Sensitive periods and helping kids reach their potential

Every child has potential. Maybe some of us have been led to believe otherwise about our kids with special needs, but the truth is that our kids have potential too. As parents, the first thing we possibly want to know is how do we help our child reach his or her highest potential? If you are the parent of a young child with special needs, a good place to start would be by learning how a child develops.

A lot of research has been done on this subject and the consensus is that early childhood is the most important period in the development of the child. The most critical period is from birth to about six, which provides a window of opportunity to build a strong developmental foundation. There is a lot of information out there on how one can go about aiding a child's development during this period. One of the most systematic is the developmental philosophy propounded by Dr Maria Montessori.

Dr. Montessori was one of the foremost educationists of the 20th century and she is credited to have revolutionized early childhood education. Incidentally, her earliest experiences in the field of education was with children with special needs. 

One of Dr. Montessori's many path-breaking discoveries was the identification of "sensitive periods" in the development of the child. These sensitive periods are phases in early childhood during which the child is hard-wired to acquire a particular skill. While no external influence can affect the start of these sensitive periods, parents, care givers and teachers can do a lot to optimize these stages of development. 

Listed below are some of the sensitive periods that Dr. Montessori identified along with their approximate time frame:

Birth to 1½ years	Movement
Birth to 5 years	Acquisition of language
1½ years to 4 years	Interest in small objects
2 years to 4 years	Order
2½ years to 6 years	Refinement of the senses
2½ years to 7 years	Grace and courtesy towards others
3 years to 6 years	Music, art and dance
3½ years to 4½ years	Writing
4 years to 6 years	Mathematics
4½ years to 5½ years	Reading

These are approximate time frames. Sensitive periods vary from child to child. 

Sensitive periods manifest themselves in the child through the child's interest. For instance, during the period of sensitivity for movement, the child will repeatedly try to walk or climb and will do so without losing interest. At this point, parents could facilitate the development of movement by giving the child as many opportunities as possible to walk, run, climb, jump, etc.

The period of sensitivity for acquisition of language may not be very apparent and may go unnoticed but the very fact that a child learns to speak fluently without being taught its primary language means that it has a sensibility for language. Experts recommend that the child's environment should be rich in language to help them build this essential skill. You can find some interesting information on helping your child develop his or her language here and here. 

Similarly, parents can help children optimize their development by facilitating their progress through all the "sensitive periods". You could use the above chart as a guideline to know which sensitive period your child is going through based on the age. Here's another great article that offers practical suggestions on this subject  - Sensitive Period According to Montessori and Why is it Important in Child Development. 

Our Experience: When our daughter AM was born we had no clue on how to raise a child with special needs nor did we know much about child development. Also, we didn't (still don't) have any support group or structured early intervention except for physiotherapy. So we didn't consciously plan on doing any developmental activities. However, she did benefit from all the activities that we were doing with our older daughter. We would do a lot of reading time, we did rhym es and action songs, spontaneous play at home and a few hours at the park every day. 

By the time AM was a few months old - and the shock of Down Syndrome had worn off a bit - we started providing her opportunities to encourage movement even at home by building cushion forts and we made a game out of climbing over obstacles, crawling on slopping surfaces and pushing heavy objects around the house. AM took her first steps at around 14 months which was considered a bit of an achievement by her physiotherapist. We now know that the efforts we put in have paid off - Last week, AM had her Sports Day where she had to participate in two events. By the way, she is the only child with special needs in her class. I am happy and proud to say that my little girl finished sixth or seventh in a group of 14 kids. Imagine that for a child who is hypotonic!
AM's language acquisition has been even more remarkable. She is 4 now and she surprises us with her vocabulary and her choice of words. It is not unusual for her to say things like "It's delicious" or "I'm thinking" or "I have a good idea" or even something like "Ewww disgusting!" especially to her sister :) Her last developmental assessment puts her language development as age appropriate. We are now consciously working on developing her reading, writing and math as she is now in the period of sensitivity for acquiring these skills. 

More in my next post...

Thanks for reading