As you can tell, Lucas has made some pretty (really pretty!) fun friends this summer. Colleen and Ashley have been coming twice a day to help us with our program. They pattern, creep, crawl, and help us with our reading and intellectual programs. To be honest, the thought of getting the patterning program up and running was one of the most difficult parts of our plan because we needed three people. If I needed someone to help me clean my house or water my plants it would have been one thing, but getting someone to be consistent, enthusiastic and committed to Lucas's program was another.
When I first asked Colleen and Ashley to help us I didn't really know what to expect. They are very kind and intelligent girls, but giving up two set times a day when you're a teenager (and walking around everyday with Wiggles music stuck in your head) is asking a lot. I would have been happy for any help they were willing to give. Ultimately, they are giving us much more than their time. Since the first day I can pretty much set my clock by their arrivals, and by Lucas's shrieks of "Dean and Lee" as he sees them round the corner. Lucas knows that they are genuinely excited to see him and when they work with him they expect things of him too.
I could probably never explain to the girls what their efforts mean to us or how appreciated they are, nor do I have any idea what we are going to do when we move back home in September!
How wonderful to have such great support! I have been reading the books you've suggested & can't put them down. Thanks for your input. Happy summer!
ReplyDelete-April
They really get your brain going don't they??? Have a wonderful summer.
ReplyDeleteI've never done patterning w/my daughter because I don't have enough people, and quite honestly, I can barely get her to sit still long enough to change her diaper so I can't imagine she will go for it. How did you get Lucas to let you start? How important do you think it is? SHe's already crawling and creeping in cross pattern, but I don't want to feel like I'm leaving something crucial out of her program. Sorry for all the questions! I don't have many people I can talk to about this stuff! Thanks!
ReplyDeleteHi Laura,
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Institute's guidelines, a child should have patterning if they have less than perfect conversion of their eyes. (Other signs are "immature" qualities to movement and several other things they have outlined in their developmental chart.) As a therapist, I have always learned that patterning is NOT helpful because it is a passive activity. Now I believe that is the precise reason it is so important. Feeding passive movement (which is basically a sensory activity) into the brain, and then allowing the child opportunity for the motor output of creeping, crawling, etc. Lucas has been pretty tolerant to most things we do, being older I can reason with him, like "If you do this for your favorite three songs, we'll get down and look at your favorite book." It worked pretty quickly, but then it morphed into calling it "the Monkey" so now the girls walk in and we tell him to do the monkey...he knows exactly what it is. You can ask any time!
Geraln
Thanks so much for getting back to me!Can I ask how old was Lucas when you started patterning? My daughter, Ayu, will for sure yell at me , big time if I try to make that happen! She's just 14 months today. ( She's a feisty one ).
ReplyDeleteShe does have one eye that likes to wander in occasionally. I'm planning to take her to an opthamologist soon but it seemed like it was getting better on it's own so I waited, but now it's creeped back in again.
Anyway, I see the logic in it all and am definitely open. Just not sure how to handle all the logistics, etc. BTW, I read your friend Kristen's book. I got a lot out of it. It inspired me to go to a naturopath. There seems to be a bunch of us 'out there' who are finding our way along the same paths and it's really exhilerating for me. I spent a few months there thinking I was the only 'crazy' one!
Thanks again!
We just started patterning Lucas this summer. I had done the intellectual programs with him since he was a baby as well as the vitamin / antioxidants. I never noticed that much of a conversion problem with Lucas but his running and walking appeared immature. I went to the Institutes in April and that is when I formulated a complete program. As far as Ayu, good for her feistiness! Kristen is awesome for sure - I never felt comfortable enough to create supp's out of herbs, I used Nutrichem MSBv7 and regularly check and modify all additional supps with our naturopath.
ReplyDeleteThere are a lot of us out there - now we are dismissed by the notion that our kids were just "lightly involved." As if that's even possible when there is a third copy of genetic material in every single cell! Pretty soon, I have a feeling the accepted medical approaches are going to have to be looked at - our children's generation is going to make some real progress.
If you don't mind me asking, which book contains information on patterning? I have How to Teach Your Baby to Read, but it is the only Doman book I have read (and I still need to get started on actually teaching Miss K to read - she just turned 8 months). I'm curious which book would be good to start next, and your mention of patterning has me curious. Thank you! :)
ReplyDeleteHow to teach your baby to be physically superb, and What to do about your brain injured child
ReplyDeleteActually, start with "What to do about your brain injured child."
ReplyDeleteThank you Geralyn! I have put the book on hold at the library.
ReplyDeleteI would highly recommend How Smart Is Your Baby for anyone starting out with a baby to toddler (up to 18 mo or so). The book is so mis-named! The book teaches you how to diagnose your child with the Institutes profile and how to stimulate them (but only the beginning levels).
ReplyDeleteI am one of a group of parents who just took the What To Do course in last week and am now home trying to figure out my program. Some of us at the training decided to start a joint blog to share how it goes (and hopefully motivate us!). We are at http://T21andwell.blogspot.com (not much up yet though). Seeing another family doing a program is very motivating so I have included a mention of this site on ours and wanted to let you know you are a resource for others!
Thank you so much! Enjoy your program, I need to find new patterning music because I hear the Wiggles in my sleep!
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