THE PREMIER PARENTING MAGAZINE FOR CENTRAL ALABAMA
FREE
MARCH 2016
ADY'S ARMY: Living With Autism
HELP ME GROW ALABAMA Helps With Developmental Milestones
SPECIAL NEEDS TRAVEL MADE EASIER
DIRECTORY PAGE 15
Easter Seals Pediatric Clinic GIVES KIDS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS A LEG-UP ON SUCCESS
table of contents FREE
THE PREMIER PARENTING MAGAZINE FOR CENTRAL ALABAMA
MARCH 2016
15
Birmingham Parent’s 2016 Special Needs Directory
22 28 32
ADY'S ARMY: Living With Autism
HELP ME GROW ALABAMA Helps With Developmental Milestones
SPECIAL NEEDS TRAVEL MADE EASIER
15
DIRECTORY PAGE 15
Easter Seals Pediatric Clinic
GIVES KIDS WITH SPECIAL NEEDS A LEG-UP ON SUCCESS
26
departments Note 04 Editor’s Celebrates 13 Years of Publishing
07
Parenting with Dr. Friedman
8 0 38
Short Stuff Ask the Specialist: Can We Get Teenagers and Seatbelts to C.L.I.C.K.?
PHOTO BY VISUAL ARTS BY JESSICA
22
24 Page in a Book: 42 AGreat Books in the Forecast
45 PHOTO COURTESY BRIAN & CHRISSY SCHUBERT
ARMY: 22 ADY’S Living with Autism
24
UAB’S PEDIATRIC NEUROMOTOR CLINIC is Helping Kids with Neurological Needs
PHOTO COURTESY UAB PEDIATRIC NEUROMOTOR CLINIC
March Calendar of Events
Party: 50 Poetry The Cinquain!
ME GROW ALABAMA 28 HELP Helps With Developmental
features
Milestones
30 PLAYGROUND OF MIRACLES
Comes to Gardendale
SEALS PEDIATRIC CLINIC 32 SPECIAL NEEDS TRAVEL 26 EASTER Gives Kids with Special Needs a Made Easier Leg-Up on Success
ON THE COVER: Allie, age 8, of Shelby County is a patient at Easter Seals Pediatric Clinic in Pelham. PHOTO BY VISUAL ARTS BY JESSICA, www.facebook.com/VisualArtsbyJessica.
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PARTY PERFECT: Wizard of Oz Party
parenting
Parenting with Dr. Friedman
Q:
If a parent allows a child to have a facial piercing or pink and green dyed hair, don’t you think the school should do so too? Why does the school get to make rules for my child?
It is the school’s job to normalize the child to help him fit into the social environment. It is the parent’s job to individualize the environment to meet the child’s personal and idiosyncratic needs. When those two are in balance, the child thrives. When the environment is expected to change to meet every whim or preference the child has, he fails to learn that there is a hierarchy of authority and that not all behaviors are equally acceptable. He fails to learn that it is not “all about him.” It creates a narcissistic child. Children need rules to guide them to conform. Conformity, to some degree, is essential for the working of the larger society. If everyone does as he personally pleases, the group as a whole does not cohere. While this mom may love her child with a facial piercing, not all others will feel the same way. The school duplicates the conventional work environment. Facial piercings may be accepted for a job in a tattoo
Sponsored by
parlor, but will eliminate her for consideration for most high-paying jobs. Children with facial piercings are often screaming for attention. In place of normalizing the facial piercings, this parent might serve her child better by noticing his distress and by meeting his underlying needs. Children want rules, limits and boundaries. They can’t complete the normal adolescent developmental task of reevaluating the parent’s rules, unless the limits and rules are in place. Too much freedom to choose is the absence of parenting. The school is the back-up and safety net for absent parenting and values training. Vivian K. Friedman Ph. D. is a child and family psychologist at UAB, Department of Psychiatry. Send questions for response in this column to Viviankf@gmail.com. No personal replies are sent.
2016 SUMMER PROGRAMS Stimulating and engaging Summer Programs in Creative Writing, Dance, Music, Theatre, Visual Arts, STEM and Computer Game Programming. See our website in March for program descriptions, dates, times, fees and online registration at
www.asfaschool.org ALABAMA SCHOOL OF FINE ARTS 1800 Reverend Abraham Woods, Jr. Boulevard Birmingham, AL 35203 205.252.9241 birminghamparent.com | 7