My Big Wish

Wishing you all a Happy New Year and may we all be blessed with Peace on Earth and Good Health.

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Brain Waves Are Window into Autism Language Woes

Here is an article that I received this morning from US Autism and Asperger Association, Inc. USA http://usautism.org in their Newsletter.

If you click on the link below you can read the article in full :-http://www.firstcoastnews.com/printfullstory.aspx?storyid=124989

The brain wave study used noninvasive technology called magnetoencephalography, MEG for short. It measures magnetic fields generated by electrical currents in brain nerve cells, and records brain activity in real time.

Unique brain waves patterns, spotted for the first time in autistic children, may help explain why they have so much trouble communicating. That delay is only a fraction of a second, but when it's for every sound, the lag time can cascade into a major obstacle in speaking and understanding people, the researchers said.

Roberts, the study author, said the findings fit with a leading theory that suggests autism is "a disorder of connectivity in the brain."

Keep It Short & Simple

I adore the word "Simplicity" it can mean freedom from confusion and offer clarity by breaking down a complex issue into short simple and clear information.

Many Special Needs Children and Adults suffer from disorientation and overload of sensors before they even sit down to try and learn something, so it will always help firstly to address the sensory issues and then proceed clearly with the task in hand, remembering the acronym K.I.S.S. Keep It Short & Simple.

MaxiSteps is focusing on K.I.S.S.

Having A Good Posture

As a child I can remember in the evenings sitting at the family dining table, no sooner had I relaxed and slouched down then whack, my father gave me a quick flick on my knuckles with a spoon, I would automatically sit up straight to attention. At the time I thought he was too military with me and was always getting on my case. Now I can thank him for all the hundreds of times he reminded me to keep my back straight. Thanks Dad I am grateful.

Guess what, history repeats itself, I am doing the same thing with my own son, verbally of course with a little push in the back. Although we are in another time of history some things have not changed, our spines serve us better and longer by giving them some respect, straight at that.

I have become quite observant how many people have bad postures, more and more I notice young children, including children with special needs. According to my friend “Ted the fitness guru” he explained how it takes strong discipline to command your brain to remind your body to operate, the body more than often looks for the easy way out, it’s lazy, this also applies for facial muscles, remember to smile!

Incorporated into the MaxiSteps project is a section on posture. Let's get it right from an early stage, we can avoid a lot of pain later on in life.

Time Out

To all of my blog followers, I have been looking after a poorly family member for the last week, so please bear with me. Hope to be back blogging a.s.a.p. Kind Regards x

Making Connections

Don't you just love making connections in your life. I am a big fan of innovation and ideas and this morning I was reading my email a general newsletter from Martin Lindstrom (teaching major companies how to market their brand, see "Brandflash") promoting his new book "Buy.ology" the Truth and Lies About Why We Buy. Sound interesting! well for me blood starts rushing to my brain, why? because I am making a connection that's why, brain to perception back to brain.

Okay before you start believing this girl has really lost the plot, please read the synopsis of the book
Quote: Reveals what actually goes on inside our heads, it shows factors as varied as childhood memories and religious belief come together to influence our decisions and shape our tastes.Unquote
(Lindstrom conducted a three-year, $7 million neuromarketing study (sponsored by GlaxoSmithKline and Bertelsmann, among others that measured the brain activity of 2,000 volunteers from around the world. Some of the results confirmed marketing-industry hunches; others flew in the face of conventional wisdom).
Are you seeing what I am seeing, from a designers eye? Connections, no matter how irrelevant at the time, are vitally important to the big picture.

Disclaimer: I have no financial interest in this book.

Help! Hidden Data

While designing material for Special Needs I am faced with trying to put myself in the minds of the users ...... just look briefly at the importantance of perception.

We know that perception means having an awareness of or understand sensory information. So where does one begin? Let us look very briefly, in clear English, at the 5 main stimuli input zones that build our perception; Visually from our eyes; Hearing, sounds from our ears; Taste, from the receptive buds on our tongue; Smell from the receptors in our nose; Touch, from the nerve endings in our skin.

Then there are the hidden sensors, mentioning just a few of the many; from the inner ear, vibrations felt through the body; balance, feeling the body movement; heat and cold; pain (the 3 types); fear; emotions; joy, comfort etc. etc.

Okay let's imagine a super high-tech computer database that has just been created, let’s call it “My Personal Perception A”, slowly that database A will to fill up with masses of stimuli data, it will takes years, continuously making new connections, logically the more data inputted and large variance produces a wider more knowledgeable Personal Perception A.

Now when it comes to the second super high-tech database of “My Personal Perception Special Needs B”, firstly we know from the specialists that this database B has interference signals for example overload and/or lose of some connections which interfere with the initial process. So again it is logical to assume that the data input for Database B will differ in some respect to that of Database A.

What is the solution?

Firstly, we will need lots and lots of patience with database B it really is special. Some of the data will input easily, especially the visual data, usually resulting in millions of stored images, whereas other data for example the touch data might well temporary block Database B, objecting strongly to certain codes and therefore new codes and inventive methods will need to be implemented to enable the data to entered correctly.

Be pre-warned, Database B will always look for the “comfort” zone going on energy save and generally speaking database B will take longer because it often uses a different route than the database A.

Also expect with database B to use the “Enter” key again, again and again and might need to be pushed to overload on some occasions to achieve the desired activity.

However, database B is full of surprises and will hold lots of additional “hidden data", quite often filed incorrectly, usually surfacing at a later date or when focused and maximised.

What intrigues me is how much data is passed and stored in our personal database before we are born?

Are you left or right handed?

I've been looking into the subject area of left and/or right-handed users and the theory of Norman Geschwind's in relation to learning disorders, dyslexia and stuttering as well as increased spatial ability. It is such an immense topic and truly fascinating. I came across these interesting statistics on wikipedia.org

Quote:Though constituting less than 10% of the general population, 60% of U.S. presidents in the last 30 years have been left-handed, including Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush and Bill Clinton. Presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain also happen to be left-handed. Unquote

I could not resist researching more under the heading "Left-handedness and intelligence", if you have time do click on the link below and have a quick browse http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Left_handed. Lots of food for thought.

Next week I will be posting my notes on perception and different ways of thinking.

What is it with the name Joe?

I have been following the US Election, it is hard to avoid. The name Joe first came up with Sarah Palin and Joe six pack, we all had to wonder who is this Joe six pack, did she mean six packs of cigarettes, six cans of beer or the nickname for someone who goes to the gym and works on their six pack! Then later with McCain came Joe the plumber! even Obama was talking about poor Joe.

You know I hate to disappoint them all but I came up with "Joe" before in my learning to write sheets, designed months ago. Well we can joke but the name sure sits in your thoughts, do you think they went to the records for the most popular baby names in the 60's and 70's ? I wonder

What exactly is Foundation Level?

Listed below are the Official UK Guidelines for Foundation Level, Ages 3 to 5 years.

. Personal, social and emotional development

. Communication, language and literacy

. Mathematical development

. Knowledge and understanding of the world

. Creative development

MaxiSteps is being designed in accordance with UK/USA educational guidelines, however to avoid unnecessary pressure placed on the Special Needs learner our foundation level will be known as "Level Earth".

Communication

As young children why do we need to practice pages and pages of straight lines, curves, circles, blobs, finger painting etc.? Well, they are fundamental steps to master fine motor control, leading to a major form of communication "writing".

Fortunately we can learn these techniques by playing and having fun. If you think back to when you were at foundation level, remember yes! or was that a no!, it was all play ... you were not even thinking about learning.

However, for some Special Needs children even these basic steps require a huge amount of effort and repetition, repetition and repetition. My creative work is focusing to maximise the fun side, so after going that extra mile, the learning is still a form of play.

We've Got Rain

Down here on the Costa del Sol it's time for windshields and warm clothes. Just when we have a long weekend, Monday being a national Holiday mmm !. Ok looks like we'll need to implement plan B.

An unusual week

I enjoy following the International news and as for this week, yes it has been a big dose of doom and gloom where ever you look. Actually by the end of the week I was seriously thinking not to connect to my favourite news website. Finally I got the message and said "Paulene stop, enough is enough, just focus on being happy and positive, switch off those negative vibes, they are not helping anyone". I know I am not the only who has this trail of thoughts.

This weekend has been super weather, sunny blue skies and perfect temperatures. I decided to walk down to our local market accompanied by my 15 year old son, he loves the market. After browsing through some stalls I met up with a local artist, a lovely lady called Savannah Grace, I am sure she will not mind me mentioning her. Savannah sells these beautifully hand printed original etching cards, really they are so attractive and I enjoy buying her work to send as special message presents. You see the cards are so versatile they have more than one use, after the occasion of the card then the original etching can be framed.

Well to cut a long story short, Savannah said "I am fed up with all this negative talk" she was hearing from the other stall holders. I agreed with her 100%, it’s not that we want to wear rose coloured glasses and put our heads in the sand, but, and that’s a big but, we are forgetting to enjoy life, the simple pleasures like laughing and looking at all the beauty around. Savannah said “you know the sun shines for everyone and the rain pores for everyone". In fact we have a lot in common Savannah and I because we are both creative in our own fields and we almost need to be in an “alpha mode” to work, there's no place for doom and gloom. We are saying no to being programmed by the media.

Okay what have I been up to this week well I have been busy with a topic called “Learning to Write”. This involves producing some straight forward guidelines to explain to young children the fundamentals of achieving textual media, the written form of communication. I am not going to say more, you will just have to wait until next week ....

Until later, enjoy yourself and stay focused !

Moving along nicely

This week has been extremely productive here at the MaxiSteps HQ. I am really delighted that finally the project is taking shape with super connections being made enabling crucial linking, a little bit like mapping coming together. The main incorporation has been the "Guided Help" forms, giving vitally important support for the student. I believe these captive forms really do not exist in any other Special Needs material that is currently on the market. It's always truly satisfying when you believe that you have made an important innovation, especially in a field that is full of so many highly qualified specialists.

The MaxiSteps website is still at foundation level. Hopefully my Technical Geek from www.visioxpress.com will have time next weekend to come over to HQ to join our brainstorming session, hint hint. You know there are countless web designers on the market, however Tony not only is an amazing programmer but has that additional futuristic dimension that will project MaxiSteps upfront, into the market of "making big leaps and changes".

A feeling of inner peace

Imagine waking up to this view,

it looks like the path leading to God.

©Paulene Angela