A helping hand and a support!

It was the helping hand of his father and the support of the furniture which made this child stand up!

As a professional involved with children who have different needs, I have pondered over this recently. 

Even in the place where I work, the environment is not designed to include the needs of children who have different needs.

I come across parents who have limited perspectives on the needs of their children and rest of us not familiar with the change we can offer to children with more mindfulness to plan the environment. 

I notice how children long to sit in low chairs behind a table suited to their height. This in itself is  a contribution to make them use their residual abilities to sit, use hands for midline activities and create a space of child friendliness.

The sight of this falling child protected by a helping hand and chairs to support him is actually a mission statement for all of us. 

We are to be here for them and we engineer the environment to make it safe for them!

In an ongoing exercise at a school, I realise how much children suffer silently because of the insults they suffered before they were born or at the time of their birth! Most of us view their difficulties in learning as laziness, in attention, carelessness, etc. They are given feed back which highlight these! Instead, I wish our mind set would change to see them through their unspoken needs and offer them the  encouragement they would need to lift their spirit and enthusiasm to perform at their level of ability!

M.C.Mathew(text and photo)