ML Interest Tag: auditory

I Was Surprised to Learn Amanda Gorman and I Have This in Common

By Sam Farmer

Who knew? The Youth Poet Laureate sensation who wowed us during President Biden’s inauguration contends with speech and auditory processing challenges. Never would I have thought this while listening to Amanda Gorman’s truly memorable performance that day. This is a quintessential example of how one’s passion for her art is more than enough to rise above a diagnosis, inspire others, and be remembered. It also illustrates that where a deficit exists, there are ways to compensate for it.

In addition to the auditory processing disorder, which had been diagnosed when she was in kindergarten, Amanda Gorman has speech articulation-related challenges which make it difficult to pronounce certain words and sounds. Consequently, she learned how to read later than her peers and depended upon special accommodations in school which is commonly given to students with disabilities. But once she learned how to read, she began to immerse herself in books, started to write her own material, and discovered how adept she was at these pursuits. An appearance at the Library of Congress, the publication of her first book of poetry, and being named the first-ever National Youth Poet Laureate would soon follow.

When I first read about Amanda’s auditory processing disorder, I felt an even greater sense of admiration for her than when I previously watched her recite “The Hill We Climb” during the presidential inauguration ceremony. I thought the extent of my admiration that day could not be exceeded considering the absolutely stellar performance she had delivered and the emotional impact of her words. I was wrong.

It takes a great deal of courage to reveal one’s vulnerabilities, and when they come to light, the wow factor that already surrounds an exceptionally talented person is elevated to a whole new level. The true strength of that individual surfaces when what had been overcome along the road to glory becomes known. If this kind of story is not inspirational, then I don’t know what is.

As I’m sure is the case with many, Gorman’s ascent into the public spotlight resonates quite strongly with me. Her narrative and mine share a few significant commonalities. I, too have been contending with auditory processing challenges which stem from an early childhood learning disability diagnosis in auditory perception as well as from an autism spectrum diagnosis that would emerge decades later. I too needed special accommodations in grade school and resisted a few of these, including an offer to take the SAT’s untimed, which I promptly rejected because I insisted on being evaluated on the same terms as my fellow classmates. Amanda admits to having refused extra time on tests as well. We both found ways to compensate for our challenges, enabling us to achieve our unique definitions of success against all kinds of odds. And, both of us have not been afraid to open up about our struggles.

Love who you are and be who you are, at all costs. Doing so entails acknowledging and accepting not merely your strengths but also your hardships, and addressing those hardships on your terms, in your own way and in your own time, so as to move forward. Once you commit to this kind of philosophy, the sky’s the limit. Gorman is clearly a case in point. Greta Thunberg is another, referring to her Asperger’s diagnosis as “a superpower.” And of course, there are countless others turning adversity into triumph every day, eager to make substantive contributions to society but who have not yet been given the opportunity to do so. An immeasurable accumulation of untapped potential rests with these people, potential that is waiting to be realized and on which our world and our future arguably depend.    

Let Amanda Gorman and the spirit behind her poem “The Hill We Climb” be an inspiration not only to the country but, on an individual level, to those who share her struggles and to everybody looking to better themselves. Let at least some of the poem’s more meaningful words and ideas sink in and encourage us to greater things: “dream,” “never be permanently defeated,” “step out of the shade, aflame and unafraid,” “rise,” “brave,” and “the new dawn blooms” come to mind. America’s metaphorical hill to climb is steep, to say the least. Too much anger, divisiveness, violence, inequity, and disease. Not enough peaceful coexistence, decency, unity, and normalcy in the way we remember it pre-COVID. Gorman has shown that she can climb her own personal hill by working through an auditory processing disorder and speech processing challenges en route to newfound fame, remarkably, as a poet and a performer. So, too can we dig deep and climb our own individual hills, by confronting whatever adversities stand in our way. We become stronger as a result. Our collective strength as a nation becomes that much greater as we all climb the hill Amanda Gorman envisions us climbing.

 

This post originally appeared on The Hill, Changing America.

SAM FARMER wears many hats, among them father, husband, musician, computer consultant, autism spectrum community contributor, and author of the new book, A Long Walk Down a Winding Road: Small Steps, Challenges, & Triumphs Through an Autistic Lens, which is now available on Amazon. 

 

Advertisement

Related reads

Advertisement

Are We Destroying Our Neurodiverse Children?

By Lindsay Leiviska

Too many children are being forced to meet expectations they were never meant to fulfill. Outside-the-box kids were made differently and distinctly with gifts, talents, and purposes. And these outside-the-box kids must be equipped with our love and support to thrive in this world.

We adopted an outside-the-box, high-needs child almost 6 years ago. When our son hit 18 months, he began to destroy our home and our family. His horrific and uncontrollable behaviors included aggression, destruction, and dangerous thrill-seeking acts. He screamed all. day. long. for about three years straight. And he did not sleep more than two hours a time for almost a year and a half. That, of course, made things astronomically worse.

Fortunately, however, God used this four-year experience of misery to radically change me as a mom. During that time, I developed relationships with amazing pediatric specialists. My son’s volatility was beyond anything I could handle on my own, and it forced me into counseling as I faced my own internal junk, which was severely impacting my ability to cope well. God allowed this all to completely transform me as a mother, wife, friend, and educator.

Most importantly, that transformation completely saved my relationship with my biological daughter. Honestly, I believe it has actually saved her life!

Saving My Daughter

At the time that we adopted my son, we had no idea that our daughter was an outside-the-box kid longing to thrive. We didn’t know that she was an Aspie girl. For years, I tried to make her into a social butterfly like her older sister and me. I didn’t understand why she was so “shy.” I worried about her heightened sensitivity level. Her tears, her emotions… I wanted to “fix” her. When she would not do what I wanted when I wanted it, I would become frustrated with her.

And she felt it. She felt my disappointment as well as the disappointment of others when she could not be who they wanted her to be. It kills me to think about what she must have felt about herself knowing that she was never “enough.”

Being “different” was not what made her feel less-than. Nope. It was the messages she was receiving from the world around her—most importantly, in her own home. She was constantly receiving messages that told her she needed to be someone she was not created to be. This is what could have potentially destroyed her sense of self.

I fight the tears right now as I think about what she would have felt and believed about herself if I had continued parenting her with the idea that she needed to be someone different.  Someone who the world wants her to be.

An Overlooked & Suffering Population

Aspie girls are suffering so much… for so many reasons. One of the most crucial reasons that these girls are suffering is because they are being misdiagnosed. They are being completely overlooked because Aspie girls (currently diagnosed as Autism Spectrum Disorder based upon DSM-V) present so differently than boys, and the criteria has been based upon boys. The mental health implications of being missed are astronomical:

  • Anxiety

  • Anorexia

  • Depression

  • Suicide

  • Trauma

Our outside-the-box girls are everywhere, and they do not have to suffer in this way. But sadly, so many have been told throughout their formative years that they are not enough. That they are inherently defective. They have been told that they should not be who they were created to be. That their interests are “weird” and they must change to be accepted. That they must shove their outside-the-box selves into the one-size-fits-all “norm” in order to be valued and loved.

Can you imagine living your life like this? So what do these outside-the-box girls do? What do so many of our outside-the-box kids do?

They hide. at home. alone. There are likely millions of outside-the-box kids out there who are not thriving.

Kids with ADHD, Autism, Sensory Processing Disorder, Auditory Processing Disorder, Learning Differences, Aspies, introverts… whatever. It doesn’t matter if they have a diagnosis or not. Who cares?!!! These kids are everywhere!

Why are we forcing so many gifted, loving, talented, and brilliant people onto the hamster wheel of mental illness?!

‘I’m not good enough.’

‘I always screw up.’

‘I said the wrong thing.’

‘The noise was just too much and I couldn’t handle it.’

‘I cannot focus in a room full of other kids.’

‘What is wrong with me?’

The messages that our children consistently receive from the world are most often the ones that plague them for the rest of their lives.

How many more kids have to scream for help through drug abuse, cutting, suicide, etc… before we take a good look at this one-size-fits-all system that is failing so many children?

We Need to Value Neurodiversity

We say that we value diversity in this country, and yet we have a system set up for one type of child. Our kids have gifts and talents and hearts that just want to love and be loved. Oftentimes, we try to raise our unique kids using the “world’s” expectations as our goal. When our young kids cannot take it any longer, they explode… often times behaviorally. I have learned, by God’s grace, that our children are gifts to this world and need to be raised in a way that allows them to thrive and shine.

Moms, Let’s Be Willing to Parent Differently

Moms, we need one another to be brave for our differently gifted children. Our precious kids who simply long to be their unique selves without constantly butting up against a culture that believes they are inherently defective. Let us rally together and be brave enough to allow our children to flourish as their unique selves regardless of what the parenting peanut gallery says. Let’s put on the mom glasses that allow us to see the gifts, passions, and hearts behind our unique children and then equip them to thrive!

Lindsay Leiviska (MA Teaching) is a homeschool mom of three with over 20+ years experience working with children. The adoption of her son 6 years ago transformed her as a mom. She began A Heart for All Students with the mission is empower outside-the-box kids by equipping their amazing mommas. 

Advertisement

Related reads

Advertisement

How to Teach Kids to Write Based on Their Learning Preference

By Alesia Netuk

Photo: igor kisselev/shutterstock.com

When learning how to form the letters of the alphabet, children respond differently whether they are kinesthetic, auditory, tactile, and visual learners. In addition to supporting a child’s preferred learning st‌yle, using various methods can also increase the “fun factor” when practicing how to write!

Kinesthetic Learners:

Kinesthetic activities provide children with opportunities to learn through movement. Children who prefer this learning st‌yle may find it more challenging to sit still when engaged in a learning activity. Their capacity for learning increases when both their brain and their body are engaged.

You may think a kinesthetic-based activity is a challenge for an activity that is traditionally done with paper and pencil, but movement can definitely be incorporated into writing activities. For example, have children hold scarves and use big arm movements to write the letters in the air. Or, have the children move around the room then freeze when you call out a letter. Their task is to form the letter with their bodies. They might create the letter “L” by having two friends lie on the floor in the correct formation. Or, they might decide they can make the letter “t” all by themselves by sticking their arms straight out on each side.

Auditory Learners:

Auditory activities appeal to children who learn best through actively listening. They may also find it helpful to talk about the material they are learning. Providing auditory learners with opportunities to both hear and recite information is ideal.

To incorporate the auditory learning style in writing practice, children can be taught rhymes or sayings that help them remember the pathways to use when forming letters. For example, children can use the rhyme, “Pull straight down for capital E. Then add some shelves. 1, 2, 3!” Hearing this rhyme, then remembering and reciting it themselves, can help children when they forget how to print a letter.

Tactile Learners:

Children who prefer tactile activities learn best by touching and manipulating objects. They generally prefer “doing” over simply hearing or seeing instructions. They are often referred to as “hands-on learners,” and prefer activities like building, using art materials, and using manipulatives.

There are many ways to incorporate tactile opportunities into learning how to write letters. Children can use their index finger to practise printing letters in trays filled with salt, sand, or shaving cream. Children can use paintbrushes and water to “paint” the letters on chalkboards or other surfaces like a brick wall. Tactile learners may enjoy using playdough to create the letters. Working with a partner, they can also take turns printing letters on each other’s back. To support tactile learners’ recall of letter formations, have them make the letters using art materials like stamps, pipe cleaners, or stickers.

Visual Learners:

Visual learners benefit from seeing the material they are learning. They may prefer to read and write versus listening and speaking. They can typically recall information better if it has been presented to them visually.

When learning how to write letters, children who are visual learners can benefit from seeing the letters and writing them. Provide these learners with a visual of what the letter they are learning looks like. Provide them with opportunities to trace the letter before moving on to independent practice where they write the letter themselves. Visual learners who are focusing on printing can benefit from the handwriting worksheets.

These tracing letters worksheets provide children with the steps to forming each letter, using the proper pathways. Tracing the letters allows children to rehearse the pathways before moving on to independently writing.

To support visual learners who are focusing on cursive writing, worksheets that follow the same pattern as the printing worksheets can be used: Provide a model of the letter, allow for opportunities to trace the letter, then move on to independent practice.

These cursive letters worksheets also provide students with practice linking cursive letters together to form words.

The worksheets noted above have been carefully crafted with appropriate lines to promote the correct sizing of letters. Young children who are experimenting with writing may print very large letters. As they become more experienced with writing, children need guidance around which letters are tall and which letters are short. They also need guidance to correctly write “tail” letters, which have parts that hang below the line, like “p” and “y.”

Providing children with multiple ways to practice writing letters can help them to be successful and also maintain their engagement in the learning process. Worksheets will help them achieve the end goal of being able to correctly form written letters on paper.

Alesia is a founder of PrimaryLearning.org, an educational website that helps elementary school teachers and homeschool parents with hands-on worksheets, activities and thoughtful articles.

Advertisement

Related reads

Advertisement

Square Peg, Round Hole: How to Make Your Learning Style Work for You & Your Family

By Maggie McComb

Give a specific puzzle to a variety of people and they will each solve it in their own way. But if your test group is large enough, you’ll start to see similarities in the way people process information and solve problems.

The idea of individual learning st‌yles and the general categories thereof became popular in the 1970s. Wikipedia counts a whopping 71 “learning st‌yle” models, so it’s not a surprise no single one has taken the reigns and become a household term. I, for one, had never heard of a “learning st‌yle” until I stumbled upon it as a homeschooling parent.

What most of us have heard of are personality tests, especially the Meyers-Briggs. This handy test of self-reflection may shed light on our unique personalities, but how does that translate to the classroom?

Three years ago when we started homeschooling, I had little to go on except my own experiences as a student some 20 years earlier in a different state. I had loved school, so I hoped a little cerebral dust had rubbed off on my 2nd grader. She was struggling in school and had falling behind, but I was confident I could turn things around and right the ship.

We dropped out of public school after winter break that year and it took a while for us to figure out where she stood in each subject. I don’t mean broad terms such as “she’s at grade-level in math,” but nitty gritty details along the lines of “she can add but not subtract and she understands shapes, but can’t figure out place value.” 

Before long it was summer and we decided the best thing to do was start fresh at an online school in the fall. This, I soon learned, wasn’t going to work either. My now-3rd grader would mentally drift away from her video chats and absentmindedly click, click, click through the pages of an online lesson.

It took forever (and a lot of frustration and tears) but it finally dawned on me that our best days involved printed worksheets, quick games and random manipulatives. I started “teaching” less and less and started “playing” more and more. By the time 4th grade rolled around, we decided to leave the online school and shift entirely to home-based education on our own terms.

My definitive a-ha! moment came when I noticed my daughter frequently doodled out circles to represent math problems. It occurred to me that If I gave my husband two random numbers to calculate, he’d figure it out in his head. I myself would take the two numbers and write them down. My daughter would do neither of these and would instead draw shapes to represent the numbers. I had spent so much time showing her how to do something, I’d neglected to see she needed to do it herself.

Off to Google I went and discovered “learning st‌yles” and the VAK model: visual, auditory and kinesthetic. Or as I like to think of them: thinkers, see-ers and do-ers.

My husband is a classic thinker: Everything is stored in his head in tidy little file cabinets, with facts ready to be pulled out at a moment’s notice. He can answer questions with precision and plan several moves ahead in any game.

I am a very visual person: I need to see everything. I literally write things down on a to-do list after I do them just so I can have the statisfaction of crossing them off. It’s weird. I love demonstrations and YouTube videos and can understand things by watching other people do them.

My little girl, however, is not like either of us. She draws, paints and models with clay and needs to feel, hold and construct everything herself.

When I fould myself explaining something with just words I could see her attention drifting off, so we started transforming math into art, ELA into infographic charts and science and history into documentaries so she could be hands-on and immersed in the learning experience.

Figuring out my daughter’s learning st‌yle greatly improved her understanding and retention, as well as both of our spirits. Thanks to the movie “Inside Out” we developed our own code as well. When we’re working on something new, we call it a “memory marshmallow” because it’s soft and pliable. The idea is to continue working on solidifying the knowledge until it becomes a “memory marble” and goes into longterm storage.

For us, the trick to breaking forward was to take several steps backwards. Education and schooling are not the same thing and I needed to forget everything I thought I knew. By embracing our differences, we were able to build a broader foundation for our future.

Maggie lives with her husband and "old soul" tween daughter in the Pacific Northwest. She shares their travel adventures, field trips, and homeschool ideas from a city-based homestead. Maggie's first book, Handwriting: A Study of Penmenship in the Digital Age, is available on Amazon.

Advertisement

Related reads

Advertisement

Bright, Just Different: How Parents Can Help Kids with Learning Differences

By Dr. Deborah Ross-Swain & Dr. Elaine Fogel Schneider

All children are smart in their own way. Some children, however, have individual learning st‌yles that don’t allow them to succeed with traditional learning methods.

These children are not disabled. They’re quite capable of learning everything their peers learn. They just learn in a different way. But children with learning differences are often robbed of their confidence and joy.

It can be tremendously difficult for parents to accept that their child may have a learning challenge that interferes with the child’s success and potential. The possibility can leave parents feeling helpless and isolated. Yet, because parents know their child best, it’s critically important that they recognize any learning differences and seek help. Early intervention can have a significant impact on a child’s success in school—and in life. If addressed early, problems associated with learning differences can be minimized and success maximized.

In educational settings, learning differences typically aren’t realized until children enter the primary grades, when reading, spelling and math are introduced. Then, the child may exhibit signs that could be interpreted as a behavior problem, when they’re really a reflection of the child’s frustration with a learning difference.

Children are smart. They realize when other children are “getting” what they aren’t in the classroom. They recognize that, despite working hard, paying attention, listening and doing their homework, school isn’t getting any easier. They feel less and less successful and more and more different.

For children who feel different, expert intervention is important, but feeling connected and good about oneself is essential. Here is where parents play an important role. They can help make success happen for their child, all the while building their child’s confidence and joy.

To do this, parents will need to put on their sleuth’s hat and uncover how best to accomplish these five essentials for their child’s success:

Investigate the way your child processes information best.

“Learning st‌yle” can be interpreted in different ways. Generally, it’s broken down by visual, auditory or kinesthetic (touching and/or movement). But a child can be an auditory-visual learner, for instance or an auditory-kinesthetic learner—or even a combination of all three. But learning is also influenced by a child’s emotional state. Parents and teachers will want to discover a child’s learning st‌yle, as well as watch and note learning response behaviors that can reveal lots of information as to how a child can be a successful learner.

Determine what learning experiences mirror your child’s interests.

Children do best when they’re interested in a topic. Watch your child closely. Observe him during his daily activities. Notice when he smiles. See what he can’t wait to do. When you see what your child gravitates toward, expand on it. If your child loves the park and has movement concerns, for example, figure out which playground equipment would be best for body movements, strengthening, balance, etc. and play together on it. Be a kid again yourself!

Keep any comparisons with other children confidential.

Your child is smart in her own way. Celebrate the differences and love each child unconditionally. Instead of intimidating your child through comparisons with siblings or classmates, realize your child is a different learner and encourage her unique interests and abilities. For example, Carly’s brother Jason could speak and read two languages at the age of nine. Carly, though, enjoyed putting coins in money rolls and taking them to the bank to deposit. Jason grew up to become a language professor, while Carly became a successful commodities broker.

Uncover and praise your child’s strengths.

All children have strengths. You need to fully recognize what stands out about your child. What can he do that’s different from others? What is he willing to try that the other children won’t? Make a point to praise your child’s special qualities and not to call out any weaknesses. Your child may have a kind heart and a willingness to share toys with others. Catch him comforting another child who is upset and let him know that you appreciate his gift of compassion.

Find ways to have fun with your child.

Making learning tedious with a “to do” list can bring everyone down. Put tasks aside and give your child your undivided attention for a period of time each day—even if it’s only five minutes—apart from her siblings. Let her be the leader and you the follower. Let her choose the activity (within reason), whether it’s going on a scavenger hunt or just cuddling on the couch. She is in control now and there’s no right or wrong way of doing anything.

Different doesn’t have to be negative for children with learning differences. In order to ward off feelings of frustration and failure, parents and teachers must know how the child learns best and allow the child to experience success, both academically and socially. From success, confidence and joy will grow and lead to more success.

This post originally appeared on Psych Central.
Dr. Deborah Ross-Swain & Dr. Elaine Fogel Schneider
Tinybeans Voices Contributor

Dr. Deborah Ross-Swain is a licensed speech-language pathologist and CEO of the Swain Center for Listening, Communicating and Learning. Dr. Elaine Fogel Schneider is CEO of TouchTime International. Drs. Swain and Schneider’s new book, Confidence & Joy, provides parents with tools to help children with learning differences realize lifelong success.

Advertisement

Related reads

Advertisement

Candytopia SF: Your Complete Sweet Guide

by Kate Loweth

Unless you have been living a social media-free existence, you know that Candytopia has arrived in San Francisco and it is THE place to be. This immersive experience will bring you back to the Willy Wonka land of your childhood dreams and send you right into a sugar coma. We checked it out and think you should, too—here’s why!

The Scoop

Candytopia opened its San Francisco doors on September 6 after massive success in both Santa Monica and New York. The 16,000-square foot space is located on Market Street, right across from the Museum of Ice Cream. Scheduled to be in town through January 6, 2019, this pop-up candyland was tastefully curated by Hollywood Candy Queen Jackie Sorkin and realized by master fabricator Zac Hartog.

Tickets are available online and cost $34 for adults and $26 for children 4-12. Little ones 3 and under are free (no ticket needed). You choose a day and time for your ticket and entrances are staggered at 15-minute intervals to keep the crowds manageable. As you are welcomed into the exhibit, you are encouraged to touch the candy art as you wish. Licking is prohibited as you’ll get a mouthful of shellac.

Before you leave each room, make sure to crab the candy treat that is being given out. Pro tip: Bring a bag as there’s more free candy available than you and the kids can possibly eat while you walk through.

Traveling through the exhibit brings you from the Library (with the gummy bear-covered suit of armor) to the Art Gallery. Here you’ll find amazing portraits of iconic figures like Steve Jobs and the candy man himself, Willy Wonka. Pose next to the golden replicas of the Golden State Warriors’ winning trophies. Practice your best scream face and snap a pic in front of the depiction of Edvard Munch’s The Scream.

Want more info on the art? Peruse the Candy Facts card that is included with each art piece. Here you can find out how many gummy bears or jelly beans went into making the sculpture, how many hours it took to complete the creation and how many calories you would consume if you ate it!

A particularly fun spot for the kids to get rid of some of their candy-induced energy is in the Candy Wonderland room. Here you can swing from the ceiling and slide down a playhouse slide that’s sized just for little ones. Pop your head into the half spheres hanging from the ceiling for some auditory entertainment and rest for a bit on the candy-coated toadstools.

San Francisco Touches

Even if you have been to Candytopia in NYC or SoCal, this newest installation has a local flair that makes it unique. The Golden Gate Bridge see saw and the cable car installation are just a few of the spots you’ll want to check out.

Make sure you watch along the way for the opportunity to download the Candytopia app and have special photos sent to your phone (for free!). The Candytopia staffers are also more than willing to take that perfect shot for you so that you can include your whole gang in your Instagram story.

A Pool of Marshmallows

Perhaps the most fun for all ages is the pool of marshmallows that you can literally swim in. Don’t fear, these are foam replica marshmallows and not the sticky-sweet treats themselves. Take off your shoes and empty your pockets before you get in as it would be easy to lose your keys or cellphone in the fray. Staffers limit the number of people in the marshmallow pit to keep the crazy under control.

The Lowdown

Our verdict? Candytopia is a multi-sensory experience that kids of all ages (and parents, too) will thoroughly enjoy. There’s enough there (swings, slides, giant beach balls, CANDY TO EAT) to keep the wee ones busy and tons of interesting exhibits for the older crew. Follow these tips to make the most of your visit:

  1. Get your tickets now! Candytopia won’t be here forever and most weekends are already sold out.
  2. Strollers are not allowed to be used throughout the exhibit but you may park them inside while you go through.
  3. The only bathroom is located in the Art Gallery so use it then if you need to!
  4. You can only proceed through the exhibit in one direction so make the most of each room while you are there.
  5. Got long hair? Bring a brush as you will likely get a head full of confetti in the Rainbow Room (consider yourself warned).
  6. Arrive 15 minutes before your ticket time. It takes about an hour to make it through all of the rooms.
  7. The closest parking can be found at Jessie Square, 233 Stevenson Street. Walk through the alley towards the Contemporary Jewish Museum to get to Candytopia.

Candytopia
767 Market Street
San Francisco, CA
Hours: Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-8:30 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-8:30 p.m.
Online: candytopia.com

—story and photos by Kate Loweth

Advertisement

Related reads

Advertisement

Do This Now: Family & Baby Tours at the Portland Art Museum

by Katrina Emery

You might not think your 6-month-old or 6-year-old are ready to explore their passion for art, but the Portland Art Museum disagrees. With a small manageable size, great rotating exhibits (catch the Andy Warhol one before it leaves in January!), and a variety of ways to experience the pieces, a fantastic afternoon art experience is possible for both the big and little art lovers in your family! The staff at the art museum knows that keeping a child occupied and quiet in a hush-hush museum is almost impossible, so they’ve created Family Tours that guarantee fun for everyone. Read on to find out more.

photo: Mike Krzeszak via Flickr

Family Tours
The tours are geared towards fidgety ones and their caregivers: anyone under 17 is free! Join a family-friendly docent tour every Sunday at 12:30pm. Each hour-long tour ranges across the whole museum and include rotating and permanent exhibitions. They’re themed for the younger crowd with topics like “Colorific,” “Animals in Art” or “Art Across Cultures.” The tours are free with admission, just show up in the lobby to join.

Baby Tours
It’s an extra challenge to get anywhere with a baby under one. For parents of the very young the museum offers Baby Mornings on the first Thursday of every month at 10am. The informal group meets in the Andrée Stevens Room, complete with tea, blankets, games and toys for your baby. The tours are also themed, and provide a time for some adult conversation as well as helping baby enjoy their first artworks.

And they get it—you aim to be there at 10, but by the time you get out the door it’s more like 10:30. The tour will wait until they get a big enough group to go, and they also offer a second tour around 11:15 (or when another group is ready). Enjoy the museum with your baby, stress-free.

photo: Parker Knight via Flickr

How to Talk to Your Kids About Art
Talking to kids about a difficult topic can be a huge challenge. The Portland Art Museum’s goal is to create a space for dialogue, reflection, and coming together, and their Family Tours reflect that. When you see the artwork, ask your kids what they think. What do they see? What do they think about it? The Corita Kent: Spiritual Pop exhibit (running through Jan 2017) is a great example of tough topics. Kent was a nun, teacher, and activist in LA in the 60’s, known for her vibrant revolutionary screen-prints. Look for her messages of peace and hope among the billboard-style bright colors.

The museum has created a guide to facilitate hard conversations here, along with links to more resources.

Current exhibits
Cranes, Dragons, and Teddy Bears: Kids will love the small, beautiful children’s clothing from Japan, currently on display. Some kimonos show off detailed dyeing techniques, while others have hand-painted novelty figures on them. Challenge your little ones to find the teddy bears and dragons! On display until March 26, 2017.

Restoring the Breath—Sacred Relationship: Beautiful Salish coast weavings are on display until February in the Center for Contemporary Native Art gallery. The gallery features four accomplished artists with examples of their weavings, and honors their combined teacher and the sacred relationship to their work. Salish history and culture is brought to life in these intricate blankets!

Don’t miss the ongoing but always changing Object Stories, an exhibit where people bring in objects and record a story telling why they are meaningful. Browse through the past recorded stories, or encourage your kids to tell their own story! This is a great conversation-sparker on what makes items special. Check out the current highlighted Stories until Jan 30 on Sound Beyond the Auditory. The objects displayed are experiments in making sound visible and tactile, important explorations for the deaf and hard of hearing communities.

photo: Cliff Williams via Flickr

Getting hungry
It’s best to enjoy art with a happy belly (that’s true for kids or adults!), so fill up at the Museum Cafe onsite. Coffee drinks, bagels, breakfast, snack and lunch options are all available. Other nearby options include Elephant’s Deli in Director’s Park, and the 11th and Alder food cart pod!

The Details
The museum is located downtown in the Park Blocks. While there is no dedicated parking garage, there are some nearby ones as well as street parking. Public transportation is plentiful with several bus lines running nearby, as well as a MAX stop a few blocks away.

Bags and large backpacks must be checked upon entry, so pare down to the essentials. Strollers are allowed inside, but littler ones might do even better in a carrier (and you’ll get a break from navigating!).

Tickets are $19.99 for adults, with discounts for seniors and students. Members are free. Tip: buy online to avoid the wait when you arrive!

Portland Art Museum
1219 Southwest Park Avenue
Portland, Oregon
503-226-2811
Online: www.pam.org

What’s your favorite art museum experience? Tell us in the comments below!

—Katrina Emery

Advertisement

Related reads

Advertisement

Your Voice “Lights Up” Your Kid’s Brain, Study Shows

by Red Tricycle

Photo: cotaro70s via Flickr

A mother’s sweet and loving voice can do more than soothe her child. New research shows that a mom’s voice stimulates more brain activity, causing it the child’s brain “light up.” Cool, right?

The Stanford University study looked at the brain activity of 24 children between the ages of 7 and 12, as they listened to recordings of various female voices saying psuedo-words such as “teebudishawlt” and “peebudishawlt.” Even though the kids heard the voice for less than a second, they got it right 97% of the time.

Then, using an fMRI, the researchers looked at which areas of the brain the voices activated. They concluded that the moms’ voices triggered more areas of the brain than those that normally deal with auditory stimuli. The fMRI scans showed more brain activity in the areas associated with:

  • Processing emotional information
  • The system that detects self-referential information
  • The brain’s reward center
  • Perceiving and processing the sight of faces

The paper’s author, Daniel Abrams, hopes this will lead into more research involving kids’ ability to socially communicate.

What are your thoughts? Tell us in the comments below!

H/T: Time

 

Advertisement

Related reads

Advertisement