What If This Pandemic is the Best Thing to Happen to Children With Challenges?
What if this coronavirus pandemic is the best thing to happen to children with challenges?
Children with brains that struggle to keep pace with the whirlwind of activity and expectations we call “normal life”.
Who give 200% to get half as far.
Who “act out” and “behave badly” due to feelings of overwhelm, frustration, fear, shame, hurt, loneliness, anger, insecurity, and embarrassment.
Children who likely often feel like shouting “Stop the world! I want to get off!”
Children whose responses to the overwhelm they experience are given any number of labels: ADHD, Autism, Oppositional Defiant Disorder, Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder, Sensory Processing Disorder, Communication Disorder, Anxiety, Depression, Behavior Disorder, Emotional Impairment, and so many more.
What if through slowing down, resting more, being bored, doing less, engaging in the mundane tasks of life, being together more, and staying in one place these children were able to…
relax more
move more
learn more
become more self-directed
strengthen family relationships
get comfortable being with their thoughts and feelings
discover new things
gain life skills
accept themselves more
become more grateful
cherish time outside
feel more successful
have the time and space to think and be
become more aware
feel more comfortable in their own skin?
What if this departure from “normal” that many consider a problem,
a step backwards,
a lack of opportunities,
a time when nothing productive will happen,
a halt to progress,
an unwelcome pause on the things that “need” to happen,
actually allowed these kids to feel and function better?
What if by not going to school,
not going to all kinds of therapies,
not constantly being around other people,
not being on the hamster wheel of constant information and activity,
not being talked at constantly,
not being told to sit still constantly,
not being told what to do constantly,
not constantly trying to meet someone else’s expectations,
not feeling mentally and emotionally burned out all the time…
kids brains had the chance to really take things in and grow new neural connections to understand themselves, others, and the world more than ever before?
What if this “crisis” ended up providing exactly what these children need?
What if they emerge from this better than before?
Additional Resources:
So Much Valuable Learning Happens Outside of School
Ideas for what to do with kids while they’re home
What You Should Do Next:
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