Parenting Your Child with Special Needs

Preemies Today Teleconference rescheduled for Friday, January 30th

Parenting and Discipline: The Impact of Prematurity on Sensory Development
The teleconference featuring JoAnn Kennedy OTR has been changed to Friday, January 30th at
2:00 ET/1:00 CT/ 12:00 PT.

If you tried to call in yesterday and got the wrong number, I must apologize for transposing the numbers in the prefix. I understand folks who called in got a very angry person on the line. Please do not let this deter you from participating. If you are interested, please send me an email and I can send you the correct conference number.

Stay warm,
Cathy

Preemies Today-Creating Holiday Traditions Podcast!!!

Last Monday, I co-led a tele-conference with Preemies Today founder Mary Beth Hazelgrove called Creating Family Traditions or How to Stay Healthy and have Fun Together.  With permission of the callers, the one hour meeting was recorded and theDownload Preemies today 121508 is available for listening at your convenience. As a follow-up, I compiled a brief handout which can be shared with family and friends explaining the issues with illness and how it can affect a premature baby.

Our next tele-conferences are scheduled for Friday, January 16th and 23rd, 2009 at 1:00 ET/12:00 CT/ 10:00 PT and we will be discussing discipline and the impact of prematurity on sensory development. Plan on joining us live and participating in the conversation. If you would like to register, send me an email!!!!

Music Therapy

I found this post and thought you might be interested in the content.
Cathy
                        
Sounds of Healing: Music Therapy                                                
                        
"Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast,
To soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak."
-William Congreve

Have you ever felt so overwhelmed by a mellifluous strain that tears have streamed down your eyes in a wave of catharsis? Or has a soulful melody opened the flood gates of old memories, to transport you back in time to a beautiful reverie? How often have you rocked your blues away listening to feet tapping music?

From infants to the infirm, music’s appeal is universal and nonpareil, wafting its way to the heart!

Dan Ellsey, a 33 year old cerebral palsy patient couldn’t agree with this more, for him music has become a novel way of expression. On his specially designed computer program called hyper score, Ellsey breaks into a composition to convey the innermost feelings in his heart. Just like Ellsey and for a many others, the repertoire of musical notes has helped convey a myriad of emotions, which words often fail to do.

The quintessence of communication, sound, is evident right from the instant of birth. A baby’s cry is endowed with a certain rhythm, pitch, intensity and purpose, to attract an appropriate response from the parents.

Our hearts beat to an internal rhythm. It is further believed that sounds influence the complete human energy system, increasing our response to them, which is perhaps one good reason why we are also called ‘musical beings’.

Music Therapy is "the prescribed use of music by a qualified person to effect positive changes in the psychological, physical, cognitive, or social functioning of individuals with health or educational problems" (American Music Therapy Association 1999).

Mother's Day Celebrations-Memory Jar

My family is always asking me--"Hey mom, what do you want for mother's day?" I always say "no dishes, cooking or laundry." This year I have an additional suggestion.  I recently read a description of a wonderful way to celebrate being a mom--creating a memory jar.

As a mom I love the time I spend with my kids and family. Those time we make memories together are the best. Sometimes in my sheer exhaustion, my daughter will ask me "Mom do you remember the time..." Sometimes I do and sometimes I don't--true confessions here folks :-}

So the idea is to make a memory jar to trigger those days you want to remember.
Here are the supplies:
1 empty small-ish jar
pretty paper
scissors
markers
wonderful memories

To make the memory jar, have someone ask the kids to think about  memories that are special to them. Either have the kids write down or dictate the memory. Write each memory down on a piece of paper. Cut each memory out and put all the wonderful recollections in  the jar . You can either decorate the outside of the jar or not.

I have already put my order in for a memory jar and I can't wait to read all the thoughts! Let me know what you think about this idea or others that you know.

Have a wonderful Mother's Day--you deserve it!!

Ways to Nurture Yourself

N-notice what you say to yourself
U-understand the impact of chronic stress
R-regularly connect with your spouse, and supportive friends and family
T-take time to focus on the moment
U-understand as much as you can about your child’s developmental strengths and needs
R-redefine priorities regularly
E-enjoy and relax—trigger the parasympathetic division of the autonomic nervous system

Y-yowl at the moon
O-open up and ask for support
U-use your promises to fulfill your own needs and thus the needs of others

Taking Stock-Setting the Course for '08

Even if you're on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.  ~Will Rogers

I love this quote. To me this means that we can be on track with the the things we want to accomplish and still get overwhelmed by what happenings on a day to day basis. Since we are in early January, it is a great time to take stock and set a new course helps us make sure we are going in the direction we desire.

As we look ahead to 2008, consider taking a few moments and answer these questions.
Taking time to reflect is a good way to embrace the accomplishments, acknowledge the disappointments and to enhance the meaning in our lives.

1. What 10 accomplishments are you most proud? List them.
2. What are the mistakes, regrets, things you wish you hadn't done or said in the past year? List them.
3. Where appropriate, make amends.
4. Who are the people who most made a difference in your life this year? List them.
5. How will you let these people know about it in some way?
6. What are three things that you want to accomplish in 2008.
7. What is the smallest step you can think of to take toward your desired accomplishments in 2008?

Let me know what you think.
Happy Healthy and prosperous New Year you!!

Using GUILT to Care for YOU

by Cathy
Throw a rock in the water and what happens—ripples. The ripples spread out and influence everything nearby. Like the ripples in the water, the early birth of your baby cause a ripple (or a tidal wave) and influences the family life you thought to create. Such unexpected events cause emotional upheaval and we feel like something is lost. Guilt is associated with loss and is one of the various feeling states that people acknowledge and work through to redefine expectations for the future.

It is easy to get stuck feeling guilty. So how can you move past being stuck? Here is a different way of thinking about guilt to help you turn those thoughts into something that can work for you instead of against you.

Parents More Active in Raising Their Children;

Associate Press
By  STEPHEN OHLEMACHER  –  Oct 31, 2007

     WASHINGTON-- Parents are taking a more active role in the lives of their children than they did 10 years ago, according to data released today by the U.S. Census Bureau. For example, in 2004, 47 percent of teenagers had restrictions on what they watched on television, when they watched, and for how long, up from 40 percent in 1994 (Table 11).

     A Child’s Day: 2004 examines the well-being of children younger than 18 and provides an updated look into how they spend their days. This series of 30 tables published by the U.S. Census Bureau is based on the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) and addresses children’s living arrangements, family characteristics, time spent in child care, academic experience, extracurricular activities and more.

     According to this latest look into the lives of children,