2016 Grapevine, Texas at Independent steps Abigaile drinking water from a straw.
Whoever receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and whoever receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward. When anyone gives even a cup of cold water to one of these little ones because he is My disciple,truly I tell you, he will never lose his reward.” Matthew 10:41-42
We started every day with prayer, some praise and worship music and often a study somewhere in the word of God. Often the girls and I did this to start our day of learning and before school. There were days it wasn't possible but this was the normal routine for the girls and I.
While I am aware that water here in the scripture is meant for the Spiritual concept- in reality water in life - especially Spring water has much to give as well. Spring water has all the natural minerals left intact. In health and wellness Spring water has nothing missing, nothing broken. Does this sound familiar to you from scripture ?
Isaiah 26:3-4 Perfect peace. Shalom. Nothing missing, nothing lacking, nothing broken.
In my experiences in life, through all my testimonies this is always true. Even though we may not see it at the time we have to remain faithful to God that we trust Him. When we Trust in God - His ways will come to pass. We can't trust in human ways or ways of culture - but we must trust in God.
I worked with Natascha and Abigaile daily to work first and foremost in Spiritual mindset. In order to create and foster a way of thinking toward the ways of God. So they were not forced into slavery of thinking like culture. I wanted them both to remain positive, happy, and giving, loving toward others. We can clearly see the world around us in turmoil - and this is chaos. No where does God tell us to think or rely on chaos. He also tells us to put Him first. I believe putting Him first is starting with that cup of water.
Psalm 42:1
As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.
I worked on Spiritual skills first. We were able to foster healthy emotional skills because of this.
Then I worked on occupational skills such as the eating, drinking, dressing, walking, talking, all of these things are by far more necessary starting with a child who has special needs. They are a foundation that is to be set prior to anything in institutional learning. This is why special needs children don't make progress in Institutions called school. I have friends who has MS in Education that have special needs children and agree with this statement.
In my 30 minute phone call visits per week our daughters verbal skills have declined she has very few words and nothing of the vocabulary she once worked to get to. She had mastered at least Fifteen words prior to being abducted.
Prior to her leaving I observed the more that her physical skills were improving the more her verbal skills improved. What is this saying for her Physical and motor skills now? In photos she sits with legs crossed Indian style. That is from inactivity and not walking. Occupational therapy for a physical accident does not work with those who have experienced Traumatic Brain Injury ( from a chemical component ). The more chemicals that are given the more the brain function deteriorates. These Drugs Suppress the activity - suppressing the neurotransmitters that fire signals for necessary action. Causing one to be wheel -chair bound indefinitely and not making progress. Not making independence and not fostering a rehabilitation but instead a dependency.
I had worked with Abigaile over the years testing her with institutional learning and even though her cognitive understanding was there - the output wasn't always there. She had gone through a massive chemical assault on her brain and her body from the vaccine reaction. So over the years I did research to try and find some thing more suitable. Thankfully there are many great pioneers out there that have already traveled this road. Thankfully there are others who are education minded but not controlled by funding or culture that have understanding - you can't always follow the culture or the money to help children. I had finally found modalities and philosophies that were working. Abigaile started making real progress and I was so happy for our girl. It was so wonderful to see her progress- it didn't look like ACT tests and public funding for programs that " aren't working for anything but tax dollars to fund institutional learning."
Here a a few of the really wonderful programs and those in field who were extremely helpful in me being able to " reach my daughter " and pull out her learning ability.
I am going to start with Dr. Maria Montessori. Many have learned of Montessori schools. Well this is where I started because I felt in the ages and stages of child development moving and using the limbs is the key to everything else. The real foundation is healthy eating ( but I won't go there just yet ). Martha Montessori was an amazing woman and has an incredible history about how she got into the field. She was the first female Doctor of Italy. She was also an educator. Unlike traditional institutional learning the Montessori learning focuses on a child driven learning.
I made great progress with Abigaile using Montessori - things were slow at first it was a learning curve for me . And a learning curve as well trying to think in reverse of how I had been taught. But well worth the time and effort. Learning isn't about culture nor is it about socializing it is that we learn basic life skills - then we build on that to learn skills that will lead us into occupations that will be preparing us for life.
Who was Maria Montessori" :
The History of the Montessori education :
The next added learning philosophy was Charlotte Mason. I found Charlotte Mason theory in Nature leaning. At the homeschool education events we attended I was always looking for books ( I have a lot of books) that would capture " reality" nature, daily living, things that were like " living books". In Charlotte Mason - now Ambleside has a collection. I also did this with Abigailes older sister in her learning. Then we went to institutional learning and curriculum for her older sister and she was no longer interested in school. I believe there were other intrusions in her behaviors about her school also.
" Charlotte Mason was a British educator who believed that education was about more than training for a job, passing an exam, or getting into the right college. She said education was an atmosphere, a discipline, and a life; it was about finding out who we were and how we fit into the world of human beings and into the universe God created. "
An Introduction to Charlotte Mason - Ambleside online :
Charlotte Mason preschool and preK focus on Nature and enrichment
" The Charlotte Mason method is based on Charlotte's firm belief that the child is a person and we must educate that whole person, not just his mind. So a Charlotte Mason education is three-pronged: in her words, “Education is an Atmosphere, a Discipline, a Life.”
The next area that I was focusing was on Abigailes cognitive learning. I knew that she had cognitive understanding and I knew that she could retain that information. She was also tested on teaching her a specific skill several times and then testing her until she mastered that skill.
Abigaile learned that she needed to either use her hands and grasp the food to eat. She also knew that she could grasp the spoon to eat. Abigaile knew that if she was hungry and there was food on the plate or in the bowl she would completely bypass the spoon to get the food quicker. She knew these things. This is basic fundamental skill of necessity. Food and being able to eat food, knowing what that looks like. Knowing the different stages of how to move that food from point A to point B is not taught in institutional learning. Learning shapes, colors, numbers and socializing is less important that the need to learn basic life skills.
I believed Abigaile was at a point in her rehabilitation that I wanted to challenge her more. So I continued to research programs, therapies and anything I felt that would challenge her to the next level of learning and mastering a skill.
I should mention that Abgaile was not on medications or drugs during this time because all of her drugs and medications were not necessary. They had all been discontinued. She was not having active seizure patterns that were progressing. She would have an occasional seizure trigger and this was no different than anyone else who experiences an allergic reaction. It simply triggered a seizure in her ( that didn't require drugs) she would seizure and then stop on her own. This was an allergic response , not frequent and there was no pattern to it.
The next level of learning and education for Abigaile was with Equipping Minds. I had contacted the H.S.L.D.A. with regard to a newsletter about Dr. Brown after reading a newsletter she had written. We ( our family- Abigailes dad, her sister and myself ) planned a trip to Kentucky. It was suppose to be a learning experience and because we didn't get to take vacations. I planned for us to stay at the Kentucky Horse park near Lexington and to visit The Ark ( out in the middle of no-where Kentucky) . I have some photos I will have to post later but these were really wonderful exhibits and fun. It is very difficult as a special needs family to take vacations- now I have an understanding of why it was so much more difficult for our family - with the outside conflict that was brewing, controlling and manipulating.
I first contacted Equipping Minds on email and ordered the conference ticket. I was able to talk with Dr. Carol Brown and was able to share our story about our Abigaile with her. Then I booked the conference and the trip. I finally felt I was getting all of Abigailes plan complete so that I could focus on making additional progress for her. I really could see Abigaile moving to the next level and making progress with this. We had just moved from Grapevine, Texas to Arlington Texas because we had not found a more permanent address.
About Dr. Carol Brown :
Dr. Carol is an amazing woman. She is kind and caring and invited us to her home to be able to do a personal consult with Abigaile. She wished to meet with Abigaile and with our family. I felt that she went above and beyond what any other professional in the field would do. Her conference was one of the most detailed and hands on that I have ever attended and reasonably priced. We felt this would be a great program for Abigaile. I would recommend this program to anyone who has neuro-developmental issues.
Equipping Minds - Cognitive learning :
I was able to bring home a bag of wonderful goodies for Abigale to start her program and the plan was to work with Dr. Carol in Abigailes progress. Abigaile loved the program and was just starting to get accustomed to the items we used in the program. Most of all she loved the ear buds to listen to her audio and Abigaile loved the audio.
We made the trip in April 2016.
I would not have been made aware that in May 21, 2017 not even a month later that my world would fall apart, and that our daughters would be abducted and kidnapped with no communication, and no logical reason why.
with love,
Paris ( Abigailes mommy )
xoxo
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