Early Childhood Home
Building strengths for young children with disabilities
"It was once said that the moral test of Government is how that Government treats those who are in the dawn of life, the children; those who are in the twilight of life, the elderly; and those who are in the shadows of life, the sick, the needy and the handicapped."- Hubert H. Humphrey
How do we treat our children, our elderly, our people with disabilities? Among the Dakota, who have traditionally considered children as "wakan" or sacred, having recently come from the spiritual realm, this moral test is generally passed well.
The purpose of this workshop is to provide staff members with more ideas, more strategies, for helping children with disabilities develop strengths in early childhood, overcome obstacles and begin a successful journey through life. It is not always easy. In writing the section on behavior disorders especially, grandmother's saying that, "Your children will need your love the most when they deserve it the least," came to mind over and over.
As Peter Ustinov said, "The only immortality we have is through our children." It is not only a moral test, but a matter of survival as well. For our communities to survive, we must build the strength of the next generation. Building that strength begins with early childhood. We would like to begin this training by thanking all of you who work with our children for the important work you do.
You can click on any topic at left that interests you. In our workshops, we begin with the first link at the top and go through the topics in order. We hope that the material we have put together here will be of assistance to you. We are here to meet your needs and are always happy to hear your advice. Please click here to send any of your suggestions for improvement directly to our company president, Dr. Erich Longie.
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The project was supported by the Small Business Innovation Research program of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, grant number # 2004-33610-14307. |