Unschooling is a decentralized style of education

Unschooling is a decentralized style of education
for a decentralized economy by Wendy Priesnitz 
http://www.wendypriesnitz.com/blog/blog_archives.html
    

“None of the world’s problems will have a solution until the world’s individuals become thoroughly self-educated.” ~ Buckminster Fuller
 

Unschooling articles:

http://www.lifelearningmagazine.com/1008/unschooling_prepares_kids_for_a_sustainable_economy.htm

http://www.naturallifebooks.com/books/Beyond_School_Living_As_If_School_Doesnt_Exist.htm

NaturalLifeMagazine.com - providing readers around the world with inspiration and information about new ways to live in our families and on the planet since 1976.

   

Motivation For Learning

- What modern cognitive science says about how we learn best:

'Intrinsic motivation leads to optimum learning, according to modern cognitive science. It’s something most parents intuitively know. Just watch any infant and you‘ll have evidence that children are naturally curious and interested in learning, exploring, and mastering challenges. They don’t need to be motivated to learn, nor taught how to do it. '

         Wendy Priesnitz

http://lifelearningmagazine.com/1312/motivation-for-learning.htm

Unschooling & 'special needs'

This discussion is from the 'Radical Unschoolers' network:

'Giving our children equal partnership in family learning has been wonderful. it's been fascinating to see how their personal interests and giftings have developed. and the learning continues organically - at home and through outside life experience . . .'

http://familyrun.ning.com/forum/topics/unschooling-special-needs
 

Autism Services Non-existent in Cambodia

In Cambodia, only one in ten of all children and youth with disabilities receive any form of education, according to a 2009 report by Handicap International.

Among these children are the Cambodian autists, unrecognised, misunderstood, their families unable to make a living in their communities because of the burden of looking after their autistic child.

Autism is a developmental disability of communication and social functioning which is often severe and without intervention and support often leads to family breakdown and social exclusion. There is widespread misunderstanding of the condition, even in more developed countries. Without early recognition and intervention, children with the condition remain in a 'shut-in' state, unable to communicate or engage with the world around them. Their behaviour often becomes bizarre and destructive, and they become an immense burden on their families, not to mention the terrible suffering they are going through. Before awareness grew in America and Europe, autists were misdiagnosed, mistreated or overlooked by the care system. Adults with the condition often end up in mental health facilities where there condition is not understood. They are now considered to comprise 1% of the total childhood population in most western countries.

The following message was posted on an Autism message board :

"Very few people in Cambodia are aware of what is autism, even among high educated people. I met a number of kids who have signs and trail of autism behaviors such as non-verbal communication, repetitive behaviors, difficult with social interaction etc. My son 2 year old is diagnosed with Pervasive Development Disorder - Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). I have been trying to find a resource in Cambodia to help him for early intervention which I understand is very important. So far there are no appropriate resource including Speech Therapists and Occupational Therapists in Cambodia who can support. I would very much appreciate if someone can help me to guide where I can find a support for the intervention. Thank you very much."

In an effort to move this situation forward, we are engaged in an Autism Awareness Campaign. We are contacting Disability Charities and other agencies in Cambodia to try and convince them of the importance of identifying autism at an early age, and providing appropriate treatments and family support.

We are also trying to establish a local NGO in Cambodia to develop a treatment and family center here. If you have any help to offer, with information, contacts, or knowledge of families in Cambodia with an autistic child, we would like to hear from you. We are:

Active Learning Center,
Sihanoukville, Cambodia


 References:
http://www.tacanow.org/about-autism/
 

Person-Centered Art Therapy Course

'To become more integrated, we need to engage both the verbal and non-verbal intelligence, both rational thinking and intuitive knowing.  Art can disclose such non-verbal wisdom.'

Person-centered art therapy can help people to:

Express and understand their feelings

with the help of creative art;

Overcome their fears, phobias and anxieties;

Talk about and heal traumatic events in their lives;

Work out personal relationship problems.

 

Over a ten-week course we will teach you:

Empathic listening skills;

Sensitivity and awareness;

Feedback and reflection;

Understanding confidentiality issues;

Development of intuitive knowledge

 

Location: Active Learning Center,

Sihanoukville, Cambodia

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Toxic environment, auto-immunity and the cause of autism

In this new article, researchers Sandra and Max Desorgher describe autism as a monumental chronic stress response to environmental overload in the human population, which is being passed on as an immunogenetic modulation, or evolution of the immune system. They describe how they came to see lutein as a unique immune trigger in autism and their results and experiences with using a lutein-free diet.
 

 http://saras-autism-diet.freeservers.com/Literature/toxic-environment-autism.html

Recovering from Autism using Sara's Diet

In 1994 Sandra Desorgher began removing lutein and other carotenes from the diets of people with autism, including herself and her adopted daughter Sara. She found that an undetectable immune system response to lutein is the underlying cause of the bio-chemical chaos which results when the immune system targets this small pigment molecule and causes the cascade of changes in body, mind and emotions that we call autism. Lutein intolerance cannot be detected by standard testing, but it is recognised by the person with autism once they begin remove the lutein-containing foods from their diet and go through the profound changes that result.

Sandra has written individualized diets for thousands of people around the world. Since 1994 she has been giving 'Sara's Diet' consultations, based on Sara's Recovery and the recoveries of thousands more, adapting it to the individual based on information provided by the parents. Starting with a simple questionaire a dialogue begins which takes you on a journey into the healing potential of the lutein-free diet.

Although we call the diet 'lutein-free', it should rightly be termed 'Specific carotene controlled diet'. There are many forms of lutein, and many carotene pigments in foods, which seem to affect autists in different ways. Many autists are also affected by wheat, gluten, milk, fish, food dyes, aspartame, chemicals, hair-spray; they are also affected by environments, sounds, and the moods of those around them. Many autists have aversions to various foods, sometimes called 'picky eaters'. We call this a 'self-selective' diet - the person is trying to avoid the bad experiences that they experience when they eat certain foods.

The biggest challenge to parents are the 'autistic behaviors', tantrums and outbursts that turn every day into a series of challenges. There are the also unexplained rashes, fevers, night fears, panic attacks, etc. etc. Sandra works with the whole family, in person if possible, taking you through the difficult process of modifying and refining and adapting the diet to the child, while being aware of all medical, bio-chemical, nutritional and behavioural issues.
 

A Natural Healing Approach to Autism Recovery

 

This program is a natural one; as much as possible it does not require excessive supplements, enzymes, chelation etc. It removes food-dyes and artificial sweeteners.

The diet increases the use of natural antibiotics and probiotics, foods that balance and heal the gut and the friendly bacteria,  such as kefir, coconut, sauerkraut, aloe vera garlic and turmeric and foods that are high in natural beneficial enzymes such as pineapple, cabbage and beetroot.

It increases the intake of fat-soluble vitamins and essential oils through cod-liver oil, fish oil, Evening Primrose Oil and Safflower Oil.

It promotes the use of organic locally grown  non-GMO foods.

It promotes a diet that is rich in natural minerals, especially those that are lacking in modern un-natural diets such as Magnesium, Manganese, Zinc and Selenium.

 

True Signs of Recovery

 

It is important to be open to the true signs of recovery that may not be the ones you most want. Not every child begins to talk immediately, nor even change their outward behaviours in any obvious way. Behaviour patterns are learnt and deeply programmed responses to experience. The behaviour program we use is called 'The Desorgher Method' and can be very tough to implement. The process of change is complex. The child is certainly feeling different. Their experience has changed. They might not quite understand the change.

Communication with the child is essential and vital to rebuilding their new awareness of themselves and their world in a positive way. Because even though you didn't realise it at the time, everything changed for the child on the day they went 'lutein-free'. In a way their life starts again. They are reborn. This is a tremendous opportunity to rebuild your life as well, around a new person - the recovering autist. Let go of all the old anxieties and fears and traumas that you went through. You must heal your life as well.