the jobs, and I am not doing it all at the end of a long day, burned out. This leaves me some time at the end of the day for my stuff!!
Quiet Time
I have found that it helps me renew my energy and focus to have quiet time at a planned point in the day, especially since those days are often 12+hrs. long or better.I use this time to read, pray, answer calls, or just enjoy the quiet. When the children are small this is of course at nap time. When the children are a bit bigger, I have them rest and watch a video, shortly after lunch. Just as they take breaks in the outside work place, breaks at home work wonders. I am more productive this way which more than justifies the short time taken for the break.
Do you have methods successful in managing chaos ? Please click the title of this post and share them in the comments section.
In the future of this series, I will discuss;
Maintaining your health in the midst of business
Continuing your personal growth
Communication on the run
Consistency, the discipline that leads to less punishment.
This story was sent to me and I had to reprint it for Fathers Day !
At a fund raising dinner for a school that serves children with learning disabilities, the father of one of the students delivered a speech that would never be forgotten by all who attended. After extolling the school and its dedicated staff, he offered a question: ‘When not interfered with by outside influences, everything nature does, is done with perfection. Yet my son, Shay, cannot learn things as other children do. He cannot understand things as other children do. Where is the natural order of things in my son?’ The audience was stilled by the query. The father continued. ‘I believe that when a child like Shay, who was mentally and physically disabled comes into the world, an opportunity to realize true human nature presents itself, and it comes in the way other people treat that child.’
Then he told the following story:
Shay and I had walked past a park where some boys Shay knew were playing baseball. Shay asked, ‘Do you think they’ll let me play?‘ I knew that most of the boys would not want someone like Shay on their team, but as a father I also understood that if my son were allowed to play, it would give him a much-needed sense of belonging and some confidence to be accepted by others in spite of his handicaps.
I approached one of the boys on the field and asked (not expecting much) if Shay could play. The boy looked around for guidance and said, ‘We’re losing by six runs and the game is in the eighth inning. I guess he can be on our team and we’ll try to put him in to bat in the ninth inning.’ Shay struggled over to the team’s bench and, with a broad smile, put on a team shirt. I watched with a small tear in my eye and warmth in my heart. The boys saw my joy at my son being accepted. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Shay’s team scored a few runs but was still behind by three. In the top of the ninth inning, Shay put on a glove and played in the right field. Even though no hits came his way, he was obviously ecstatic just to be in the game and on the field, grinning from ear to ear as I waved to him from the stands. In the bottom of the ninth inning, Shay’s team scored again. Now, with two outs and the bases loaded, the potential winning run was on base and Shay was scheduled to be next at bat.
At this juncture, do they let Shay bat and give away their chance to win the game?
Surprisingly, Shay was given the bat. Everyone knew that a hit was all but impossible because Shay didn’t even know how to hold the bat properly, much less connect with the ball. However, as Shay stepped up to the plate, the pitcher, recognizing that the other team was putting winning aside for this moment in Shay’s life, moved in a few steps to lob the ball in softly so Shay could at least make contact. The first pitch came and Shay swung clumsily and missed. The pitcher again took a few steps forward to toss the ball softly towards Shay. As the pitch came in, Shay swung at the ball and hit a slow ground ball right back to the pitcher. The game would now be over. The pitcher picked up the soft grounder and could have easily thrown the ball to the first baseman. Shay would have been out and that would have been the end of the game.
Instead, the pitcher threw the ball right over the first baseman’s head, out of reach of all team mates.
Everyone from the stands and both teams started yelling, ‘Shay, run to first! Run to first!’ Never in his life had Shay ever run that far, but he made it to first base. He scampered down the baseline, wide-eyed and startled. Everyone yelled, ‘Run to second, run to second!’ Catching his breath, Shay awkwardly ran towards second, gleaming and struggling to make it to the base. By the time Shay rounded towards second base, the right fielder had the ball … the smallest guy on their team who now had his first chance to be the hero for his team.
He could have thrown the ball to the second-baseman for the tag, but he understood the pitcher’s intentions so he, too, intentionally threw the ball high and far over the third-baseman’s head. Shay ran toward third base deliriously as the runners ahead of him circled the bases toward home. All were screaming, ‘Shay, Shay, Shay, all the Way Shay’. Shay reached third base because the opposing shortstop ran to help him by turning him in the direction of third base, and shouted, ‘Run to third! Shay, run to third!’ As Shay rounded third, the boys from both teams, and the spectators, were on their feet screaming, ‘Shay, run home! Run home!’ Shay ran to home, stepped on the plate, and was cheered as the hero who hit the grand slam and won the game for his team.
Would you have made the same choice?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
‘That day’, said the father softly with tears now rolling down his face, ‘the boys from both teams helped bring a piece of true love and humanity into this world‘.
Shay didn’t make it to another summer. He died that winter, having never forgotten being the hero and making me so happy, and coming home and seeing his
Mother tearfully embrace her little hero of the day!
A wise man once said every society is judged by how it treats its least fortunate amongst them.
I am passing along a little spark of love and humanity,we all can make a difference.
This story is a plea for awareness and action on behalf of the people of Zimbabwe in conjunction with Amnesty International I urge all readers to pass this on as these people are suffering. Surely some one or some group can help them. A young man who is a former Central Intelligence Agent in Zimbabwe fled his country after being taught to torture and kill his own countrymen.. He claims that he was recruited at a National Youth Service Training Camp.While at camp. he was approached by a group of men who drove a black Mercedes Benz. All the young man knew of his Country’s secret service at that time was that they protected the sovereignty of Zimbabwe, yet he feared them. The young man needed money and accepted their offer. As part of his training; he was told along with several others that he would be learning torture techniques. In a room with no windows, the trainees were all given a cup of gin and made to smoke marijuana. A man was thrown into the room and the trainees were told to beat him and that it was a random beating. The trainees beat the man and kicked him until he was bleeding and stopped. The training agents asked why they stopped and they were made to continue. The trainees were then given a drug in pill form that induced rage and a second man was thrown into the room. They put him on a desk and beat his feet until they turned black.The man who could no longer walk collapsed. A third man was sent in and they poured water on him and took turns shocking him until he fell on his face smelling like burned meat. They mutilated the next man with a screwdriver and pliers, the description is so graphic I could not print it here but it is printed on the The trainees were later made to take a locked trunk to a lake. at the lake they found the keys to the trunk with a bag of cement and instructions. When they opened the trunk they found a man still alive, beaten bleeding and tongue cut out. they were told to put the cement into the trunk and drown the man in the trunk. The young man who told this story did not want to do this but they were being watched by camouflaged soldiers. Somehow after this event the young man who tells this story managed to escape,he cries himself to sleep every night as his conscience and memories haunt him. This is one of the many accounts of the violence in post election Zimbabwe. There are news reports of 84yr. old grandmas being axed in the head, people burned repeatedly with flaming plastic, people murdered in front of their families and villages burned. Awareness is the first step to action my prayer is that help will come for these people.
BBC
Hannah Poling, pictured above with her father Jon PHOTO/W.A.HAREWOOD
My son sent me a link to a most interesting article from The Scientific American. It is an amazing story of triumph for the Poling family. They won the case for their daughter Hannah in a federal vaccine court. I for one had no idea that there was one! “Mitochondrial disorder, a little known condition, effecting the parts of cells that convert sugar to energy, can be triggered by the MMR Vaccine. This is the finding of the case. Parents have been screaming that this vaccine was potentially harmful for over 10 years, but these parents happen to be a practicing neurologist, and an attorney who is also a nurse.
The rest of us have been brushed off by the scientific/medical community at large even though the numbers of similar complaints are staggering. It is if those do not happen to have a science degree are too dumb to see what they are looking at and figure it out. Does the Scientific community think that we should believe everything that they say no matter what is in front of our faces? Just look at this headline and I did not make this up!!!
Scientists Know Better Than You–Even When They’re Wrong
NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! When they are wrong and won’t admit it while your family is being effected why should you not seek answers? It is insanity to see that something does not work or causes harm or even has the potential to cause harm and and take the stance of…. If the experts say it, I might as well go along, after all, I am just one everyday person how could I be right? I hear stuff like this every day.
I applaud the Polings they are champions for many of us. For more information on this case click here
http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=vaccine-injury-case-offer
To read more
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/health/stories/2008/03/06/autism_0306.html
The findings here are amazing. In my earlier post Vitamins and Autism, there is a list of supplements that I have found to be so helpful with autism and these findings from Scientific American tell me why. If you check this post, you may find this list to be helpful.
Hey all parents, teachers, home school groups, business owners;sports people, and scout troops;
My son found this great source while hunting for a birth certificate for his puppy!
This site Dyetub, has all kinds of great awards and certificates. All you have to do is add the names online and print…….and it is free. It’s pretty cool that you can enter your text right on the web page without having to download anything! Now you can skip that trip to the supply store. 
http://www.dyetub.com/certificates/
Picky picky picky!!!!
The transition to table food is such a battle ! Every once in a great while a child is born that never complains about any food stuffs, if that’s your child, rejoice and skip this article… this is for the rest of us . In many cases the picky food war is more than just personality, taste buds, or (gulp)mom’s cooking……it is often the sign of food allergies. If your child is in the process of overcoming autism, this is very likely the case.
Early in my daycare career, I had a little girl who had a sudden change in her behavior. Her sleep patterns changed; she became moody, and she had sudden outbursts of anger. Her parents took her to the doctor and the sleep disorder center but had no results. I knew that she was dealing with some form of pain because she would sit down, bend over, and hit her forehead on the floor, or beat on her own leg with hard toys… like blocks. One day as her mom carried her out to the car, she pulled out a handful of hair and handed it to her mom like a bouquet of flowers. Her mom drove straight to the doctor to check for an ear infection but could find nothing wrong; it was so frustrating.
I had a 4yr.old boy in my class at church who had similar behavior; he would get a deep frown, hit the other children randomly, and throw himself in the floor and roll back and forth kicking his legs over and over. I asked this boy why he was kicking like that..his answer was, that he just had to, because his legs hurt. Several of us prayed for answers and soon found out, thanks to a P.B.S. special that my mom just happened across, that both these children were allergic to milk. The parents who had them tested were so relieved . Had these allergies gone undetected they could have turned into asthma as well.
My youngest son was a picky eater. I could not reason with him when trying to introduce foods. My mother-in -law lived with us for a time. She gave him what he liked to see him smile, and handed him to me when the smile changed to excitable behavior. All the while telling me, that it was my imagination that this behavior existed, for behavior could not be effected by diet. This was not only hard at home, it made going out to eat anywhere almost impossible. Autistic children do not speak quietly in public when told no. Half the people look as if to say “spank that kid and shut him up” and the other half look at you like ” if you do, we’re calling the authorities!” We skipped a few things temporarily as I had to come to the realization that my son was different in how he reacted to life than his brothers, which meant I had to learn new methods in working with him.
In the popular blog, Red Monkey, authored by Ender, who is a published writer, designer, cartoonist, and professor, describes learning to understand how others process information so well..
http://www.coyotethunder.com/RedMonkey/archives/2008/03/hang_on_lemme_p.html
and concludes….
“It’s just that sometimes, we need to remember that the other guy’s way of processing may not be wrong, merely different.”
I was invited to a vitamin meeting in the home of a friend of mine which I attended reluctantly. The lady speaking began to describe children’s allergies to synthetic vitamins and food dyes and their symptoms. She was describing a great deal of what was happening in my house! I had no idea that children will crave what they are allergic to until it is completely out of their system. I also had no idea that red and yellow dye are made from coal tar. I also did not know that milk and wheat allergies caused migraine headaches and pain in the legs or joints.
My son craved the vitamins we bought him at the grocery store We had to hide them to keep him from going after them like candy. He craved American cheese slices, Star Crunches, and store-bought chocolate milk. He was allergic to all of it. We had to all agree to keep it out of the house, and not to cave in and give it to him while out. He didn’t have the will power, so we loved him enough to have it for him.
According to the Sage Laboratory in Florida, food allergies are always present in children with autism and each situation seems to be with a unique combinations of foods. This Lab has been studying this since the ’70’s. Finding the foods that are toxic to your child is well worth the effort because it will effect their behavior dramatically. If a food can affect a child’s mood, it is hard to say what else it could be doing to the over all health and well being of that same child.
This is a link to Sagelab’s list of symptoms of food allergies
http://www.foodallergytest.com/symptoms.html
When combining the vitamin therapy with this information we saw the most wonderful results. One way I found to introduce green foods to my son was with a product called Juice Plus.
http://www.childrenshealthstudy.com/
We removed the green food concentrate from the capsule, mixed it on a spoon with applesauce and a day’s nutrition from green foods was down the hatch!!
It was amazing to see that when there was nutrition in his body from green foods he did not fuss as much about eating them. Many children have an allergy to eggs but in my son’s case eggs had a very positive effect on his ability to concentrate in school. High protein, super green foods, and fresh fruit for us was the answer.
How can your child be tested? Doctors who specialize in allergies usually can test for food allergies.
The Sage Laboratory has a comprehensive test
http://www.foodallergytest.com/programTest.html
My son is now 21yrs. old and has very little trace of food allergies left. He is also very social, works hard, is planning a bright future, and I am very proud of him. One would never guess today that we had the hurtles of yesterday. That to me is worth every book and article I had to read, along with every ingredient label. It is worth all the mockery I had to endure from those who think nutrition is folly. If telling the story helps any other families, it is worth it all the more.
Do you have stories to tell about being in or overcoming the food allergy battle? If so, I would love to hear them and combine our strengths in a future post.
You can learn more about food allergies and alternative treatments with Dr.Nicole Sundene
http://www.blogcatalog.com/user/DocNicole
You can also learn some wonderful whole food nutrition information with Robin Plan
http://www.blogcatalog.com/blogs/whole-food-and-more.html
Both of these blogs are well worth following, I am sure you will agree.
It is said that there is more than one way to solve a problem, for us, this was true with autism.The following story is our shift from prescription medication, to alternative vitamin therapy. The results were amazing!
When the child that I had mentioned in my last post began to show signs of autism, I both recognized it and had great compassion as I had fought to find answers for the youngest of my three sons years before. When my son was 18 mos. old, we bought a house and moved to a new part of town. Up until that point, my son was the most easy going of my three children. I thought that I was becoming an accomplished parent as my other children were bright and athletic. I had many great years working with children in my daycare and at church.
In the business of moving, changing schools, updating shots and dental work, getting settled and meeting new neighbors, my youngest son began to change. At first we thought that he was just unsettled with his new surroundings. My older boys were having their own adjustments as well, but as they grew more settled, my youngest grew worse. My calm happy child was now fearful, picky, and would throw tantrums over nothing.We could not reason with him. My friends told me that he was in the “terrible two” stage but I had taken care of so many two year old children by that time, I knew better.
One Sunday, we went to pick up my son from his class, which had a new couple as teachers. The wife took me aside and told me that I should take my son to a specialist because he had signs of autism. I politely told her that I didn’t think so and kept as straight a face as possible. I was furious!! How dare she put a label like that on my child! Denial was one of my biggest roadblocks. In my mind, I thought of complaining to the pastor, finding a way to prove her wrong or just never going back. This was nearly 20 years ago, there was little information or support at that time.
On my son’s next check-up at our pediatrician’s office, I was given the news that I had dreaded. The doctor began to talk with me while my son was all over the room. I would tell him to sit down and he would. As soon as I would turn to listen to the doctor, he would spring up again. Finally the doctor told me, you can quit telling him to sit down now, he can’t. My son, who was now 4yrs. old, not only couldn’t sit down if others were talking, he could not bounce a ball, could not balance on a bike, could not color, could not sit to be read to, could not play back and forth outdoor games like catch or frisbee, could not swallow cold cereal with milk on it, and was full of the strangest fears.
My heart sank as the doctor wrote out a prescription, I walked out of his office determined to find some answers. I got on my knees and cried out to God because I didn’t want my son to have a lifetime of medication . The first thing that came to me was that if I was dealing with something like diabetes, I would have no problem giving medication, which broke the stigma that I was dealing with. I decided that I would give the medication a try while still looking for answers.
I just so happened to have a friend who was opening a health food and vitamin store. She allowed me to pour through her books. I searched out information from Europe, where more nutrition was used rather than medication for many things. In the meantime, my son began to balance on a bike for the first time. After three weeks on medication, he had a short window of time where his handwriting appeared, he could reason when he did not get his way, his fears lessoned and he could eat cereal with milk.
The medication was working, but it had some unacceptable side effects. His appetite dwindled to almost nothing, he lost too much weight, and had deep dark circles under his eyes. When his medication entered his system, he would cry and his heart would race. When the medication was wearing off, he was very agitated. Having seen the positive effects of the medication, I now knew what results to look for from alternative treatments.
I began to decrease my son’s medication while introducing vitamins and herbs instead. The vitamins and herbs had the same positive effects as far as battling the symptoms, but they did not cause the side effects, such as loss of appetite and increased heart rate. For us, this was the way to go. I have since shared this method with others and with wonderful results. The list will be at the end of the story with the proper disclaimer of course.
Returning to the story of the boy in my daycare, the father came in one day and asked me how my day had been. When I described his son’s behavior and shared with him that vitamins may help, he took the list and went shopping that day. Sure enough within two weeks, the boy was far more reasonable, could look at his hands when doing something, began to have normal speech, and enjoyed playing with toys rather than just holding one or throwing one. The mother let me know that her son was fine and he really did not need this but she went along with it since it would not hurt him. I am sure you all can guess what came next.
The 60 day vitamin supply began to run out, no refills came and in about two weeks the old behavior returned. The mother came to pick up her son and could not get him to put on his coat. He would not listen, he hit her, and he took his arms out of his coat as soon as she put them in. It took two of us to get his coat on and he screamed all the way to the car as if he had been wounded, yet neither of us raised our voices or punished him in any way. On the way home she called me and asked for the vitamin list. Now, after two years on vitamins, one would never guess that the old behavior ever existed.
I am not a doctor, I am a determined mom. I can not make any medical claims here. If you consider trying the list I am giving here, I recommend consulting your doctor. Do not take your child off of medication without your doctor’s permission. Some school age children are taken off their medication by their doctor for the summer, this could be a good time to see if this vitamin therapy would work for you. If your child is on additional medication for other conditions, take your list to your doctor. In some cases, though very rare, vitamins may not blend well with a particular medicine.
- All natural multi vitamin with selenium - One good brand is Thompson’s check your brand carefully synthetic vitamins can make your child hyper as an allergic reaction selenium is said to attach itself to heavy metals and pull them from the body
- Evening primrose oil - can be bought in gel caps has almost no taste and can be put in applesauce, is said to coat raw nerve endings
- Choline inositol - B vitamin that is said to increase oxygen to the brain
- Huperzine-A - An herb that is said to increase dopamine and improve short term memory the reason for ritalin is to increase dopamine
The amounts are determined by body weight. Most of these will have instructions to take morning and evening. If you can not figure the amount for the weight of your child, ask your doctor, nurse or pharmacist.
This is what worked for us, you may have found even more answers, if so I would love to hear them. The more we share, the more we learn, the stronger together we become.
Recently, in my home daycare, I watched a situation unfold that was very difficult, to some of you, it will sound so familiar.
A family brought to me a beautiful baby boy. He was sweet, healthy and had an easy going personality, that is… until he was given the m.m.r. vaccine. After that point I watched this child change. He was totally unpredictable in his temperament, he could not concentrate to play, his speech came very late, and he spoke as if he had a hearing problem which, when tested did not exist.
The mother whose heart was breaking, was determined to convince herself and the rest of us that nothing was wrong, but as he grew, it became more and more apparent.
Fortunately, this was not my first experience with this and as a Christian I began to pray for wisdom and strength for this family.
There is a list of vitamins and supplements that I found while praying for a situation in my own family years before that I have shared with many parents and with amazing results. I tried to tell this mom about it but she promised me that her son was fine and would not need it. I thought of quitting as things became more difficult, but worried what would happen to him if he were placed possibly in the hands of someone who might not care about his future.
As I pondered quit or don’t quit, a horrible event was reported in our local news.
A foster family was arrested for the tragic death of a boy in their care who was not much older than the one I was working with and whose temperament sounded so similar. Quitting was no longer an option and I will address that situation in another post later this month.
I needed answers and quickly
as this child would have sudden unprovoked outbursts of rage that could not be reasoned with and now he was getting old enough to hurt himself and others. When in a rage, which could happen even as a result of getting his way, he would sit in time out, but would scream seemingly forever. He would be playing one minute and out of nowhere just pick up a toy (and usually a large one like an entire play kitchen) and fire it across the room at the other children who were not fighting with him, ignoring him, or using anything that he deemed to be his and his alone.
Let me take a minute to say that if you are reading this and have never dealt with this, don’t even try to make assumptions. One of the most unfortunate things for the parents that are working to help their children through this, is the critisicizm and uninformed suggestions of those who don’t have a clue!
This story has a great outcome, it was worked through with many break-throughs. The first one came with music, it didn’t fix everything, but it did take the edge off the situation enough to work for more. I began to play calm music at a fairly loud volume almost all day, not too loud to talk in a calm voice, but almost. I turned the T.V. off completely at all playtime and only used calm programs at limited times. I played music while the children napped and rested and also if we were in the car.
I have found out since that music has been the key in many situations like this both in listening and in participation. Some of what I found is as follows…..
“There are many benefits to using music on an individual lesson. Music provides the structural regularity that children with autism need. Within that structure it is possible to expand that child’s repertoire of functioning.”
http://www.autismtoday.com/musicspectrum.htm
People with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have difficulties with communication, behavior and/or social interaction. Music therapy uses music and its elements to enable people to communicate and to express their feelings. In this way music therapy addresses some of the core problems of people with ASD.
http://www.cochrane.org/reviews/en/ab004381.html
Willamette University, Salem, Oregon
Music Therapy is the unique application of music to enhance personal lives by creating positive changes in human behavior. It is an allied health profession utilizing music as a tool to encourage development in social/ emotional, cognitive/learning, and perceptual-motor areas. Music Therapy has a wide variety of functions with the exceptional child, adolescent and adult in medical, institutional and educational settings. Music is effective because it is a nonverbal form of communication, it is a natural reinforcer, it is immediate in time and provides motivation for practicing nonmusical skills. Most importantly, it is a successful medium because almost everyone responds positively to at least some kind of music.
http://www.autism.org/music.html
I tried several types of music, but found that all music did not produce the same effect,
even though calm sounding. I found music from one particular artist that had the most amazing results, in fact the parents who came to pick up their children started to ask for it. I contacted the musician who made it and he agreed to make a C.D. for children but the music on it was written for adults, so in using it I found that it helped me keep smiling as well. I am sharing it with you, I hope it helps your day be calm, so you can be at ease to love your family more.
http://hiddenstreamsproductions.com/
I will share the other things that have worked including the vitamin break through in my upcoming posts this month. My compassion and support is to all who are loving a child through to the victory in this battle.
If I have found things that help. I know that others have too . The point of this blog is for us to share our information. Do you or someone you know have ways that you have found to be effective in coping with Autism? Do you think that the general public really understands this challenge for families?
When the first of my three sons was born, he was beautiful, healthy, and……well…. …fussy. I would nurse him, rock him, gently lay him down, only to hear him begin to cry within about 2 minutes or less! I had him to the doctor, checked my diet, used better diapers even though there was no rash, called all my friends for the latest up to date advise, nothing worked. I realized that there was only one desperate measure left and I had to resort to it…I called Mom!
She gave me the craziest advice I thought I had ever heard, she told me to get out the vacuum cleaner and sweep the floors! I was sure that I would never try it, how could that do anything ? Was she just trying to keep busy so I wouldn’t lose it..or had she lost it already?
I went on with my routine feeding, changing, rocking,gently laying down, and when my baby started to cry, you guessed it, out came the vacuum cleaner ! I wondered of course if I was drowning out my child’s cries while working off my own frustration, and if it made me a bad mother. So I swept my way to the bedroom door and peaked in. To my surprise, my son was wide awake with an expression of wonder on his face, he was enjoying the noise ! My carpets were never dirty, and my son got out of the routine of fussing.
Today my children are grown, and I have spent years in child care. One of my clients recently adopted two boys. One of these boys was fussy. He was even fussy in the car. I popped in a C.D. of some calming music while on an errand one day ( to keep my own nerves calm while driving ) and to my surprise, the baby stopped crying!
I have since tried this same music at nap time and have had amazing results. The children are content to lay down and happy rather than demanding when they wake up. I then tried many other types of music but did not have the same results. I told the musician about the effect that his C.D. had on children and asked him if he would please consider making one for babies, and bless his heart, he did.
If you have a fussy though healthy baby and you don’t want to wear out your sweeper much less take it in the car with you, this C.D. is for you.. and here is a link to the site where you can find it and listen to some of it as well.
http://hiddenstreamsproductions.com/
May sweet peace be with you and your baby!
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