The year-end holidays are often filled with joy, traditions, and togetherness. Yet for families of children with special needs, the season can also bring unique challenges. With a little creativity and empathy, communities can make celebrations more inclusive, ensuring every child feels the warmth of belonging.
Read more
As the end of year holidays approach, it’s a good time to prepare ourselves mentally and emotionally for what is to come. At first glance, the holidays aren’t usually something we’d normally consider having to prepare for, unless we have a trip planned; and we tend to think this is a period of relaxation and fun. Coupled that with the coming new year, there is a tendency to assume there are things worth celebrating.
Read more
One of the more overtly dramatic events when caring for a child is when they have a meltdown, particularly if it’s in public. For many parents, caregivers and educators, there may be a sense of embarrassment on top of the contradictory feelings of frustration and sympathy for the child. There is always some underlying fear of being judged in public. If the child under our care is seen as disruptive or out of control, many adults may feel it’s their fault the child is behaving this way. Certainly, for some, they may feel other people judge them in this way.
Read more
Typically, when someone is referred to as a commitment phobe, the general assumption is that they have an irrational fear of being in a committed, long-term relationship. While this can be true, a lot may be lost in that assumption.
Read more
Feeling overwhelmed is typically a sign that you have things going on in your life that you feel you have no capacity to properly manage. It’s normal from time to time to feel this way and can even be a signal for you to stop what you’re doing and start taking steps to alleviate yourself of things that may be contributing to you feeling this way.
Read more
I think it’s fair to say that being a special needs educator is a special calling. It’s not something most people think they’re going to be when they grow up. For many, it’s something that they realise over time, and then grow into. This could be due to their personal experiences with family members who have special needs, especially children. This could also be due to a deep desire to work with and help people who need the extra care and consideration.
Read more
Play is often seen as something fun for children to do, or something to keep children distracted. What often gets ignored is that play also serves an important purpose in a child’s development. It’s the primary way children first learn about their world, and also how they learn about the learning process. By playing with toys, with other children, with adults, children experiment, try new things, learn what to do and what not to do, what’s acceptable and isn’t. They learn about boundaries, socialisation, and develop communication skills.
Read more
We have often talked about how happiness is so important to so many of us and in the past, we’ve touched on what it looks like to sabotage our own happiness.
Read more
It’s become quite a cliché to hear people talk about how our minds can affect our health, but this can have the unintended effect of people just brushing off this idea as New Age mumbo-jumbo. The reality is that a great deal of our well-being is linked to our state of mind!
Read more
Anxiousness over the future is something that is common and pretty much everyone has to deal with it in some capacity or another. It’s called anticipatory anxiety and is seen as a common response to uncertainty over what is to come. While it can sometimes feel overwhelming and uncomfortable, some degree of worry over the future can actually help us to better prepare ourselves for the uncertainty. Worry about the future can be an issue once it becomes excessive.
Read more