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Kids with special needs may need additional services, attention, and supervision, but their biggest necessity is still the same as everyone else, love, attention, and respect based on their unique talents and abilities.

Your child’s natural environment opportunities are all the typical and natural things that happen every day with no plan and no pressure. Are those special times when he feels happy, complete and celebrated, no matter how simple his triumphs are. Those little victories will keep him motivated to develop a healthy sense of self-esteem. Life should not be a competition, but a permanent celebration of our own talents—and that’s true for every one of us.

These are 4 Ways of Taking Advantage of his natural environment:

– Play with your child! Plan on natural and fun routines for you and your child. Schedules are great, but they must be flexible. Children learn through play, but when playing stops being spontaneous, kids feel pressured and unmotivated, and their fun is ruined.

– Isn’t all about therapies! Therapies are an important part of early intervention, but their goal is often misunderstood. Therapies are not meant to fix a child, but to get at the best of his unique abilities. When you play with your child, you are applying natural techniques into his daily routine with no pressure. Therapy will help correct and prevent delays, but can´t speed up your child’s growth or heal a disability. Your child doesn’t need to be fixed or cured. He needs to be accepted and empowered to be the best he can be, just like any other kid.

– Live today to its fullest! Live the present to be ready for the future. Your future is built every day, and if you focus on the future, you’ll be wasting the present.Let your child guide you and show you what his real abilities are.

– Believe, and learn to dream new dreams! Love is to believe, accepting our loved ones with their weaknesses and strengths. Follow your kid’s interests; give him the opportunities he needs to develop his natural abilities. Don’t focus on the result, but on the main goal of helping him grow his personal talents with no competition or pressure.

Help your child, but don’t deprive him of the opportunity of learning from making his own mistakes.

Be close enough to give him a hand when needed, but at the same time, far enough to let him feel trusted and loved.

The best gift we can give to our children is to teach them how to fish, and then let them choose their favorite fish and decide how they want to cook it—all by themselves.

Eliana Tardío
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About Eliana Tardío

Eliana Tardío es la mamá de Emir y Ayelén; ambos con síndrome de Down. Reconocida por su trabajo promoviendo la inclusión natural de las personas por su individualidad, Eliana ha sida reconocida por celebridades como Araceli Arámbula, Thalia, María Celeste Arrarás, Karen Martínez, y más. Su historia ha sido compartida por las cadenas mundiales más importantes: Univisión, Telemundo, CNN, y Azteca América. Nombrada Bloguera Latina Inspiración 2014 en USA, en este espacio Eliana comparte sus vivencias y recursos con más de 200.000 visitantes al mes.

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