We often try to ‘control’ our own mindset to be calm, receptive and engaging with our kids – suppressing our own needs bubbling under the surface. We can only maintain this level of self-control for so long….and then we blow. As do our kids. 

Just because we don’t find something stressful, doesn’t mean our kids experience it in that same way. Their behaviour is all they have to let us know how hard things are for them.

The rule is that when we slow down with our kids, we create opportunity for development to speed up and our children to thrive. Assume competence. Give them room to think.

Family meals and how they run require the unpacking of a very strongly ingrained value in most families. When looking at it through the lens of understanding and respecting neurodiversity, there is a lot more to consider.

For autistic children, who often experience sensory sensitivities and difficulties with regulation, proprioceptive input—activities that stimulate this sense—can be a game-changer. 

When the brain does not receive coherent messages from the vestibular system, it wreaks havoc. Having over or under-registration in this sensory modality can look like a child that won’t move or try new things and always needs their feet on the ground to a child who takes extreme risks through their movement and can’t ever sit still. 

Science/Research on earliest brain development shows clearly that growth and development is fostered in predictability and consistency in daily life. We know that stability and boundaries give children freedom to learn, be creative and thrive. Rhythm provides children with a feeling of safety, a feeling of containment in which their imagination and energy can flourish.