Not every family is able to attend church over the Christmas holidays, but lots of us want to teach our children about the Nativity. I teamed up with my daughter to bring you a free Autism-Accessible Sunday School Lesson on the Nativity of our Lord. How is it autism-accessible? sensory rich images for focus video modeling of another child participating concrete examples of big ideas imitate it at home predictable: watch as often as you wish To make it even more accessible, use this video along with an in person telling of the Nativity story. Download the Nativity story photos from my post, “Holiday Tips for Making Christmas Easier for Special Needs Families,” and use them to sequence the story as you tell it.…
writing, autism, & theology as a mother of joy
Posts from the “encouragement” Category
“I’ll pray for you.” “Thank you.” This interaction happens countless times each day among people of faith, and it is always good. But for years, I had some wrong ideas about prayer. For one, I thought they had to be done in a prescribed way in order to matter. For another, I thought that I had to be someone different for them to matter. And again – and trust me, this is only the beginning of a list of things I’ve gotten wrong – I thought I had to say something for prayer to matter. One of the hard-won lessons I have learned in ten years of helping my communication-challenged children talk and communicate clearly is that the love of God is not hindered…
Categories: christian, conversation, discernment, encouragement, faith, life lessons, special needs child, spiritual formation, Uncategorized
Tagged: autism, nonverbal, prayer, silence, special needs parenting
A few weeks ago, I traveled to Antiochian Village to attend the Ancient Faith Women’s Retreat. On the first morning, I went to the first talk with that morning’s Gospel repeating through my heart: Go and learn what this means, ‘I desire mercy, and not sacrifice.” The gospel had stuck in my craw that morning, stirring up the long weariness I had carried over my feelings of inadequacy in parenting. I sat myself down gingerly in front of the icon of the Theotokos, my failure smarting like a splinter I held out to the Holy Mother. The icon was screen-printed and matte. There was no gold to catch my eye. Yet, the curve of the Theotokos’ fingers did catch my eye. She was supporting…
Holiday Tips for Making Christmas Easier for Special Needs Families
Feature article
Summer Kinard
Posted on December 5, 2018
The feast of the Nativity approaches, and with it, anxiety. How will your family get along when everyone’s home? How will the kids do when you travel to visit relatives? Will you be welcomed at the church when you finally get a chance to go? For families with special needs, these questions are layered with the weight of additional needs. This week I’m sharing what I’ve learned from teaching and living with persons with special needs. Bookmark and share these best practices for home, travel, and church with special needs during the holidays. THE GIFT OF 12 DAYS Spread out gifts over 12 Days. Instead of subjecting sensitive family members -and let’s face it, lots of other folks, too!- to the overwhelm that comes…
“Do not worry, for the very hairs on your head are numbered.” I remember the first time I came across that verse. I was fascinated, in awe. My mother was in school to be a hair stylist, and I was around hair culture every day. I remember sneaking my mother’s hair styling manequin and trying to count the hairs. I kept losing track! Later, I remember telling children about this verse for the first time. There are some things that children know to be impossible: counting sand, stars, hairs, the number of times a sparrow drops to the ground to steal a crumb. We are small, and these things (stars excluded in actuality but not in appearance) are smaller, and we can’t keep track…
Tagged: Bible, God who sees, peace with autism
Here are my Top Ten Tips Plus One on how to focus your children’s attention. Don’t forget to click through to the shopping lists at the end for more ideas and how-to’s! Rocking and swinging make for great calming effects and full body-brain coordination. Balance boards and balance stools/balls allow for movement while learning in a room with others. If you use a balance board or other tool that makes a clunky sound, you might prefer to do so over a square of carpet liner or foam kitchen mat. Calisthenics. All of those dorky looking floor exercises from the 70s and 80s actually do great things to your nervous system. Much of our attention and emotional and sensory regulation happens through our bodily movements.…
Categories: advice, autism, concrete thinking, curriculum, encouragement, faith, family, homeschool, life lessons, overcoming blocks, teacher and writer, Uncategorized
Tagged: accessible home, adhd, autism, focus aids, homeschool, homework, neurodiverse, resource guide, spd, strategies, tips, top ten
I wrote those words over 20 years ago when I began to reflect on the way Christ came to me in mercy from my earliest childhood. I haven’t been able to shake that image, through all these years, of the saving gift of tears. I read about tears in spiritual writings. I have experienced the gift of tears when I have needed healing or repentance. I practice tears. I am in many ways still a beginner, but I have learned a little about the discipline of weeping: If you’re going to clear your eyes of false reality, you have to learn to cry in truth. The fathers advise us to weep for our sins. Yet, most of us don’t spontaneously burst into tears of…
