The Joseph Robert Shaw Foundation

Helping Children Recover from Brain Injury

Using Good Dog, Carl to Support Language Development

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I’m pausing in our neuroplasticity series to share the new book that Joey and I are enjoying together.

As a child, I loved the picture book, Good Dog, Carl by Alexandra Day. The wordless book depicts a mother leaving the house alone with Carl, the rottweiler dog, as the baby sitter. Once the mother leaves the house, the baby climbs out of the crib onto Carl’s back. Carl carries the baby throughout the house – to jump on the parents’ bed, play dress up with the mom’s jewelry, check out the fish tank, dance in the living room, eat a snack and even takes a bath to hide the evidence of the messy snack. Before the mother returns home, Carl puts the baby back into the crib as though nothing has happened. [Read more…]

Connecting through the sensory system – Neuroplasticity Post 2

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In June, Joey’s Foundation hosted Dr. Karen Pryor for a neuroplasticity seminar. This is the second post in a series about neuroplasticity. For last week’s post click here.

One aspect of her talk that struck me was the importance of connecting through the sensory system. Prior to my experience with the neuro-developmental approach in DIR/Floortime, most of my training had been behavioral based – where I had been taught to not take the sensory system into account. I was trained to be aware and understanding of a child’s specific sensory needs, but to work to override these preferences so that the sensory system did not interfere with a child’s learning. The neuro-developmental approach of DIR/Floortime, or as Dr. Pryor describes in neuroplasticity – is the opposite of this. To truly reach children and re-wire the brain, we must engage the sensory and nervous system. [Read more…]

Applying Simple Concepts of Neuroplasticity to Working with Joey – Post 1

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On June 20th, Joey’s Foundation hosted Physical Therapist, Karen Pryor, author of Ten Fingers, Ten Toes for a full day workshop on neuroplasticity. This being one of my personal favorite topics, I was thrilled to be able to attend. 

There is so much of her presentation that I wish I could capture here. It is hard to narrow down everything we learned throughout the day. Some of her recommendations were so simple, and yet have the potential to make such a large, lasting change on a child’s development.

One key  – yet simple – point that she made was that “vision is neurologically connected to over 80% of the central nervous system” (Pryor, 34). If we want a child to master a skill, first we need to make sure we are involving their line of sight. Are we making it as easy as possible for the child to view what they are being asked to do? She even had us test this by walking through a series of exercises, changing where we looked each time. When we looked away, the task became increasingly more difficult, if not impossible. [Read more…]

Development, Big Numbers, and Kindergarten Expressions

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I asked Joey a somewhat mundane question and he gave me the same look he always gives me when I ask a mundane question. “100” he replied. “100 oops.” 

This reply made. no. sense. I think I’d even asked a yes or no question. Joey is completely capable of answering yes or no questions. 100 oops? Really? 

Later on, that night at dinner, my own daughter, a month younger than Joey, used the phrase “a billion poops”. After she was quickly disciplined for using potty language at the table, I found myself once again smiling at how similar she is with Joey in five year old development.  [Read more…]

Another Fun Book – I Need a Hug

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Recently, Joey and I have been reading the picture book, I Need a Hug by Aarron Blaby. In this silly story, a porcupine is looking for a hug, and the other animals he runs into – a rabbit, a mouse, and a bear, all run from him screaming. After all, he is a porcupine. Who wants to hug him?

At the end of the story, the porcupine finds the animals running back to him and gets his hopes up, only to find that the animals are being chased by a snake that wants a kiss. Luckily, the porcupine and the snake unite in a friendly cuddle.

This book has been perfect to read with Joey right now because while it is silly and simple, it also lets us work on some of the developmental and academic skills we are focusing on. [Read more…]

Saturday Serenade

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Test post for Saturday Serenades https://www.musichealsglennjan.com/saturday-serenades

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