The Balancing Act

Being a teacher is like being a tightrope walker.  It sounds simple, teach children reading, writing and arithmetic.  Instill a love of learning in all students.  Keep parents up to date on how their children are doing.  Collaborate with other teachers and administrators.  Work with the school occupational therapist and speech therapist to help students who need these services.

Consider that there are 24 to 32 (or more) personalities in any given classroom.  Outgoing kids, quiet kids, kids who are quick to learn, kids who need more time.  Then there is the sensory component that occupational therapists are familiar with: kids whose vision or hearing may not work as well, kids who need more time to process what they hear or see, kids who don’t quite know where they are in space so they bump into others unintentionally or fall out of their chair, kids who are easily distracted by what is happening around them, kids who need more stimulation to be able to pay attention, kids who are easily overwhelmed by noise, movement and/or visual input, kids who are dealing with a combination of the above. 

Classrooms have changed considerably over the years.  Gone are the days when the décor consisted of a blackboard (remember those?), a globe, a flag, the ABCs, and maybe a potted plant.  Today’s classroom, walls are decorated with the children’s work, the ABCs, pictures and posters of scenes that pertain to the lessons being taught, brightly colored rugs, a globe or world map, supplies such as pencils and pens are in plain sight, as well as the teacher’s work area.  For many children, this setting helps them to increase their energy to a level where they are engaged and interested in learning.  Others who already are engaged and interested often tune out the visual.  But some children are overwhelmed by the visual input and become dysregulated and inattentive.  How can teachers create an environment that helps all children learn? 

A wise teacher told me how she made this work.  When the school year began, she called all her first and/or second graders around her and read them the story of a boy who was having a horrible day.  When he came to the point where he could not take it anymore, he would shout “I want to go to Australia!”.  After the story ended, she showed the class a corner of the room that she had partitioned off on three sides, and inside she had placed bean bag chairs, and pillows.  She told the children that this was their version of Australia, and that they could go there if they were having a horrible day and/or needed a break. 

Giving children the option of a quiet space where they can go when they need a break is an excellent way to support kids who do better in a calm atmosphere, while at the same time supporting kids who need more stimulation to stay alert. 

Teachers and parents, you’re on the front line every day.  We would love to hear from you, to see what works in your classroom and at home.   

Interesting Autism Study

I read in Autism Bay Area Magazine's latest issue that a recent study by Stanford School of Medicine (July 2011) found that environmental factors may play a larger role than genetic factors in determining the risk for autism (www.autismbayarea.com, September-October 2012 issue, pages 26-27).  

As someone who has worked with children who have autism for many years, I have often wondered about the importance of environmental factors.  It seemed to be just too easy to say it must be due to the genes contributed by the parents than to look at the whole picture.  This study, done with 192 pairs of twins in California, seems to have a diverse enough study population to give us some real insight as to what combination of factors might contribute to this disorder.

And then there are the other variables: are we diagnosing more cases because we know more about the symptoms and how to help these children develop?  Were there children who now would get the diagnosis but years ago were just considered odd?

This reminds me of a conversation I had with a friend several months ago.  She was commenting on the rise in the number of diagnosed cases of autism spectrum disorder as compared to when we were growing up.  "When I was little, my dad used to go out into the back yard and spray DDT to kill the weeds, while smoking a cigarette and complaining about the air pollution, and I turned out fine" she said.  And, while that was certainly true, did the exposure to toxins such as DDT affected the genes in her family, turning some on and/or off, which would have carried over into subsequent generations?  The environment that our grandmothers and grandfathers lived in does effects us in this way.  And I reminded her that she had just said  that several of her friends have children who have an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis.  What did not show up as often in our generation may have carried over into our children and/or grandchildren.

At this point, we don't have definitive answers.  After years of hearing it was the parents'/families' fault (does anyone remember the "Refrigerator Mother" label?) it is heartening to see the research that is looking at the whole picture.

The Inner Child

My son once asked me what it was like to be old.  My immediate reaction was to burst out laughing (I had recently turned 30 at the time, hardly ancient in my book), much to his chagrin.  

But it made me think.  What is it like to be old?  Years ago, I had the privilege of working with seniors as an occupational therapist.  My clients were recovering from a variety of conditions: strokes, broken bones, traumatic brain injuries.  Some clients just found themselves increasingly unable to do simple activities of daily living.  After we got to know one another, I told them of the question my son had asked me years before.  

What is it like to be old?  Surprisingly, no-one was offended by this question, although many people did laugh, just as I had.  In a variety of ways, they all said essentially the same thing.  

That who you are when you are younger is who you are when you are older, only with more life experience. Someone who is outgoing, exuberant and lively will continue to be so even in an aging body.  Someone who is more cautious and observant will still have those characteristics.

This is not to say that we aren't changed by our life experiences, we absolutely are.  Our families, the social climate, technology, all of that has an impact.  Most importantly, the relationships we have with people we are close to play an enormous role in shaping who we are.  

So essentially we are every age we have ever been, all at the same time.  

So how is this relevant to the children in our lives?  By letting our playful side come out, we set an example of how to use the lessons of childhood throughout our lives.  By tapping into our inner toddler who is learning how to explore.  By calling on our inner 9 year old who is discovering the wonder of science.  Our inner teenager reminds us of the importance of friendship.  

In doing so, we rediscover the joy of life, and encourage our children to do the same.