Child Development - tips

Many of my friends asked me about my class. Instead of repeating the answers, guess I use this channel to answer, hopefully it is more efficient for me and for my readers :) ...

Bahija completed her first module with A+ , hippie....now I am on 2nd module. 2nd module is a reseach paper on various types of Learning Disabilities such as Autism, Dyslexia, Dyspraxia, ADHD ( Hyperactive )...followed by a written exam on the various teaching techniques. This module is interesting as this is the core of the class , where I get to learn the various disabilities, and how we can introduce the intervention programmes for the special kids , with the goal to help them live a better life.

My lectures are the various specialists such as education specialist, Occupational Therapist, Special Learning teacher, councellor and etc etc. They shared many interesting tips with us.... some of them are applicable to normal child as well .... so I'll share some here too :)

Tip No 1 :
young baby - caretaker spoon feed the baby with food , when there is some leftover food beside the baby's mouth , NEVER EVER use the spoon to scoop the food. It is a proven reseach that this action may caused damage to the muscles around the mouth... young babies, they are growing every day , their muscle, their brain - everything is growing ...so for a young baby - there are muscle around the mouth, it is sensitive, and we shouldn't use hard object to spoil it...
( my mum always did this to me and all my siblings last time - luckily we turned out OK eh -hehe ) .... The reseach said that for some special kids with speech problem , this is a NO NO action. But then, none of us are aware mah , so damage could have been done lor ...
Parent, next time when you are feeding your young baby , spoon is to put food into the baby's mouth, to clean the baby's mouth, use a napkin or handkerchief and wipe SOFTLY , be gentle

Tip No 2 :
Early sign of detection for a special kid .... from 3rd mths onwards, a baby should develop eye contact , so when you are pointing to a direction, the baby's eyes should follow your hand .... and not the head. If the baby keeps moving the head , instead of moving the eye balls , be alert...

Lastly, we should be extremely blessed and happy that our babies are healthy and growing up happily and hope that one day , the baby turn into an useful adult - a great leader, a great contributor to the society. However, in the event that the baby is a special child, the role of the parent is not to be in denial and hopeless... today, there are so many successful special kids who have overcomed, and they are well known, living in a normal or even better life then you and me , contributing to the society. So what is the difference here ??? the difference is the parent is supportive and start to introduce early intervention programmes for the special child, and that intervention programme starts as early as from baby age .....