March 13, 2012Autism

Therapeutic Gardening for Kids with Autism Spectrum Disorders and Special Educational Needs – An Interview with Natasha Etherington

“Getting a child with ASD into a garden has so many benefits, not least that they are given some autonomy outside. The most immediate benefit will be a sense of relief and welcome break from the classroom environment. Whilst gardening, we’re practicing social interaction and life skills, and working with soil and plants helps to reduce tactile defensiveness. Learning basic horticultural skills educates in context, and along the way you will also see an increase in language and communication skills.”

March 8, 2012Adoption and Fostering

Josh Muggleton’s Top Tips for Raising Kids with Asperger Syndrome: Tip #3 – Communication

In the third video instalment of Josh Muggleton‘s Top Tips for Parents, Teachers and Professionals, Josh addresses how to improve communication with young people on the…

Photo: JKP author Dr. Charlotte Thompson

March 7, 2012Autism

Orthopedic Care in Children with Special Needs

“One orthopedist operated on a boy without my knowledge on a Friday afternoon. Fortunately, the mother and grandmother knew I had insisted that physical therapy should be started immediately. The child’s school physical therapist was a friend and made house calls over the weekend, so the boy would not stay in bed. He was able walk for several more years because of this. Thus, parents and grandparents must be very aggressive in order to be sure that appropriate orthopedic surgery is being done and physical therapy received, as needed.”

March 6, 2012Adoption and Fostering

Home-grown strategies for dealing with everyday transitions – An Interview with Jane Donlan & Bob Smith

“When we were creating our Reward Plan we decided that it had to be 100% focused on the positive… [W]e were well aware of the negative impact our son’s out-bursts were having on his self-esteem, and we certainly didn’t want to add to that! And so our Reward Plan was born, and I am not exaggerating when I say that it was almost an over-night success.”

Photo: JKP authors Kim Golding and Daniel Hughes

March 5, 2012Adoption and Fostering

Using PACE to create loving attachments – An Interview with Kim S. Golding and Daniel A. Hughes

“I think the top tip with regard to playfulness is to embrace the playful moment. These are the moments that hold the relationships together, get us through the tough times and stay with us long after the moment has passed.”

March 1, 2012May 8, 2017Counselling

Supporting children when a parent is at the end of life – An Interview with Rachel Fearnley

“The news that a parent has a terminal illness generally presents the family with a huge crisis. Everything about family life is catapulted into a maelstrom, routines change and nothing appears to be predictable anymore. If children are not included in conversations about their parent’s illness and possible imminent death they are going to witness all the changes without having any ‘concrete’ knowledge to use as a marker. They will be aware of the changes and know that something is very different but will not be able to form a consistent narrative. As a result they are in danger of piecing together the information they have gleaned and making erroneous conclusions.”

Illustration from 'A Manual of Dynamic Play Therapy' - a child's monster drawing.

February 19, 2012Arts therapies

Dynamic Play Therapy in Action – An Interview with Dennis McCarthy (Part 3)

” I hope readers will become less afraid of rocking the boat of authority that urges us to make the child talk in adult terms about what the adult world deems important to them. Rather than having children be obedient patients, I want to encourage us to attempt in our work to foster true self-possession, knowing how very hard it is to achieve. I urge us all to fight the tendency to negate emotion, to negate aggression, to negate anything and everything that pulsates with life and therefore stirs things up.”

February 18, 2012Arts therapies

Dynamic Play Therapy, Harnessing the power of collapse and renewal – An Interview with Dennis McCarthy (Part 2)

“With rare exceptions, the academic and professional world doesn’t support a dynamic approach to play therapy (or often the use of play in therapy at all). There is an ever-greater thrust to pathologize the child and the family and this is often where the therapist/therapy stops: diagnosis leads to stasis. This needn’t be so. We can and should have an understanding of what is going on in the child and in their life, but unless we then engage the child in real play, we have not accomplished much. Children need to be allowed to be children and speak their language not ours.”

February 17, 2012May 8, 2017Arts therapies

Helping Things Fall Apart, The Paradox of Play – An Interview with Dennis McCarthy (Part 1)

“The deeper [sand]box, with its capacity for burying and sinking and erupting, fit the overall view I have developed which I call Dynamic Play Therapy. My approach is interactive and encourages and even provokes what I see as contained wildness in the service of healthy ego development and a natural sense of self-regulation. The work and my thinking about it still continue to evolve. Even as I write these words new ideas are surfacing based on sessions this week with several children. … My interest has been to understand how children experience their lives and best speak about them, knowing that their language is fundamentally different than ours as adults. They speak in images just as we dream in images. So I spend my days offering them materials and a safe space in which to speak thus.”

February 14, 2012Autism

“Cognitive flexibility is the hallmark of a productive, happy and healthy young adult with Aspergers Syndrome” – An Interview with Dr Michael McManmon

“The book was a labor of love… The overriding message is that cognitive flexibility is the hallmark of a productive, happy and healthy young adult. All other growth is predicated upon being open to change and feedback and understanding who you are and accepting it.”