What Does "Keeping Kids Healthy" REALLY mean?

What DOES “Keep Kids Healthy” Really Mean? 

The TV bombards us with ads promising that vaccines and pharmaceutical products will “keep you and your family” healthy during the flu season.  Are there alternatives?

I just gave a talk at a local school on “staying healthy.”  Parents came armed with notepads, ready to hear my favorite natural solutions to sniffles and coughs. They went home with those.  However, I started with a question:  Does “healthy” necessarily mean, “not sick?”

Philip Incao, MD, a physician in Colorado, describes health as “a beautiful sunny day with a brilliant blue sky and no clouds in sight.  At any time, if our Spirit is strong, then, like the sun we can dissolve the clouds that come our way. Sometimes too many clouds form at the same time, or a cloud becomes too large and obscures the sun’s light. If we don’t pay attention to these messages, the clouds can grow and merge into a huge thunderstorm. After the rain, the sky becomes clear again.”

I really love this description.  I can visualize my spirit making those clouds go away. I am also well aware of times when I have not paid attention to the messages and I have endured some thunderstorms!

Here are some of the points from my talk. 

Main ingredients for a strong immune system:

• Nutritious, unprocessed, organic food in season,
• Clean, filtered air and water
• Daily and ample sleep/ exercise/ sun / nature

Impediments to staying healthy:

• Toxins from foods, environment
• Lifestyle stressors in job, family, friends
• Issues of inconvenience and changing long standing habits

Here is a list of specific foods and supplements that boost the immune system. Thank you to Lisa Rudley for helping to compile it.

Foods  “Warming” foods. Less raw; more well-cooked for winter.  Soups and stews. Seasonal fruits – apples, pears, persimmons, vegetables – root veggies- onions, turnips, squash, parsnips, beets, radishes, greens, kale, collards, cilantro, parsley. Limit sugar!  Read Animal Vegetable Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver.   

Supplements

Vitamin A – Important for vision and mucous membrane integrity.   RDA 1,000-2,000 IU for children,

Vitamin C – 2-4 grams per day or to “bowel tolerance.”  

Vitamin D3 – Adults need 5,000 IU when midday sun exposure is not possible. Infants need 1,000 IU, and older children need 2,000 IU. – Need good oils for absorption.

Vitamin E -  Anti-inflammatory effects and increases resistance to infection. Use only natural vitamin E (d-alpha-tocopherol), not the synthetic form (dl-alpha-tocopherol). A mixed tocopherol form of vitamin E is best because children need the gamma as well as the alpha forms. 100 mg for children under two and 200 mg for children aged 2-12.

Omega-3 fatty acids – As fresh, wild, cold-water small fish or their oils in capsules or liquid form.   Salmon, cod, mackerel, sardines. Flax & Hemp seeds for vegans.

Zinc – 25 mg zinc per day, but if you continue zinc for an extended period of time also take copper to prevent a deficiency (10:1 ratio of copper to zinc).

Colostrum – Immunoglobulin IgA coats the intestinal lining preventing attack by pathogens. Lactoferrin locks onto iron releasing it to red blood cells and depriving bacteria of the iron they need for reproduction. Lysozyme destroys microorganisms on contact. Cytokines boost T-cell activity and stimulate production of a baby’s own protective immunoglobulins. Polysaccharides bind to bacteria and block their attachment to mucus membranes. Take two capsules twice a day through the winter months.

Mushrooms: Activate white blood cells and stimulate antibodies. Reishi (ganoderma), maitake (grifola), shiitake (lentinus), polyporus, and tremella.  Use dried or in tablet, powder, or liquid extract form.

Homeopathics:

Influenzinum – One dose each week for 4 weeks (9C, 12C, or 30C) if you are exposed to the flu.   

Osccillococcinum – 3 X a day for 2-3 days

In today’s fast-paced world we “need” our kids to be “not sick.”  If they have to miss school, one of us has to miss work, or grandma, a friend, or other relative has to fill in.  It’s inconvenient, and in using a pathology model, means that something has gone amiss. 

If we trust our bodies, though, “sick” actually means our immune system is working well.  By coughing we bring up mucous; fevers help clear out toxins; rashes mean detoxification. In fact, in the “olden days” getting sick was a bi-annual house-cleaning ritual! 

Dr. Alan Scherr of the Northport Wellness Center on Long Island suggests that we give kids “well days” instead of “sick days!”  I like the idea of putting health into the positive.  Staying home is respectful of your body’s working to stay well. 

Nature is the greatest healer. Take a walk through the leaves. Hike, sit under a tree by a stream. One of the greatest gifts we can give ourselves and our children is to "SLOW DOWN," says Susan Johnson, MD, a California pediatrician. Remember, doing “nothing” is often the best!

 

 

 

Temple Grandin: A Real Inspiration for People with Autism

 

Yesterday I had the pleasure of hearing Temple Grandin speak. Thank you to Community Health Connections for bringing her to Pittsburgh.  I have attended Temple’s talks a half dozen times over the past 20 years, and each time I am amazed at how she continues to develop her skills. 

As arguably the world’s most accomplished adult with autism, Temple spoke with minimal notes and a high level PowerPoint presentation for almost two hours.  She was funny, irreverent, passionate and articulate.  How awesome is that, given that once she was a non-verbal, temper-driven child who sought solace in her relatives’ cattle brander to comfort herself? 

While pacing back and forth and waving her arms at times, Temple covered a good number of subjects:

• How imprecise and meaningless labels are in helping those with autism
• How “brains with problems” have sensory issues that sometimes look like “bad behavior. Maybe it’s those flickering lights, memory of the sound of a fire alarm or an itchy t-shirt.
• How medical problems such as constipation, toothaches and yeast infections can also cause behavior problems.
• Helpful accommodations for those with visual and auditory processing problems such as using colored paper or tinted/prism lenses, incandescent instead of fluorescent light bulbs, and wearing a hat.
• Why we have to return to the practice of expecting even our most disabled children to take turns and do chores. Play board games and walk the dog, she advised.
• Why hobbies and clubs are essential for learning social interactions. Chess, rockets, video games give kids something to talk to each other about.
• Why she prefers aerobic exercise, deep pressure, special diets and omega 3 fats to medications with untold side effects. She is now taking probiotics and EFAs in addition to her “old-fashioned” meds for anxiety. 
• The differences among the different classes of drugs, and why she is opposed to labeling and drugging very young children.
• Possible successful careers for individuals at both ends of the spectrum.

Temple believes that too many of today’s teens and young adults with Asperger’s  are unemployed and unemployable because they have not had the advantages she did.  While she hated what she calls her “Miss Manners” lessons, she now recognizes their role in teaching her not to swear, make fun of overweight people, dress neatly, and chew with her mouth shut.  She related that she was over 30 before she understood why she had to so something to please others.

If you are unfamiliar with Temple’s story, I strongly recommend reading Emergence: Labeled Autistic, her early story, and Thinking in Pictures, written later in life.  Her latest biography is The Way I See It:  A Personal Look at Autism & Asperger’s.  Her love of animals, which led to her career as the world’s foremost animal handler, is palpable in her Animals in Transition and her newest book, Animals Make Us Human.  More information on these and her work are available at www.grandin.com.

Thank you, Temple for all you do to help those with autism.  Giving you a copy of my book EnVISIONing a Bright Future, and shaking your hand yesterday was a real thrill.  After I unthinkingly and spontaneously extended my hand, I did not know whether to withdraw it quickly or wait.  When she took it and gave me a hearty shake, I thought, “WOW!” What a long road she has traveled!

 

Day Lily buds and Zucchini Blossoms: Eating for Free

In the 1970’s with Euell Gibbons’ best seller Stalking the Wild Asparagus as my guide, I used to forage for free food moving from scapes (wild garlic) in the early spring to blueberries in late summer.  Two of my favorites, day lilies and zucchini blossoms arrive together in June, and I cooked them this weekend for friends.

Zucchini plants are prolific, and a single one can provide more than enough of the vegetable to satisfy most families’ needs.  When you consider the blossoms as part of the harvest, you get double the gourmet experience. 

Stuff each blossom with a little bit of goat cheese seasoned with some chopped basil, dip into flour and egg, and fry quickly in hot olive oil until golden.  The blossoms puff up, the cheese melts and they make a wonderful finger-licking appetizer for the eating al fresco. 

With day lilies you have a choice.  You can add yesterday’s wilted flowers to soup or steam today’s largest buds waiting to be tomorrow’s flowers.  I prefer the latter.  Steam about a minute, top with butter and chopped parsley, pop in your mouth, just like asparagus, and just as good! Don’t eat too many, though, because they can act as a natural laxative.  

Thank you Euell Gibbons for teaching me about free foods.  Thirty years later, I am still enjoying foraging.  Hope you are too!

Blog Entry dated 5/27/2009 11:39 PM

Summer Options: ESY? Camp? Intensive Therapy? or Just Hanging Out?

Parents frequently ask me to make recommendations about summer programming for their children with special needs. They are torn between using the season for intensifying therapy programs or giving the child a break from routine.

Any child who has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) is eligible for an Extended School Year (ESY) program. First, "critical life skills" are identified in the IEP. Next, a committee determines that, without ESY services, critical life skills: 1) will regress and not be recovered in a reasonable amount of time; 2) are emerging and at a breakthrough point; or 3) are impeded by stereotypic, ritualistic or self-injurious behaviors.

If an interruption in programming is likely to prevent a student from receiving some benefit from the educational program during the regular school year, the school system must provide ESY services. IEP goals for ESY are carried over from annual goals; no new goals are added.

My experience is that ESY services sound better than they are. The services tend not to be intensive or remedial, but to fulfill an obligation. Often we can find better ways for children with developmental delays to pass the summer months.

For the child in a self-contained class, summer can be an opportunity to try some inclusion with typical peers. Integrating children with special needs with non-handicapped peers has been proven to be beneficial for both groups. Sometimes a "shadow" from a local graduate school in education, psychology or occupational therapy is necessary for success. Typical children learn about autism, attention deficits and cognitive differences, while those with delays have a chance to practice social interactions, language and physical skills.

Many "special" camps are now available, both as day camps and for a week or two overnight. In the Washington, DC area the GMS Institute has camps that focus on children with sensory integration (SI) dysfunction. One includes typical siblings of children with autism, attention deficits and emotional problems. Both are staffed by occupational therapists and OT undergraduates. Each day, children are involved in activities that stimulate and normalize touch, movement, listening and visual skills. Swimming lessons help children gain confidence and provide the opportunity for movement without the demands of resisting gravity. Some have friends for the first time and are deliriously happy with the nutritious sensory diet they get heavy work, finger painting and the martial arts.

If a child meets ESY criteria, it is remotely possible that a school system will fund a private camp in the same way that it funds private school. Getting this service could require going to due process, however.

Summer can be a great time to intensify or schedule therapy that is hard to fit in during the school year. I would recommend this for older children, especially. If you need to travel to a practitioner in a distant city, combine the trip with a visit to a theme park or camping out. Increase vision or reflex integration therapy to several times a week. Do home therapy exercises in the fresh air. Enroll a child in FastForWord, Earobics or a Lindamood-Bell program. Find a tutor who understands sensory processing and incorporates movement into her sessions.

Vacations with children with special needs can be trying. One family I know was investigated for child abuse at a hotel in Disneyworld because their child with autism screamed all night. Don’t expect your child to hop on a roller coaster and love it. But the unpredictable does happen. With a great deal of vestibular stimulation from ride after ride, one child I know of spoke his first words.

Trips to theme and national parks are opportunities for families to be together, bond and enjoy nature. Fortunately, many parks have tried to make it easier by issuing special passes to avoid long lines and other perks. Use the park’s web site or call before you go.

Remember to keep up the routines as well as proven sensory and nutritional diets that you know your child thrives on. Just "hanging out" can be hard on everyone. Help relatives understand the importance of being flexible within set limits. Those not familiar with your child may think of behaviors as "bad," when they truly are not. Give them books that you have found helpful.

Most importantly – HAVE FUN!

 

Judith Bluestone HANDLE

Owner wrote:

HANDLE Founder Judith Bluestone Passes Away

On February 18, 2009, the world lost an amazing woman.  Judith died at the age of 64, in Atlanta, GA, where she had lived for the past several years. She is survived by her son and sister, and by thousands who very personally feel the loss of her from their lives.

Judith Bluestone was an internationally renowned specialist in neuro-developmental disorders and learning challenges. As an intuitive healer and educator, she had remarkable gifts for enabling function in herself and others.  

Judith dedicated her life – heart and soul – to the creation and expansion of The HANDLE® Institute in Seattle, WA, which she founded in 1994, the same year I co-founded DDR.  I first met her soon after we both started our organizations, and realized that we were definitely “on the same page.”  I was humbled by how Judith had experienced many of the same issues as her clients: autism, seizures, constant pain, and hypersensitivities, and was applying what she had learned about healing herself to others.   In the end her efforts became overwhelming.

Judith spread awareness of HANDLE® around the world. Just looking at her course schedule would exhaust the average educator: Australia, Canada, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, India, Israel, New Zealand, South Africa.  Bluestone created the Holistic Approach to NeuroDevelopment and Learning Efficiency (HANDLE®) in the 1980’s and through the Institute, trained and certified over 125 individuals as Practitioners and Screeners of the HANDLE® program.  Go to www.handle.org to view the schedule of courses the Institute is offering, and attend one if you have never experienced HANDLE®. 

Judith received much acknowledgement for her achievements.  In 2004, she won the Jefferson Award in Seattle, and then the national Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Award for community service. 

I met with Judith in Atlanta last year at her home office and therapy studio.  She and I reminisced about how some of the “new” therapies are reincarnations of ones we practiced in the 1960’s, and shared our excitement about the strides we have made in the 40 years we have been helping children with special needs. We spoke of collaboration and perhaps a joint conference with DDR and HANDLE®, with the two of us as keynote speakers.  Alas, that will never be.

Judith left The HANDLE® Institute in Seattle in capable and loving hands, and it will continue the work she began. If you would like to do something in honor of Judith, please share your knowledge of HANDLE with anyone you know who might benefit from it. Or make a non-tax-deductible donation to The HANDLE Institute International, LLC to support the Institute or to The Churkendoose Project, a nonprofit organization whose mission it is to provide opportunities for many to experience the benefits of HANDLE. The Project’s contact information can be found at www.churkendoose.org.

The HANDLE Institute has set up an email for you to send your questions, thoughts and memories about Judith. Please share them at HANDLEassist@gmail.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Winter GF-CF lunch

Owner wrote:

A Winter GF/CF Lunch     

 Yesterday, I took lunch to the home of a friend.  A childhood buddy of hers is visiting Pittsburgh from Phoenix (during the most frigid week in a decade) to help her clear clutter and ready her house to go on the market in the spring.  I offered to take the two of them to a restaurant, and she declined, saying they did not want to take the time away from their clutter clearing.  I said I would cater the event.

A little background first.  My friend and her visitor are both breast cancer survivors, she also has fibromyalgia, and her husband has Parkinson’s.  She has been more open to my “goofy” suggestions about eating organic, wheat- and dairy-free than any of my other Pittsburgh friends and family.  We cook and dine together about once a week, sharing ideas and laughs.  She is the caregiver for not only her husband, who has been sick for over 20 years, but also for her almost two-year-old grandson who comes to her house for childcare about twice a week.  He and his newly pregnant mother were also coming to lunch.

My first thought was to make it simple:  go to a local deli and buy prepared quiches and accompany them with a mixed green salad. No, no no!  I had time to prepare something healthier and more delicious.  Why not practice what I preach, and let Whole Foods and Trader Joe’s help me out?  I had just bought vacuum packed cooked French lentils from Trader Joe’s.  I could make lentil burgers! Yes, yes, yes! 

I recalled receiving a recipe for lentil-almond burgers from Care2 Healthy and Green, an online daily newsletter full of great ideas. Could I find it? Adapting it by mashing my already cooked lentils with almond meal, which was in my freezer, cut prep time, allowing the burgers to be ready in a flash.  What about the relish?  Again, a little help.  Whole Foods had a variety of organic pepper and fruit relish options.  I chose Peach-Mango. 

To accompany my burgers, I chose gluten-free cornbread and organic greens.  Into the greens I piled Trader Joe’s cooked beets, a ripe avocado, and topped it with my favorite salad dressing, Annie’s Shiitake and Sesame Vinaigrette.  Yum!

Why not guild the lily?  In my pantry I found a box of Gluten-Free Pantry’s award-winning Chocolate Truffle Brownie Mix, which I mixed up with organic walnuts and an Omega-enriched egg.  Even the burned edges were great!

By noon I was at my friend’s home.  We sat down to a healthy, delicious, mostly organic, gluten- and dairy-free lunch.  While my friend’s visitor asked me if I was “vegetarian” (translation: weird), I think she really enjoyed the meal.  I know that everyone else, including the toddler, did too. And most of all, I think they all appreciated my efforts and could taste the invisible ingredient, love. 

 

Giving and Getting

Owner wrote:

Giving, Getting and Gratitude 

During the holidays, our thoughts turned to the three “G”s: giving, getting and gratitude. When we sat down to our Thanksgiving dinner, many of us declared our gratitude for the abundance in our lives. In December, we showed our thanks by giving gifts to those we love.

Here are some ways that families of children with developmental delays and those working with them can make the three G’s special in 2009.  Give:

The Gift of Laughter

My life is full of females. I am working with a several young women on finding their passion, hosting a female exchange student, and just returned from a wonderful visit with my daughter and two-year-old granddaughter. Why would I fit noisy girls into an already full life? Because they are gifts. “My girls” give me the intangibles of laughter and fun. Children of all ages and abilities make us laugh.  Although some days it seems we only give to them, they too give us so much to laugh about. The healing power of laughter cannot be under-estimated. Laughter jogs your insides, releases endorphins and is definitely the best medicine. 

The Gift of Yourself

• Mentor – Helping someone learn something new, find herself and become self-reliant is of the most rewarding experiences you can have.  The gift of mentoring is almost selfish. I believe that the mentor gets much more than he or she gives.
• Volunteer – Volunteerism offers so many opportunities. Go to www.volunteermatch.org  to see the range. Even our youngest, most disabled kids can participate. Make volunteering a family tradition. One family I know works in a soup kitchen every Thanksgiving. If your schools require community service hours for graduation, make sure the activity is personally meaningful.

 The Gift of Time 

One of the best gifts we can give is unconditional time. Time is a precious, non-renewable resource, and wasting it can be regrettable. 

• Spend time, not money – Remember the smells of Christmas cookies, paper mache, and candles burning. These are unforgettable memories that are stored in our senses forever. Give someone a coupon for an hour spent listening or playing a game of checkers. Give a teacher a break by chaperoning a field trip. Give kids a shared activity of their choice without cell phone interruptions. 
• Wait on Academics – At this time of year educators may ask parents to give a child with delays “the gift of time.”  This aphorism means “wait another year before kindergarten or first grade.” Those who have done it will tell you it is the best decision they ever made!

The Gift of Philanthropy

The Council of Foundations www.thegivingfamily.org  offers a book entitled The Giving Family, by Susan Price, which recounts ways families of all means can instill the value of helping others. With an estimated $12 trillion transferring into baby boomers pockets from their parents’ estates in the next 20 years, family foundations are possible. Price recommends engaging children in giving at an early age by

• Holding a Family Meeting – Discuss allocation of designated funds and let each family member suggest a favorite charity. Consider the arts, religion, science, drug abuse, hunger, environment, animal welfare or women’s rights.
• Engaging Grandparents – Ask your parents to collaborate with your children about how they are contributing to their futures.  Offer matching funds for kids’ contributions with money earned from chores and allowances.
• Using Celebrations – Many young men and women are celebrating their b’nai mitzvahs by collecting money for charity instead of receiving unnecessary trinkets. Creative ideas I had heard about include a sponsored walk around the world, donations to a group providing educational scholarships to needy, bright minority students and an investment club. With the estimated $2,500 spent on gifts, one father leveraged that amount into $500,000. The kids then decided where the money should go.
• Giving Globally – Although, in general, giving to local agencies make it easier for kids to see results, here is one special international non-profit I love. Heifer International www.heifer.org allows giving families to purchase a gift animal or seedling that helps those less fortunate become self-reliant. For as little as $10, you can choose among ducks, goats, geese, chicks, pigs, honeybees and other animals from Noah’s ark. Last year my daughter gave everyone a share of a Knitting Basket: two llamas and two sheep famous for their income-producing wool.  Over time this gift multiplies to help entire communities break free from the grip of poverty and hopelessness.

 The Gift of Letting Others Give to Us

When we let others give to us and accept their generosity graciously, we give them a gift in return. Thank you all for giving so much to DDR. I am so grateful for all I have learned from you. Your year-end gifts are most appreciated.  Rest assured that we will use them to help families find the best help for their children. Happy New Year!

 

 

A Thanksgiving Lesson in Diet and Nutrition

Owner wrote:

A Thanksgiving Lesson in Diet and Nutrition 

Thanksgiving with my family was a glut of gluten, dairy and sugar.  “Patty, you bring the vegetables, because you’re the only one who will eat them anyway,” my cousin said.  So I cooked up some organic Brussels Sprouts and green beans.    Llouise, our wonderful DDR newsletter designer provided me with a new quick and delicious recipe for the mini-cabbages.  I cut them thinly and sautéed them in a bit of oil with lots of garlic until they were bright green, added some organic chicken broth and let them simmer for about 5 minutes.  A little lemon juice, and voila:  delicious!  The green beans went into the steamer and were topped with toasted almonds. 

You can guess the rest of the dinner:  a golden brown Butterball turkey complete with pop-up button, mashed potatoes, gravy, sweet potatoes with marshmallows, and stuffing.  I cringed at the origins of each, which were confirmed by the jars, cans and wrappers on the kitchen counter. 

The next day, a visiting relative complained about her chronic arthritis for which she had received several cortisone shots, and was taking a strong prescription pain killer.  I asked if she would consider some dietary changes that could possibly relieve her pain. I reminded her that several years ago when she was experiencing digestive problems that a wheat-free diet had not only fixed her tummy issues, but had resulted in considerable weight loss.  She had stopped it “because it was too hard!”  Now that she was in pain, she was willing to try again. 

I took a more complete history this time.  Knowing that she ate a daily salad for lunch I asked her what was in it, and if she ate it EVERY single day.  Yes, she did, and it included tomatoes, green, yellow and red peppers, topped with green olives stuffed with pimentos, and accompanied by potato chips. I related that these ingredients are all members of the nightshade family, and cousins to belladonna or the deadly nightshade, a plant whose leaves, berries and roots contain atropine, a poison that can kill those who consume it.  Also interesting is that tobacco is another member of the nightshade family, and the relative in my case study smoked for many years.  Did one addiction lead to another?

If nightshades don’t kill you, they can make you hurt. How? By causing inflammation. Some other known side effects are vision problems, confusion, and yes…sore joints. According to the Arthritis Nightshades Research Foundation (www.noarthritis.com) both scientific research and anecdotal evidence support nightshade avoidance. 

My relative is now nightshade- and wheat-free for two weeks.  Her results are extremely encouraging. On a scale of 0-10, she rated her pain without medication a 9 during Thanksgiving.  She now estimates her pain at a 1, and is medication-free, hurting only slightly in one hip when descending stairs.  A bonus is that she has lost 10 pounds!  She is also taking some vitamin supplements and natural anti-inflammatories. 

Bottom line: Approaches we have found helpful in autism and related disorders also work for other health issues.  Before reaching for prescription medications:

1. Investigate possible causes and eliminate exposures
2. Reduce inflammation with natural anti-inflammatories

Will keep you posted.    

 

Dialog in the Dark: Your Senses Will Never be the Same

During a recent visit to Atlanta my family and I toured the amazing exhibit “Dialog in the Dark,” already viewed by thousands in 22 countries and over 130 cities throughout the world.  It’s the most interesting show you will never see.

In this ground-breaking exhibition, a visually impaired guide leads participants who are fitted with canes, on a journey through a series of darkened galleries created to replicate everyday experiences. Without familiar sight clues, visitors learn to “see” in a completely new way with their non-visual senses.

This truly remarkable, life-changing journey includes experiencing a garden, grocery store and restaurant, all without eyesight.  My brother, mother and I smelled the flowers, shopped for vegetables, and bought beverages, all in pitch-black. We were forced to feel, touch, smell, listen and use our muscles and joints for information because our eyes simply perceived no light.

As many of you know, I have been interested in vision for over 20 years.  This extraordinary experience, which deprived me of my dominant sense, was extremely challenging and informative.  At first I strained and stretched my eyes, trying to make sense of life without light.  Finally, I found that closing my eyes gently was the best way to tell my brain to stop trying to process this sense. Soon after I closed my eyes, I was astounded to find myself rocking back and forth.  Clearly, my brain needed some movement sensation to stay alert in the total darkness.

With my eyes closed, and my body rocking, I was finally able to concentrate on the other senses.  I felt the ground change from grass (in the garden) to concrete (in the grocery store) to carpet (in the restaurant).  My guide helped me use my hands instead of my eyes to choose groceries, find money to pay for my purchases, and to listen to my working senses that gave clues to where I was in space.

I knew I depended upon my eyesight heavily; taking it away left me seriously impaired. However, more than ever, I was keenly aware of the difference between eyesight and vision.  Even though I could not “see,” I was “seeing” in my mind’s eye by using touch, hearing and movement. I could “see” the slope of the ramps, the shape of the vegetables, the blooms on the plants.  What an amazing human brain that can turn sensory experiences into visual images!

Know anyone in Atlanta?  Visiting there any time soon?  Be sure and check out “Dialog in the Dark.” According to the brochure, “it’s an experience certain to awaken your senses, challenge hidden prejudices, and deepen self-awareness by breaking through stereotypes to promote respect and tolerance in an engaging and lighthearted way.”  I couldn’t have said it better myself!

Go to www.DialogTickets.com to see where else to view this traveling show. Anyone interested in those with disabilities, and students of all ages should be required to experience this hour-long trip that lasts a lifetime.

From Play to Work with Hattie Larlham

On a beautiful day last week I hopped into my car and drove to Mantua, Ohio, about two hours away, to visit Hattie Larlham, the new workplace of my friend, Ingrid Kanics, an occupational therapist.  I was not prepared for my emotional reaction to this astounding multi-dimensional operation serving more than 1000 children and adults with severe disabilities.

I had started my career in Boston at a facility very much like Hattie Larlham.  In fact, Kennedy Hospital was the first place I met an OT and learned about the power of movement.  Soon after I moved back to Pittsburgh, I was introduced to Ingrid, who was busy making play spaces accessible to all kinds of children.  Her two-story treehouse at Pittsburgh’s now defunct Center for Creative Play allowed kids in wheelchairs to get a birds-eye view.

Now she is in Ohio, honing her skills with the same population of medically fragile children I served in the early 1970’s  Just look at the picture of what she has designed! Ingrid’s skills have earned her several awards for incorporating sensory skills into children’s play areas in parks and museums. 

Hattie Larlham was a registered nurse who, in the sixties, became frustrated by the lack of programs for children with disabilities.  So she and her family started the Hattie Larlham Foundation and took children into their home and cared for them. Today, this amazing organization provides residential and community care through group homes, foster care, vocational training and other services.  Its 27 acre campus is growing and changing daily.  Ingrid showed me construction of new therapy rooms, a pool, multi-sensory room, apartments and eating areas that provide a home-like atmosphere of those with developmental disabilities.

Two of the most unusual programs are the sensory playground and the art room.  The programs are truly multi-sensory.  Even the most physically challenged residents can paint and draw by working with technology and a human partner.  The art that is produced is such high quality that it sells for respectable prices at local art and craft fairs.

After the campus tour, Ingrid drove me into Hudson, a charming historic town where Hattie’s Café  and Gift Shop occupy the town’s old pharmacy.  The Hudson location is one of three cafes run by Hattie Larlham.  Complete with old-fashioned soda fountain stools and lighting, it sells lunches, fair-traded items like coffee, and home-made products, both edible and artsy.

We ate a delicious salad prepared and served by a young adult with Down syndrome.  Other employees worked in the kitchen and were making gift baskets with a variety of themes, such as “Just Ducky Baby,”  “Best Teacher” and “Doggie Basket.” All purchases support education and training. Gift baskets are great ideas for holiday giving.  To view them and order, go to www.hattiescafe.org

Hattie Larlham was way ahead of her time.  Wouldn’t she be pleased at how her ideas have grown with the times and still maintain her homestyle feel? To learn more about Hattie Larlham, go to www.hattielarlham.org