Interpersonal Relationships, Feelings, Play and the Foundations of Parallel Development
Post #2 in category. We recommend reading posts in numerical order. When parenting, teaching, or treating a child with developmental delays, interpersonal relationships and feelings come first. Before child rearing, teaching, and therapy can be meaningful and lasting, the child must experience a sense of safety, trust, interest, and emotional connection. These are not optional […]
Integrated Frameworks for Development
Integrated Developmental Domains help us understand how human development is organized and functions. Parallel Assessment and Parallel Development provide frameworks for helping development move forward. Parallel Development begins with the same assumption that underlies the Organizing Minds framework. Development occurs through connections and interactions between persons, between developmental domains, and is boosted and enriched by […]
Searching for Connections not Deficits
Post #5 in category. We recommend reading posts in numerical order. A significant shift in our developmental thinking occurs when we stop focusing on “What is wrong with this child?” and begin asking, “How is this child’s development system organized and expanded?” and “How can we help?” This shift in perspective and goals fundamentally alters […]
The Problem of Seeing Children as Bits and Pieces
Post #4 in category. We recommend reading posts in numerical order. As our knowledge of learning and child development has expanded, the general “scientific” and “behavioral” view has become increasingly fragmented. We have divided development into categories that are useful for study, assessment, and professional specialization. We speak of cognitive development, language development, motor development, […]
Universal Needs, Unique Journeys
Lessons from Neurotypical Early Development Parallel Assessment, Parallel Development Post #2 in category. We recommend reading posts in numerical order. Neurotypical infants are born with drives and foundational tools for survival and development. Hardwired predispositions and rudimentary mechanisms for basic sensory and perceptual processes, for basic motivations and feeling states, early foundations for learning about […]
The Present Heart
Post #2 in category. We recommend reading posts in numerical order. The Present Heart The goals and strategies of Parallel Assessment and Parallel Development reflect the state of our heart, our dreams, our beliefs. This paper is inspired by Reuven Feuerstein’s Theory of Mediated Learning Experience, emphasizing Belief, Intentionality and Reciprocity. The […]
Health, Wellness and Development
Post #2 in category. We recommend you read posts in numerical order. Physical health, mental health and development are inseparable. Health is usually viewed medically, but its interpersonal, learning and developmental implications cannot be ignored. Unfortunately, health and medically related signs and symptoms may be overlooked because they may be falsely attributed to the child’s […]
Parallel Assessment and Sensory Integration
Post #5 in category. We recommend reading posts in numerical order. Sensory integration is the neurological process that organizes sensation from one’s own body and from the environment and makes it possible to use the body effectively within the environment. – Jean Ayres Eye contact is still difficult for me in noisy rooms because it […]
Parallel Assessment: sensation, movement and the beginning of intention
Post #4 in category. We recommend reading posts in numerical order. Early sensorimotor responses in infancy are largely automatic, reflexive, immediate and constrained to the present moment. They are narrow in range, rigid, and often disconnected from planning and intention. Only when these early sensations and movements are stored, associated, and integrated with experience across […]
Parallel Assessment: an overview
Post #3 in category. We recommend reading posts in numerical order. To truly understand a child, we need to attend to the child as a whole human being living in the real world, not as a collection of isolated skills, deficits, or test scores. Both Parallel Assessment and Parallel Development involve ongoing, individualized processes of […]