Category Archives: self esteem

Tone up or Tone Down Strategies

Tone? What is it? Tone is the amount of resistance in the belly of your muscles. Some of us have “normal tone” and some of us have low tone. Then there are those with high tone. Children with neurological challenges often present themselves with either high tone (for example children with cerebral palsy) or low

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Raising Emotionally Healthy Children: Introduction

Kids really should come out with an instruction manual. It should be attached to their umbilical chords at birth. At the very least some best practices and a message of caution would be helpful as in:

Caution: I am a real little person with feelings. I grow and

Ten Tips To Ease Holiday Travels With Children With Special Needs

The chaos of packing, airport crowds and security, lengthy car rides and yes, even overexposure to family and friends is enough to erode any holiday traveler’s festive spirit. Add traveling with children into the equation, especially when special needs are involved, and some parents might wish they could just stay home. But a few preparations,

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Need Empathy? 10 Fun Activities for Home or School

  Do you know how I feel? The ability to identify with other people’s emotions can elude children who struggle to process verbal and non-verbal cues.   How can parents and teachers coach kids to develop empathy, a key to successful relationships at every stage of life?  We asked Lauren Zimet, a leading speech pathologist who works with

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Our Experience with Disney

March, April, and May are big months around our house. We’ve got my birthday, Joseph’s (my oldest) birthday, Logan’s (my youngest) birthday, my husband and I’s anniversary (13 years!), not to mention my mother’s birthday and Mother’s Day. While we are rather meager in the financial department, thanks to our tax refund, we had budgeted

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Choices

If there was one thing, one little nugget of advice I could give you to make your kid feel empowered, I’d say choice. It can really suck being a kid. You’re told when to get up, when to sleep, when to play, when to do homework, what to eat, when to take a bath… You

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Lessons From Matilda

My 8 year old son has a book report due. He asked me to help him choose a good read. “Nothing boring”. In the very deep recesses of my mind, I remembered Matilda, the outrageously courageous 4 year old who super-glued her father’s nasty hat to his head among other escapades. Listening to peals of

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When Kids Don’t Like Their Gifts

The biggest gift giving season is behind us. What about the gifts? I’m sure they were all adored, and just what everyone wanted. Right? Or do you have kids that didn’t, er, care for their gifts?And how did they react? Were they gracious and kind, or were they worthy of disinheriting? Gratitude is so hard

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Comfort Objects for Children

Comfort. Safety. Security. For children, these are all synonymous with love. Children have their binkies. Their blankies. Name a nonsensical thing, and I’m sure there’s a lovie out there with the name. For our kids, comfort objects are even more important to their development. They need something they feel is secure. They need something that

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Building Self Esteem in Children

Dear Dr. T, I’m worried about my 6 year old daughter who is beginning to show signs of what we and the school recognize as low self-esteem: she is very needy and feels unable to ‘do’ for herself. The way we see the situation, she is a real middle child: totally overpowered by a super-bright,

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