Special Needs Visit
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Virtual Special Needs Visits Guaranteed to be Magical
18.5% of American Children under 18 are special needs. That doesn’t mean they aren’t smart, talented, or capable. Just that they have specific challenges that a “normal” child wouldn’t face.
What is considered a special needs child?
It could include chronic and terminal illnesses, physical impairments, and cognitive or psychiatric issues. … A special needs child may have a life-threatening condition or they may have severe learning disabilities. Either way, it is a child that requires special attention and care that other children do not.
Definitions
- Physical Disability. Locomotor Disability. Leprosy Cured Person. Cerebral Palsy. …
- Intellectual Disability. Specific Learning Disabilities. Autism Spectrum Disorder.
- Mental Behavior (Mental Illness)
- Disability caused due to- Chronic Neurological Conditions such as. Multiple Sclerosis.
Santa John is trained in giving special and extra attention for special needs children and adults with disabilities.
It may involve getting on the floor with them, speaking softly and caring or just being visible and near, letting them know they are loved.
Santa John developed a passion for special needs children early on. One evening while visiting with children Santa noticed a grandmother with a physically and mentally disabled child standing at a distance. Santa approached and asked if he would be able to visit with and have a photo taken with the child.
The grandmother said that the child would not allow it and that he had never met Santa before because it was too stressful for him. I got down on his level and we immediately had a connection. I talked to him for a while and he communicated back with his eyes. When we were finished he gave Santa a big hug. Santa looked up and Grandma was crying. She said that he had never opened up to anyone before like that. Santa had tears in his eyes as well. What a blessing to be able to connect with that special child.
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http://www.masters-in-special-education.com/special-needs/ lists some of the disabilities associated with the 4 categories of a special needs child.
- Physical– Muscular Dystrophy, Multiple Sclerosis, Chronic Asthma, Epilepsy,
- Developmental–Down syndrome, autism, dyslexia, processing disorders.
- Behavioral/Emotional–ADD, Bipolarism, Oppositional Defiance Disorder
- Sensory impaired–Blind, visually impaired, deaf, limited hearing.
Specific Characteristics of a Special Needs Child
- Academic learning problems.
- Language disorders.
- Perceptual disorders.
- Metacognitive deficits.
- Socio-emotional difficulties.
- Problems with memory.
- Motor difficulties.
- Attention and impulse control deficiencies.
The following is a list of common characteristics of an Learning Disability student from Mt. San Jacinto College https://www.msjc.edu/ Conditions must be persistent over a long period of time. Presence of these conditions does not necessarily mean a person is learning disabled.
Reading Skills
- Poor decoding skills
- Poor reading fluency
- Slow reading rate
- Lack of self-monitoring reading skills
- Poor comprehension and/or retention
- Difficulty identifying important ideas in context
- Extreme difficulty building ideas and images
- Difficulty integrating new ideas to existing knowledge
- Weak vocabulary skills
- Extreme difficulty understanding words or grammar
- Difficulty recognizing high frequency words
- Oral comprehension is noticeably stronger than reading comprehension
- Extreme difficulty focusing attention on the printed marks
- Difficulty controlling eye movements across the page
- Wavy or shimmering pages not attributable to poor vision
Spelling Skills
- Phonological awareness is noticeably stronger than spelling ability
- Frequent spelling errors of high frequency words
- Extreme difficulty with homonyms and/or regular spelling patterns
- No understanding of the relationship of phonics to written language
- No understanding of common spelling rules
- Inadequate understanding of phonics even with instruction
Written Expression Skills
- Poor writing fluency
- Unable to compose complete, grammatical sentences
- Difficulty organizing written information
- Poor handwriting
- Extremely poor alignment
- Inability to take notes or copy information from a book or the board
- Oral expression is noticeably stronger than written expression
- Extremely weak proofreading skills
Oral Language Skills
- Inability to hear small differences between sounds, not attributable to a hearing loss, particularly vowel sounds
- Difficulty articulating thoughts or ideas orally
- Difficulty pronouncing words
- Inability to blend sounds together to form words
- Difficulty listening and responding to a series of directions
- Disorganized recall of facts or details
Mathematical Skills
- Poor mathematical fluency
- Difficulty memorizing multiplication tables
- Difficulty identifying multiples and/or factors
- Poor basic calculation skills
- Difficulty understanding word or application problems
- Poor understanding of mathematical concepts
- Difficulty sorting out irrelevant information
- Lower visual perceptual and visual-spatial ability
- Inability to transfer basic mathematical concepts to solve problems with unpredictable information
- Inability to use basic facts within more complex calculations
Memory Skills
- Extremely weak ability to store and retrieve information efficiently
- Extremely weak ability to hold information for immediate use
Reasoning Skills
- Extremely weak ability to solve problems, particularly when information or procedure is unfamiliar
- Extreme difficulty recognizing, transforming, or using specific information to reach general conclusions
https://www.masters-in-special-education.com/special-needs/ has a wonderful infographic on the Anatomy of a Special Needs Child or a child with disabilities.
https://www.verywellfamily.com/ has some encouraging words for families with special needs children.
Although every special needs child is different and every family is unique, there are some common concerns that link parents. These include getting appropriate care and promoting acceptance in the extended family, school, and community. For some, planning for an uncertain future may be necessary. You will also find yourself adjusting routines and expectations, sometimes quite often.
Out of necessity, parents of children with special needs or children with disabilities are often more flexible, compassionate, stubborn, and resilient than other parents. While it may not be something you had hoped for or expected, it is important for your special needs child that you try to do your best. You can take comfort in the fact that you’re not alone, so feel comfortable reaching out for support.
You can be assured that Santa John will provide the special virtual visit that you and your child will cherish forever.
Click Here to Schedule your Special Needs Visit
For more information about Santa John availability call
(937) 746-4699 or email Santa@iSanta-virtualvisits.com
or click here to fill in the form on the Contact Page
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Santa John is a Real Bearded Santa Claus for hire serving Southwest Ohio, Northern Kentucky, Ohio Valley, Miami Valley, Cincinnati, Columbus, Dayton, Wright Patterson Air Force Base and all surrounding areas.