Photo: Michael Parzuchowski
Since joining various online news and chat groups specific to parents raising children with cerebral palsy, one theme has not changed — my message about the importance of daily hands-on interaction, whether that child will ever walk, ever speak, ever DO anything significantly purposeful, by the typical standards of purposeful. Any and all trains the brain.
Moving the arms, up and down, in and out; moving the legs, up and down, in and out. Pedaling the legs, Pull-ups, sit ups, side rolls. Move it! All of this infantile movement is communicating with the brain to pave the way for new connections, more stable connections that contribute to acquisition of other milestones of typical children. For atypical infants and toddlers, it’s vitally important to have conversation while moving the arms and legs for them. Developing hearing and listening skills while moving the body provides more bang for the proverbial buck. The brain, like a sponge, takes it all in.
Depending on type and degree of brain insult, learning to roll over, crawl, sit up, stand up, step and walk will take time — sometimes years. For some, however, the anticipated goal of walking may never be realized; that’s okay — there are other goals to work on. Speaking, listening, and developing eye-hand co-ordination are three important skills that will carry children through their lives whether they ever walk or run. Those who will never reach those milestones, forever to rely on others in their world to be their eyes and ears still have a place — people contact is their brain training.
When I think about the years that were spent teaching me to walk and to know that at 65, I’m still doing it, I have to pat myself on the head. Maybe, the back, too. My arms are long!
It’s a disturbance to my sensibilities that there are so many children today who are totally disconnected from movement and they do not live with any sort of disability like cerebral palsy. What’s going on? They sit, isolated, frantically running fingers overy tiny keypads looking at tiny screens. Hmm!
They’re tethered to technology to such an extent that their brain power is being diminished instead of being enhanced, as one would think technology would ‘do’ for our young people. Au contraire, technology devices can make the developing brain very lazy.
Do you remember that feeling of joy you had as a child while painting a picture, building a snow fort with your brothers or building a birdhouse with Mom or Dad or baking cookies with the parent who likes to bake? For a child, the sense of accomplishment was huge and met with a boisterous acknowledgement. Lots of esteem building. Humans need that.
Unfortunately, today’s children are often deprived of the powerful opportunities to use their hands to create, engage and connect. They’re not sufficiently encouraged by adults in their world to get outside and DO. Much of what I experienced as a child in terms of hands and movement, today’s children will never know unless we revisit the past to stimulate the future.
From toddlerhood to date, I’ve used my hands to navigate my world. I rely on my hands as much as my feet to move me from Point A to B; touching a countertop, a table, a chair as I move about. I also use my hands to create; crafting, baking, cooking. I use my hands to recreate, as I read bound books and e-books, play online scrabble, navigate around the keyboard to connect video camera to chat with my friend, Mary, across the pond. Out and about, I use my hands to propel a wheelchair that carries me around the outside world. My brain is constantly being trained.
Children today are often limited to using their hands and fingers to keyboard their way through their days. Are they helping around the house with cooking and cleaning? Have they experienced planting a garden and seeing the fruits of their labours from ground to dinner table? If they haven’t, they’re missing so much. There’s more to life than swiping a screen with the index finger.
Parents have an opportunity to contribute to their own brain training right along with their children simply by recognizing the need to limit internet time and saying NO to technology for critcal periods of the day - like meal time. Get into the after dinner routine of having a family time. Board games are great brain trainers. Setting limits on their own use instills in their children the value of getting involved in life, hands first. Helping hands in the community is a way of connecting one to another and another. That makes for great brain training. Imagine the possibilities. A day of brain training also contributes to a ‘good tired’ for a good sleep but remember this — never go to bed with technology. That blue light disturbs REM sleep and that impacts brain training. Can’t have that!
Carla MacInnis Rockwell is a freelance writer and disability rights advocate living outside Fredericton, NB with her geriatric Australian silky terrier and a rambunctious Maltese. She can be reached via email at carmacrockwell@xplornet.ca
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