It’s Not Uncommon to Have “Special Needs”

Did you know? 19% of Americans are classified as a person with a disability. That equals the population of the states of FL and CA combined.  Recent data also indicates the number and percentage of Americans with a disability is on the rise.

If you are a parent, teacher, youth minister, or just anyone who works with children (or adults), you might find these statistics fascinating. Next time you get frustrated when a fidgety child won’t sit still and listen, or a student won’t look you in the eye, think twice before assuming they are just being disobedient. These stats tell a different story about what’s going on in our children’s minds. (Source: The Inclusive Church).

• 7% of children ages 3 – 17 have ADHD.  11% of boys, 4% of girls (1)
• 8% of children ages 3 – 17 have a learning disability.  10% boys, 6% girls (1)
• 10% of children have an anxiety disorder. (2)
• 13% of children ages 13 – 17 have a developmental disability (ranging from mild disabilities such as speech and language impairments to serious developmental disabilities, such as intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, and autism). (3)
• 41% of children with a developmental disability have multiple disabilities (4)
• 17% of Americans will experience a communication disorder at some point in their life, which includes sensing, interpreting and responding (i.e. auditory processing disorder).  (5)
• 1 in 110 children have an autism spectrum disorder.  1/70 boys, 1/315 girls. (6)
• 1.6 % of children will receive an ASD (autism spectrum disorder) diagnosis at some point in their lives.  2.6% boys. (7)
• 37.5% of individuals who receive an ASD diagnosis will go on to lose that diagnosis. (7)
• 41% of people with an autism spectrum disorder have an intellectual disability (which means that 59% do not necessarily have an intellectual disability). (3)
• 19% of Americans are classified as a person with a disability, which equals the population of the states of FL and CA combined.   Both the number and percentage of Americans with a disability has risen in recent years.  (8) 

Reach out. Encourage. Understand. And you will find a way to connect with another soul.

Read Amy Fenton Lee’s original post at http://theinclusivechurch.wordpress.com/2010/07/19/just-the-facts-special-needs-statistics/.

(1)    www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_10/sr10_234.pdf (page 5)

(2)    www.nmha.org/go/information/get-info/children-s-mental-health/children-s-mental-health-statistics

(3)    www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html

(4)    archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/163/1/19

(5)    www.nidcd.nih.gov/StaticResources/about/plans/strategic/FY2009-2011NIDCDStrategicPlan.pdf

(6)    www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/ss5810a1.htm

(7)    www.theautismnews.com/2009/08/11/autism-rate-now-at-one-percent-of-all-us-children/

 (8)    www.census.gov/newsroom/releases/archives/income_wealth/cb08-185.html

More Speech & Language Answers

 

Thanks to all of you who have reached out to me regarding communication disorders. I’ve still been sorting through your email questions about speech, language, and hearing; and I’ve tried to respond personally to any messages that raised serious red flags.

Many of you had specific questions about your child’s development. In order to answer as many of those in one generic swoop, I’ve pasted some important milestones below from the the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders (NIDCD). 

Please remember that developmental charts are based on normative data and that all children develop at different rates. While your children may not reach every milestone according the these charts, it is recommended that you speak to your family healthcare provider about any of these stages that aren’t met accordingly. 

Birth to 5 months

• Reacts to loud sounds
• Turns head toward a sound source
• Watches your face when you speak
• Vocalizes pleasure and displeasure sounds (laughs, giggles, cries, or fusses)
• Makes noise when talked to

6-11 months

• Understands “no-no”
• Babbles (says “ba-ba-ba” or “ma-ma-ma”)
• Tries to communicate by actions or gestures
• Tries to repeat your sounds

12-17 months

• Attends to a book or toy for about two minutes
• Follows simple directions accompanied by gestures
• Answers simple questions nonverbally
• Points to objects, pictures, and family members
• Says two to three words to label a person or object (pronunciation may not be clear)
• Tries to imitate simple words

18-23 months

• Enjoys being read to
• Follows simple commands without gestures
• Points to simple body parts such as “nose”
• Understands simple verbs such as “eat” or “sleep”
• Correctly pronounces most vowels and n,m,p,h – especially at the beginning of syllables or short words
• Begins to use other speech sounds
• Says 8 to 10 words (pronunciation may still be unclear)
• Asks for common foods by name
• Makes animal sounds such as “moo”
• Starting to combine words such as “more milk”
• Begins to use pronouns such as “mine”

2-3 years

• Understands about 50 words at 24 months
• Understands some spatial concepts such as “in” or “on”
• Understands pronouns such as “you,” “me,” “her”
• Understands descriptive words such as “big” or “happy”
• Says around 40 words at 24 months
• Speech is becoming more accurate but may leave off ending sounds
• Strangers may not be able to understand much of what is said
• Answers simple questions
• Begins to use more pronouns such as “you” or “I”
• Speaks in two to three word phrases
• Uses question inflection to ask for something: “My ball?”
• Begins to use plurals such as “shoes” or “socks” and regular past tense verbs such as “jumped”

Remember, the best way to help a child develop appropriate speech and language skills is to interact as much as possible. Talk to your child about everything you are doing. Read. Sing. Play. Laugh. Love. And report any concerns to your healthcare provider.

Happy Summer!
julie

Meaningful Mother’s Day Gift Ideas

Want to give a meaningful Mother’s Day gift this year that Mom will really want to keep forever? Here are a few sentimental ideas that will let Mom know how much you care.

Bookmarks and Magnets: Take a photo of each child doing something silly to capture personality. Be sure the photo is a full-body close up. Once photos are printed, cut out around the image of the child. Help children paste their photo image onto a piece of colored cardstock that is the size of a bookmark. Write each child’s name and the year on the paper. Next, laminate the bookmark and give this to any mom who loves to read. If your mother isn’t a book lover, convert it for the fridge by attaching a strong magnet to the back with hot glue. 

Photo Books and CDs: What Mom doesn’t love to have photos of her kids? But with the wonderful invention of digital cameras, most of us have no time to actually organize or develop our family photos. Treat Mom to a photo book of memories from Snapfish, Walmart, or Walgreens. Better yet, surprise her by organizing her digital photos and backing them up to CDs arranged by event and date. (Wow! Hope my family gets this hint!)

Videos and Visuals: I’ll never forget the year my children went upstairs and created a special Mother’s Day dance just for me. They came down to perform, and we forgot to capture it on video. The memory will always be a favorite, but you can give your Mom a special surprise by videoing the kids doing a dance or song just for her. I assure you; this is a keeper!

Mama Says: Another of my most valued treasures is a list of quotes my daughter kept. It was titled, “Mama Says…”! She had been secretly recording some of my most infamous quotes. This is a fun way to capture the impact Mom has had on your life and to let her know you’ve really been listening all along.

Take time this Mother’s Day to appreciate the special mothers in your life and for savoring each moment you have to be a mother.

“I remember my mother’s prayers and they have always followed me.  They have clung to me all my life.”   - Abraham Lincoln

Cheers, j

What Goes around Comes around

I came across this photo on the net. It is described as a prayer circle, but I’m not sure where it was taken or by whom. It just speaks volumes to me about the importance of each and every person on this planet. This one image says it all — we each play an important role…and if we don’t do our part, the circle is left incomplete.

Help your children understand how valuable they are in this world. Give them the confidence they need to fulfill their purpose in life.

Here are some sweet and simple ways to boost their confidence:

• High Fives
• Secret Codes (My children and I hold up 3 fingers or say, “Three.”  They know what this means, and I’ve been forbidden to share our secret message with you…but you can make your own.)
• Bear Hugs
• Tickles
• Eskimo Kisses
• Butterfly Kisses
• Pinky Promises
• Fist Bumps
• Thumbs Up

Let your kids know you believe in them — and that God does, too!

Poof! Summer has Vanished!

 

I know I’m not the first one to say this, but seriously — I can’t believe school will be starting August 6.

If you’re like me, you remember LONG summers as a child. Three months away from the classroom, the dress codes, and any form of structured activity. It was a season of free thought, free play, and freedom.

Every summer, I spent five mornings at Vacation Bible School snacking on Kool-Aid and butter cookies – the ones you could slide onto your fingers and wear as diamond rings. My mom piled us into the car every Tuesday to join friends at their aunt’s swimming pool. And each year, we’d make the five-hour trek to Destin, Florida for a full week of sun, sand, and surf.

Other than that, my mother, brother, and I were at home, mixing pitchers of lemonade and turning on the sprinkler to avoid melting in the vicious Louisiana heat. But I never once felt bored. In fact, I loved every minute of summer. I played with friends in the woods, fields, and ditches around my house. And when afternoon storms forced us under the carport or into the forbidden zone of “indoors,” we acted out scenes from our favorite films, pretended to be in a band, or made ourselves content with games of cards, Yahtzee, or Monopoly. Time was a gift, and we knew enough to appreciate every second of it.

Maybe I’m being a little too sentimental, but in those days life was simple. Life was good.

Now, no matter how much we insist we’re not going to over plan our summers, our children end up racing from church camp to science camp to ecology camp, with art, piano, tumbling, and sleepovers scheduled in between. Add to that a week in Hawaii, a week at their grandmother’s, and a few short road trips — and before you know it, summer has vanished. Poof! Nine weeks have flown right past us, and I have no choice but to accept the fact that I am now old enough to be a mother of a middle-schooler! (YIKES!)

Nothing scares me more than sending my sweet baby girl off to the wolves of junior high. I remember those middle school years. Girls can be cruel. Boys can be relentless. Life’s temptations and trials are thrown at you from every angle, and you aren’t even given time to develop a defense. You walk into battle unarmed and naïve, a drummer boy on the front line.

I just hope and pray that we’ve given her enough strength to have a true sense of self, a real value of individuality, and a clear vision of which relationships are healthy and which are not. She’ll make mistakes – we all do. As parents we just hope (and pray, pray, pray) that those mistakes are ones that don’t end her life, or ruin it.

As we send our children off to school again this year, I feel a little like the animals in my books. Afraid. Unsure. Full of doubt. I have to remind myself – many times a day – that there is no reason to fear. That God is with them, even when I’m not.

Blessings to you and yours this school season. May you all have a happy, healthy return to the classroom.

j

Summer Hiatus

 

I hope you’re all enjoying a fabulous summer in the sun. Like most of you, I am trying to soak up every single second with my family this summer. I will resume author visits in August.

Please contact me  to schedule a visit to your school, church, mothers’ group, library, or store: juliepcantrell@bellsouth.net

Thanks kindly for your continued support. I hope the books are bringing tons of smiles and snuggles to you and your kiddos this season.

Thanks Barnes & Noble, Germantown!

On Saturday, May 30, I was treated to a sweet and stress-free storytime signing at the Germantown Barnes & Noble in Memphis, Tennessee. The kids were fabulously well-behaved and they loved talking about animals of every shape and size. This was a great way to end the book launch and start a fun-filled summer with my family.

Thanks especially to Melinda, the superiorly talented storytime lady who welcomed me whole-heartedly into her terrain with unmatched kindness. Thanks also to the professional and personable staff members, as well as the community relations manager, Valerie Schranz. I greatly enjoyed my visit to your store.

Creativity — Message from God?

If you haven’t read Elizabeth Gilbert’s bestseller, Eat, Pray, Love, you should.  Her blazing honesty is refreshing and uplifting as she takes you on a journey across the world and across the realm of what it means to be human.

Now, I’ve only written two little picture books. I’m in no way comparing myself to the brilliance of Elizabeth Gilbert. Still, I’ve heard time and time again, “Aren’t you afraid people won’t like the books?” or “Isn’t it scary to write?”

True, throwing your soul to the wind can be a bit nerve-wrecking, but I believe we were born to create. We were born to contribute. We were born to enlighten – and to be enlightened by others who were born to share their gifts with us.

Do I have some special gift — heck no! I wrote these books to make kids happy, and to help them overcome their fears in this ever-so-frightening planet. Did I worry that people wouldn’t like the books. Sure I did. I mean, I still do. But I’m finding that children actually DO like the books. And that has been so worth the risk.

Will these books ever win a Nobel prize. No indeedy.

Will they be read at bedtime while a child snuggles safely in the arms of a loved one. Yes, they will. And to me, that means everything.

I hope you’ll enjoy Elizabeth Gilbert’s take on the creative genius – and that you’ll start creating something right away! I dare you!

To view Elizabeth Gilbert’s excerpt, visit: http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/453