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I listened to an intriguing broadcast of the value of play in animals, children, and throughout the lifespan.
http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/play/

On Monday I heard Kristin and Chi Huang speak about their project helping Bolivian street children. I am haunted by the statistics that Chi presented–an estimated 170 million children living on the streets worldwide, suffering from all types of abuse (physical, sexual, prostitution, sniffing paint thinner, etc).

Kristin and Chi are doing wonderful work building homes and hiring staff to create a family structure for some of the children. It was so encouraging to see what they have accomplished, transforming some of the children’s lives. At the same time, it was incredibly depressing to realize the magnitude of the problem, and to hear the estimation that the number of street children is expected to increase to 250 million in the near future, with increasing urbanization and with current street children having more children.

I remember the first time I saw children living on the streets, I was in 4th grade, and our family was visiting Mexico City. At the time I felt how deeply unfair it was that they were begging and I was going to a fancy restaurant with my family, but I felt helpless to do anything about it.

Bolivian Street Children Project The website for their project (the info is a little out-of-date, but the project is very active).

An article where Dr. Chi Huang describes their work.

I have read in several places that young children do not really dream like adults do.

For example, research psychologist G. William Domhoff states: “The dream reports of children between 3 and 5 consist primarily of static images portraying animals or physiological states like sleeping” (Domhoff, 2000).

This reminds me of the time when Charley was almost 2 years old and woke up yelling from a nightmare. When he woke up Carl and Wendy (his parents) asked what happened. He kept saying, “Scary. Bunny. Up in the tree.”

Several times during the day he got a far-away and scared look, and he said again: “Scary. Bunny. Up in the tree.” Asking him more questions we realized he meant the bunny itself was scared.

The night before, right before he went to bed, Charley had climbed up wooden stairs in his socks. As he was climbing he suddenly slipped, and severely banged his head on each stair on the way down. Wendy and all of us were worried he might have a concussion. He cried and got a big bump but was okay.

I wondered if in the dream he imagined himself as the vulnerable bunny, and the wooden stairs leading up to the wooden second floor was like going up into a tree.

I remember when I was 3 years old the first nightmare I had was of bears who were about to cook me over a campfire. I yelled in the dream, “Mom! Mom!” and she came. I was so surprised that she was actually there (and so relieved I wasn’t really about to be eaten by bears).

Why do young children dream of animals? Is it somehow rooted in biological memory, or something they incorporate from the animals they learn about.

The psychologist Domhoff also reports:
- About 45% of the characters in young children’s dreams are animals
- Only about 5% are animals in adults’ dreams in the United States
- The percentage of animal dreams is higher in preliterate societies for adults than in industralized nations (Domhoff, 2000).

A followup to Charley’s dream. Recently, Charley (now age 4) recalled a story I’d told him several months ago about chickens. He accurately remembered that in the story a chicken got scared and ran out of the chicken coop. However, the way he told it was, “The chicken got scared and ran up into a tree.”

So I have been wondering: Does he still associate getting scared with going up into a tree? Is it all possible it’s a primate/primitive idea, that a tree is a safe place to hide? Or is he simply thinking, “A chicken is a bird, and birds fly up into trees when they’re scared.”?

Our sixth grade class went away for a week to a camp. When we arrived we were given a choice between a stone or a piece of wood. Then we were each given a piece of sandpaper. The staff explained that if we kept sanding whenever we had a chance, by the end of the week we would have a nice shiny piece of stone or wood, and they passed around examples.

I picked wood, and — after many hours of sanding — did end up with a nice shiny piece of wood by the end of the week.

I wonder who thought of that activity. Were they thinking this would keep kids busy during unoccupied times? Or was it a way to connect directly to nature? A symbol of transformation? Or did the camp staff simply remember having done something similar when they were a kid?

I just tried to do a web search to see if I could find out if kids in San Diego still go to 6th grade camp, and, if so, if they are given that choice and that piece of sandpaper.

I tried searching for: “sixth grade” camp stone wood sand “san diego”
but didn’t find it…

Oh my goodness, I just found it– I can’t believe, almost 30 years later, and they still do!

In fact, these sixth graders mention it as one of their favorite activities. (I’d forgotten it was manzanita wood.)

From Sixth Grade Camp web documentary: “Only one craft per person - Take a long time and its hard work - Wood, scraper, medium fine sandpaper, waxing - Rock, sand paper and buffing”

It does look like other things about sixth grade camp have changed–they seem to offer many additional types of activities, including a focus on cultural diversity.

“…a mute child will often start making speech sounds while he or she is swinging in a swing.”

“Spinning in a chair twice a week helps to reduce hyperactivity (Bhatara et al. 1981)”

“Research has also shown that vigorous aerobic exercise reduced maladaptive and stereotypic (repetitive) behavior ”

from “My Experiences with Visual Thinking Sensory Problems and Communication Difficulties” by Temple Grandin

I was glad I went to hear Temple Grandin speak last week, even though the bookstore was packed and I had to sit in the aisle (squished between Cookbooks and Literary Criticism) and watch her on a TV screen. She was more animated than I’d imagined she would be — funny, direct, honest, and to-the-point in answering questions. Here are my notes. (The words in bold are what I actually jotted down at the time.)

Socialize on shared experience: How do you help autistic kids? #1 by relating with them about their experiences and interests. And helping them find others who share those interests.

Mentors: Suggestion #2: Assist kids in finding mentors who can help them build on their obsessions. “Mentors turn obsessions into careers.”

A mother wanted to take her kid out of computer class to get him to be more social. Temple Grandin told her, “NO. If you let him stay in computer class that’s where he can find friends. Plus if he’s interested in computers that could lead to a career.”

“Torn apart by constant nerve attacks” How Temple Grandin herself at 16. That was before she climbed into a cattle chute and found that it calmed her nerves. She had teachers who helped her turn her obsession about the cattle chute into a career in animal science. She said you can see online the patent drawing for her squeeze (”hugging”) machine.

You can’t really know what an autistic kid is going to be interested in at age 3 or 4. You start to see whether it might be perhaps music, math, art, etc.–by 3rd or 4th grade, really start to see. Of course also need access to musical instruments (resources that allow them to pursue that interest).

1 out of 100 fall down: A way to assess how well cattle plants were treating their animals. Realized she needed to come up with quantitative measures. So, she came up with measurements such as: No more than one cow should fall down as they are being herded. McDonalds and other fast-food industries have adopted these standards and as a result have made significant changes in how cows are treated. (Described on Public Radio: an innovative system to measure brutality)

“money nerve”: She said she’s found this is a realistic way to make change, to motivate companies to change: show them how it affects their finances. Activists can help raise an issue, but they should know when to back off, and to acknowledge when a company actually does change.

Birds can see ultraviolet (My question: I wonder if birds are less likely to accidentally bang into glass windows that reflect ultraviolet light?)

believe in biochemistry: She says her main emotion (like many animals) is fear. She has been taking antidepressants for 15 years (Prozac) which helps control her anxiety.

She says there are people who don’t believe that autistic kids can be so extremely sensitive to noise or flourescent lights. But she says it’s just like animals have different thresholds of sensitivity and fear.

She’s straight down the line on nature vs. nurture, based on her experience and science reading she believes it’s 50% inborn temperament/biology, 50% environment/experience.

She said try whatever works to help a kid. Don’t get stuck on one approach. Different things work for different kids. There is wide variability in people with autism.

Mercury in fish may be increasing severity of autism. However, increased incidence of autism overall is likely due to increased diagnosis.

She said many MIT engineers have had Asperger’s (including her grandfather) it just didn’t used to be labelled. She thinks in pictures rather than words. She can picture a 3D animation of a turbine running in her head. Most people without Aspergers have limited ability to picture things–they can usually picture walking thru their own house, but some people can’t do that, only think in language (for example, a speech teacher for autistic kids who she knows) .