Introducing April aka MB's mommy

My name is April and I been an Early Childhood Special Educator for over 12 years. Since I was a toddler I always loved babies and as I grew up I became a "child magnet". Everywhere I went I ended of playing or loving on the children. As I grew older, I developed a "wonder" of wanting to "figure" kids out and to look at them for who they were and what they were able to "give". I wanted to figure out how each one of them learned and what I could do as an educator to help them reach their own personal potential. So many times I have seen babies and toddlers be given a "stamp" or diagnosis or be judged on their "actions" or abilities, but didn't see those same "stamp givers" set up a plan or try to help those children be successful.
I started working in Early Intervention with the birth to three year old population 10 years ago. As I began to go in homes and work with children, the biggest complaints by parents were "behaviors". Most of them were at their "wits end" due to having many therapies a week for their "baby" and the fact that the "strategies" that worked for their other children were not working for this child.
Over the last 10 years I have seen many children who showed very challenging behaviors, but once observed and assessed it was very obvious that their behaviors were a result of having very immature, "sensory nervous systems". After assessing their systems by having an OT do a sensory profile and determining the actual "needs" of the child we are able to add activities throughout the day to help the child's nervous system "balance out". The more organized the system the more organized the child. The nervous system helps drive all skill levels and once it is balanced children may begin to communicate, attend to task, sleep, eat more or a variety and be more balanced. It gives me great joy to "meet families where they are" and help them determine what is driving the child's behavior or challenges and help them find ways to help the child to live a happier life.
As an Early Childhood special educator I can answer many questions regarding your "whole" child. Step up and ask... Potty training, behavior, IEP advocacy, diagnosis, play skills, play set up ideas, sibling rivalry, eating and sleeping issues and most other skill areas. Looking forward to helping you be the "best" mommy or daddy you can be!