kidz: April 2011

Apr 30, 2011

Pure Soul

Thank you to Ellen for sharing this song.... Amazing!

Every single person
In this world is a gem
Gotta love your brother
No need to condemn
We need mercy, kindness
Not judgment

You’re trying to find
A new way up in your mind
It’s so hard to describe in a rhyme
But I’ll try
We’ve wasted so much time
Focusing on negativity is a crime (we alive)
So we got to combine
One body, one heart intertwined
Shine through
Shine your light

Oh, the heavens open up
When your eyes shut
Every step you make is tough
But you guide us
Friendship circle
We __
We fighters
Cause it’s our love for G-d
That ignites us

Every single person
In this world is a gem
Gotta love your brother
No need to condemn
We need mercy, kindness
Not judgment

In-a this world
So much trouble and greed
Go for yourself
On the hearts them feed
Take all your money
Then a-watch ya bleed
See one man’s prison
Is the next man’s freedom

Now they got ya all on the run
For some space to breath
We need trees for oxygen
No more books
Brain dead from the TV
Said come, come, come

Stakes is high
All ya do is try to take
Fill up yourself
Number one mistake
Give back to the world
That’s the only way
Redemption come like
A runaway train

Every single person
In this world is a gem
Gotta love your brother
No need to condemn
We need mercy, kindness
Not judgment

You light up the boom like a fire
Cause you’re from way up high
It’s like your only desire
Is to live and survive
Ever closer to G-d with
With every day you fight
It’s like you crush the heavens
Every tear you cry

You truly special
On a level, level, level right
A true spirit
In a world that is full of flies

What more can you ask from
Our youth to just be genuine
To do right
To be light
To be the sunshine

Every single person
In this world is a gem
Gotta love your brother
No need to condemn
We need mercy, kindness
Not judgment

Friendship circle
We __
We fighters
Cause it’s our love for G-d
That ignites us

Every single person
In this world is a gem
Gotta love your brother
No need to condemn
We need mercy, kindness
Not judgment

Apr 29, 2011

Design a Game

Here is a fun activity idea to play with children - Design A Game.

Just gather up some various objects and let the child create a brand new game to play. You can view and/or print this helpful sample to get your creative juices flowing at Your Therapy Source.

Apr 28, 2011

Ordinary Day

I have recently become enamored with the idea of appreciating and even celebrating the seemingly "ordinary" parts of life.... There is so much beauty to behold, so much joy to be had if we can only recognize it. With Sarah McLachlan's Ordinary Miracle as the soundtrack, please read, enjoy and extract the message from these few lovely quotes....

Last, but not least (this is my favorite one)....

Here's wishing that each of you can extract happiness from each and every little part of your lives!

Apr 27, 2011

Eternally Grateful for Addie

Thank you to Jennifer of The Henderson Family blog for sharing this special story with us....

We hit the ground running and I would say that we never looked back, but that is not a true statement. We look back from time to time and see a fear that was so deeply imbedded in our hearts that we never thought our pain would subside.

How do you tell people that your baby has Microcephaly when you can’t even bring yourself to say the word? It took me 102 days before I could tell anyone Addie’s diagnosis. I was so driven from the moment of her birth to protect her from the world that the fear of judgment and rejection kept me from telling anyone the name of Addie’s diagnosis.

The little piece of paper that Addie’s diagnosis was written on sat on the dresser in my bedroom. It sat there collecting dust and I couldn’t bring myself to even glance at the word. The stigma of having a special needs child pushed me to avoid saying the name; all I could bring myself to tell people was that Addie “has special needs”.

Although there was no medical reason for me to believe that there would be something out of the ordinary with my unborn child, I felt it in every part of my soul. December 31, 2006 at 6:00 a.m., the deafening silence of the operating room confirmed what my heart already knew. My Sweet Baby Girl would have to fight for every accomplishment in her life and would always be known for her diagnosis.

Within two weeks of Addie’s birth, I had her set up for every available therapy that I could find for her. I spent virtually my entire maternity leave sitting in one practitioner’s office after another.

I buried the person that I used to be and I moved on.

I had a new goal in life and that was to educate anyone and everyone about Addie. I refused to allow anyone to disregard her and I refused to allow her to know anything other than pure love.

We hit the ground running alright.

My husband, Chris:

My son, Julien:

And I:

Have made it our mission to provide Addie with everything in life that she deserves and to give her every opportunity in life that any other child has, just in different ways.

We have settled into our new lives. There are days when I don’t focus on Addie’s disabilities and then there are days when the world feels like it comes crashing down. A friend told me not long after Addie’s birth that, “This life is not a broken dream, it's a different dream.” and so it is. My dreams vary from day to day. Some days I just dream of continued acceptance for Addie and our family and other days, I dream of being Superwoman, just so that I can take care of every worry in our lives.

Like most other parents of special needs children, we were given a very grim prognosis. The first neurologist spoke the words that could have paved the road for Addie’s future, “She will never walk, she will never talk, she will never function as a normal child”. He told us that he didn’t “mean to take away all our hope”, but that he wanted us to understand the facts. Instead of folding under those words, it was immediately decided in my heart that I would prove him wrong. I have spent the last four years doing just that..

The first year was by far the most emotional.

The unknown plagued my every thought. We worried constantly about every aspect of Addie’s life and the life that we were making for her. We made drastic changes to accommodate her potential future needs. We sold our home and moved to a home that would be more accommodating to the needs of a handicapped child. We bought a new SUV to accommodate the vast amount of gear that seemed to follow us wherever we went. We bought every item that could possibly benefit Addie in any way.
I spent countless hours researching and researching some more, looking for the answers that no one could give me. At the end of the first year, I allowed myself to realize that the answers would come only in due time. The only thing we could do was to push Addie to excel, to surpass all odds and to love her more and more each day.

I can’t tell you how many times I look in disbelief at the MRI images of Addie’s brain. I look at the photos and realize that the images before my eyes gives me no more insight to the life we live than the words that resounded through my heart as we were told that our child would “never function as a normal child”. Addie’s brain has several areas of concern, including an unusually small cerebellum, frontal lobe abnormalities and Cortical Dysplasia.

There are moments when all I focus on are the words that we have heard as people tried their best to predict our future. Then there are the moments when all I have to do is look into Addie’s beautiful blue eyes and I see the miracle that God has granted to us.

There is no scientific reason for the cause of Addie’s Microcephaly and we are at peace with that. It wouldn’t really matter if science provided us with an answer, we know that Addie is who she is because of God’s decision for her and HIS plan to place her into our arms. We are eternally grateful for Addie.

I tried to think of one story that would best describe our lives and Addie or that would make the most impact. It never came to me, I am still searching for a way to capture our lives over the last four years. If you are interested in learning more about Addie and our lives, please visit us at The Henderson Family.

(Professional photos courtesy of Kim Sharit at Kim Sharit Photography.)

Apr 26, 2011

Rory Story Cubes

Most 7q11.23 Duplication children find expressive speech difficult. They often times know what they want to say, but have difficulty articulating their thoughts. As more language ability is acquired, therapy continues to be essential. Therapy may shift from an articulation based therapy to sessions focusing more on expressing complex thoughts, feelings, social stories, and expressive writing.

One tool that has proven to be beneficial for our son in clinical and home therapy is a simple game of Rory's Story Cubes. http://www.storycubes.com/. At the time of this post, there are two sets of die available. One has iconic images and the other contains actions.

When I read about this game for typical children in the newspaper, I immediately knew it would make a great therapy game. The sets are inexpensive and great for therapy groups or families. The family / kids shake the die and then tell a story based upon the pictures on the dice. One person may play, or participants may take turns telling portions of the story. My son enjoys making the stories silly. By the time we are done, everyone is laughing.

In the past, my son would become very frustrated with how difficult it was to come up with writing topics for homework, social stories, etc. With the dice game, the pictures are cues and help him fill in the blanks. They also can be used to help him identify the parts of a story, characters, plot, etc. Again, a great therapy tool for speech, social skills, and writing, and so much more.

We have shown this game to all of our therapists, and they have all purchased the game to use in their practices. It is that great. The best part is that the game only costs a few dollars and can be ordered

online. I believe they also have an iPhone app.

Apr 25, 2011

Dayton's Legs

Different Like Me

By Kathleen Freeman

My name is Thomas and I’m different you see,
But a whole lot of others are different like me.
There are kids different colors and kids different sizes,
Kids who win contests and kids who win prizes.
Kids good at math, science, spelling or reading,
Kids good with drawing, at games, or at beading.
There are kids who catch baseballs, and kids not so fast,
Kids scared of nighttime, or dreams from their past.
There are kids who feel squashed when their pants are too tight,
And kids who feel itchy when a tag isn’t right.
There are kids who will wiggle, both sons and daughters,
There are kids who are thinkers, designers and plotters.
There are kids who spin round, or jiggle their hands,
And kids who have crowded teeth in bands.
There are kids who dance, and kids who sing,
Kids who learn about most everything.
Some are in wheelchairs and some kids get sick,
That’s just how we are, and we don’t get to pick.
And some kids remember and some kids forget,
Some kids are glued to their TV set.
Some kids read maps, and some don’t, I bet.
That’s how we were made, and you get what you get.
Some kids pretend, and some like things real,
But really it isn’t that big of a deal.
My name is Thomas and I’m different they say,
My friends are all too, and I like it that way.

Apr 24, 2011

All Things New

Happy Easter!

Color the morning bright
Paint all the black of night
Warmth in a ray of light
You are God on high

You made the restless cease
Then made the clever seas
All the wonder beneath
And still you care for me

You’re beautiful
And in our hearts we hold
The one who takes the old
And makes all things new

You hear the sinner’s call
Love both the great and small
To you we give our all
To praise the all in all

Praise father, praise the son
Praise spirit three in one
Come see what love has done
Through death our life’s been won

You’re beautiful
And in our hearts we hold
The one who takes the old
And makes all . . .

You’re beautiful
And in our hearts we hold
The one who takes the old
And makes all things new

You make all things new

Apr 23, 2011

I'm There Too

I see myself in you
In everything you do
And when you're all alone at night
You know I am by your side
'Cause I'm there too

I see me in your eyes
And I'm tears you cry
And when you fall apart
And I'm dying from a broken heart
I'm there too

I see your footsteps in the sand
As you journey on across this land
But if you should fall on your way
Then I will carry you that day
'Cause I'm there
I'm there too
Yeah I'm there too

I see your face in mine
And I know there'll come a time
When you will take my hand
And I will understand
That you're there too
When you will take my hand
And I will understand
That you're there
You're there too

Music From the Heart

Welcome to our lives,
Welcome to our hearts
We rehearse all our lines
and practice all our parts

We wanna share it with you
Cause that’s what makes our dreams come true
This is music from the heart, music from our soul
Music we can sing everywhere we go
It may never be, after all the chart
but it’s a special part of who we are
It’s music from the heart

We’re more than just friends
We’re all family
And all our …. in perfect harmony
We want to show them to you
Let’s show them now y’all
Cause that’s what we were made to do

This is music from the heart
I can feel your soul
Come on, I love to hear you sing
Come on, come on, come on, let’s go
It may never be, after all the chart
but it’s a very very special part of who we are
It’s music from the heart

Music from the heart
Music from the heart

Apr 22, 2011

Teacher Appreciation Ideas

I've searched over the world wide web and created this collection of what I believe to be the cutest DIY teacher appreciation gifts. And now I'm going to share them with YOU! Teacher Appreciation week is May 2 - May 6. Have fun making crafts and teaching your child to show gratitude with one of these fun ideas!....

(all images & captions are linked)