Empower Children to Realize All of Their Talents

Challenge of the Day - "Do This..." Instead of "No"

Are you up for the challenge of the day?  Can you go through an entire day of providing therapy only having a positive tone instead of a negative tone? How about as a parent?  Try spending all day avoiding the words "no", "stop" or the phrase "don't do that!"  Try replacing those phrases with positive alternatives always starting off by saying "do this" or "yes we can!"

Here are some suggestions to replace a negative tone:

Instead of saying "Do not walk on your toes."  Try "Walk with your heels down."  

Instead of saying "Do not start the Letter A at the bottom."  Try "Start the letter A at the top."

Instead of saying "Do not get distracted."  Try "Let's finish this first then we can do that."

Instead of saying "No, we can't do that."  Try "Yes, we can do that but we need to do this activity first."

Instead of saying "Stop tapping your pencil on the desk."  Try "Would you like a small fidget to hold on to for awhile?"

Can you accept this challenge, all day long????  I know it will be tough for me!

Positive Affirmation Cards and Posters

This is an electronic book of 25 positive affirmation posters (8.5" x 11") and smaller cards of the posters (4.25"  x 2.75"). Empower children to realize all of their talents. All too often, children with special needs are told what they are unable to do, how about teach them what they can do! Positive affirmations help children to believe in themselves. The posters include simple text, animal pictures that compliment the text and colorful backgrounds. Hang them up around the house, class or therapy room and provide the child with the small cards to carry around to reinforce the concept.

Find out more information.

Build on a Child's Strengths - Everyone is a Star

Parents, teachers and therapists need to find each child's strengths and build upon those strengths.  Every child is a star at something.  Need some ideas to determine what a child's strengths may be?  Here is a list of positive character traits and talents:

adventurous

active

agile

artistic

attentive

aware

articulate

amusing

big-hearted 

blissful

brave

bright

calm

carefree

caring

cautious

cheerful

clever

courageous

courteous

creative

competant

coordinated

charming

cooperative

cool

dependable

determined

eager

easy going

friendly

generous

happy

helpful

honest

imaginative

kind

loyal

magnificant

nimble

open

out going

passionate

physical

practical

quick

responsible

realistic

self-reliant

simplistic

superb

thoughtful

terrific

watchful

zany

Keep all these attributes in mind as you work with a child.  Also, refer to the list to spark descriptive words for a child when it comes to IEP time.   

Want to encourage positive thinking? Check out Positive Affirmations to empower children to realize their full potential. 

Find the Positive

Many times students with special needs receive negative comments or misconstrued negative comments.  The students or parents are frequently told to fix this, increase this or improve that.  How about finding the positive?  We all know every student has strengths.  It is our job to help students utilize their strengths and talents to the best of their abilities.  For example, if a student has a wonderful imagination utilize that during therapy sessions to increase motivation and participation.  Need some help in determining and finding positive attributes and talents in student(s) finish some of these statements (with the student and parents help):

1.  This student is best at...
2.  This student has an amazing ability to...
3.  This student is frequently recognized for...
4.  This student smiles when...
5.  This student is happiest when...
6.  This student participates the most when...
7.  This student does this better than any other student...
8.  This student is highly interested in...
9.  This student is highly motivated by...
10.  This student always takes pride in his/her work when...

Try providing positive affirmations for children to carry with them once you determine their strengths.