Sunday, January 30, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Practically Perfect in Every Way
I recently had some inspiration where my career is concerned.
A little girl I work with goes to a daycare that treats her very poorly. She has Angelman's Syndrome - she is non-verbal and spends most of her day in a wheelchair. Except at her daycare - there she is put into a 6 by 6 pen. The thought of this sweet (and yes, occasionally challenging) little girl in a pen breaks my heart. I literally well up with tears every time I talk about it.
It turns out that daycare for kids with special needs are in short supply. In fact, most daycares in the area will not even accept a child diagnosed with Autism or Intellectual Disability .
My idea is to create a daycare facility that caters to children with special needs. A place where no child, no matter what their challenges, would be put into a pen. A place where employees would be trained in positive reinforcement, basic behavior intervention and prevention strategies, and communication with verbal and non verbal clients. We would provide a place for clients to work with their private agencies if necessary.
I think it's a really great idea. I think there's a need for it, and I think I could probably be good at running that sort of business. I think we'd probably be successful pretty quickly... Now I just have to figure out how to get started!
Ugh just thinking about it makes my head hurt! But I think it's too good of an idea just to let go because I don't know how to get started. There are books for everything - I just have to find some to help me!
Oh by the way - I'm going to call my daycare "Practically Perfect in Every Way! A special place for special people"
A little girl I work with goes to a daycare that treats her very poorly. She has Angelman's Syndrome - she is non-verbal and spends most of her day in a wheelchair. Except at her daycare - there she is put into a 6 by 6 pen. The thought of this sweet (and yes, occasionally challenging) little girl in a pen breaks my heart. I literally well up with tears every time I talk about it.
It turns out that daycare for kids with special needs are in short supply. In fact, most daycares in the area will not even accept a child diagnosed with Autism or Intellectual Disability .
My idea is to create a daycare facility that caters to children with special needs. A place where no child, no matter what their challenges, would be put into a pen. A place where employees would be trained in positive reinforcement, basic behavior intervention and prevention strategies, and communication with verbal and non verbal clients. We would provide a place for clients to work with their private agencies if necessary.
I think it's a really great idea. I think there's a need for it, and I think I could probably be good at running that sort of business. I think we'd probably be successful pretty quickly... Now I just have to figure out how to get started!
Ugh just thinking about it makes my head hurt! But I think it's too good of an idea just to let go because I don't know how to get started. There are books for everything - I just have to find some to help me!
Oh by the way - I'm going to call my daycare "Practically Perfect in Every Way! A special place for special people"
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Bat$#@! crazy!!
Okay I just really love these little guys! My pseudo-Dad used to call me "Batgirl". :-)
Saturday, January 22, 2011
Running; my arch nemesis
So for as long as I can remember I've had asthma. When I was younger it put me in the hospital a few times. It kept me home from school and often out of sports and other activities. In my adult life it will seemingly go away, and then come back with a vengeance.
Recently I made a decision to get healthy. I started eating better (again), and started exercising with purpose. I started with an elliptical, a stationary bike... anything but that dreaded treadmill. For some reason running has always been my serious nemesis (in that it has always been an asthma trigger). But ya know what? I don't think that I'm going to let asthma beat me. My body is getting in better shape, and I don't want to be left out of all the fun anymore! 5k's and fun runs and (gulp!) half marathons!
I've started running on the treadmill. It really slows me down with my cardio workout, and it's a little embarrassing how little I can run before I have to stop (about 3 minutes) ... But every journey starts with a single step, right? Actually this journey has started with several steps. I've got some new asthma medication. And I've done a bunch of research on running WITH asthma.
I've found some encouraging stuff in my research. People always say running is majorly mental, and there was always a secret little whisper in the back of my mind that told me I just wasn't trying hard enough - that I was probably just a big wimp. But it turns out running really is a major trigger for asthma. It's related to the temperature and moisture in the air that you suck down when you run. So I'm not just a wimp - I've actually been battling REAL problems when I try to run. Knowing that seriously helps me with some of my mental roadblocks about running.
So here's the bottom line; IT CAN BE DONE. It's just a little tougher (which really, is just another reason to do it... and feel like a bad ass about it later).
It'll probably take me longer (and be harder) than I'd like... I still feel a little left out when my studly friends go running and I know that I'm just not there yet. But I also know that I can probably get there. And I'm pretty sure my gal pals will be happy to run with me, whenever I'm ready. Until then I head to the gym - for half an hour of elliptical warm up, and then 10-15 mins of the best treadmill action I can muster!
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