So I'm in Tucson right now for a work conference and it's the best conference I've ever been to. It's called, "Ready Bodies Learning Minds." And it's all about the concept that kids need movement in order to be ready to learn. A lot of this can get more technical, and it's not necessarily new information to a lot of therapists; But the way it's being presented is new; it's practical and straightforward. There's great everyday examples that anyone could understand, and the woman presenting is fun-- she's personable, funny, and most importantly, practical. I'm loving it.
While it's great for us as therapists to get this information, it would be awesome for teachers, and especially parents to see this stuff; because we have an idea of this stuff already. A lot of it is talking about parenting and the world today, which if people understood, they would understand why we're seeing more learning problems, behavior problems in kids, and things like ADD/ADHD.
For example, the way kids play and are handled is so much different than it used to be. Duh right? People are afraid to put their babies on their stomachs...do you know what that's doing in return? They're not developing strong core muscles, later in life this can make them fidgety little kids who can't stay in their chairs and are moving all over the place...kids who get in trouble for being hyperactive... because we're all afraid to put them on their tummies and carry them around in their car seats rather than carrying them in our arms and them having to learn to support themselves. That's just one example.
Another would be--look at our playgrounds...do you see any merry-go-rounds? Tire swings? Seesaws? They're leaving the playgrounds because everyone's afraid the kids will get hurt. Well this affects the way they learn to move and process movement...again, making them fidgety kids. (These are VERY basic terms I'm using, if you wanna get technical just ask :)
And not only that, the way your body moves and perceives movement is tied to your vision and hearing and touch, and all your senses. If one is off they all can be.
So we have a fidgety kid, who's showing behavior problems, and probably is having problems with handwriting too. Or cutting. Or is just clumsy.
Now, we've taken away their strength, and various ways of learning movement; then we add to that teaching skills earlier and earlier (which kids aren't ready for, because developmentally they shouldn't be ready for years!) Not only does this mean that maybe we're thinking kids are delayed (when they aren't, they just might be on track developmentally and we're introducing things too soon!), we also need to look at other factors in the environment. Such as...cartoons, video games, microwaves, drive-thrus, the internet----just examples of the way we live now and how we don't need to wait for anything...kids don't need an attention span anymore--until you put them in school and expect a 5 year old to sit in his chair all day. When did he have a chance to develop an attention span? On top of the fact that at 5 years old he shouldn't be expected to sit for 8 hours, and add to that that we're taking away recess all over the place, PE is on it's way out or at least decreased, and then he's the baby that didn't lay on his tummy. Let's not forget that after this, he's wiggled all over the place and is yelled at and punished because he can't, he's unsuccessful in his academics because they were started too early...so now he might even be acting out-- being aggressive or is emotional. Because he's frustrated to all hell.
What do we do? Get him therapy, get him resource, get him medication.
Yes, there are kids who NEED medication and are truly AD(H)D.
In my opinion (and those of many others) is AD(H)D over diagnosed and over medicated? Yes.
What can we do? Look to how kids used to live! They need to jump, run, skip, swing, spin, climb, and yeah, even fall. Because they learn from all those experiences. They need to push, pull, ride bikes, cry! And just be kids!!! That is why we're seeing more and more problems with our kids. The whole way kids are raised (through our faults and just society as a whole) has changed. To add to that...why's it matter if a kid sits at his desk anyway? Really? Aren't we trying to get an end product out of him? So why do we get caught up on the fact that he needs to wiggle, stand up, lay on the floor?
Anyway...I could be on a soap box about this for days. But I've had those beliefs already and they are being reaffirmed at this conference, and giving real world solutions. So happy :)
And if you want more info just let me know!
