Being impressed very much by a ted
talk of Maysoon Zayid who has a cerebral palsy I decided to share it with you. I
found this video hilarious and thought provoking at the same time. From the
first moments I accused the irresponsible doctor who delivered Maysoon. But later
I was amazed by great motivation of a fragile woman with a great sense of
humour who serves as a role model for people with disabilities and not only. But
what I want to emphasize is a big merit of her parents, unsung heroes, who always
loved, cared and motivated their child. So, in this post I will tell a role of
parents in children development.
Parents are their children’s
first teacher and supporter throughout the life. From the early childhood they tell
and show what to do and what to avoid to. Throughout the development process
children unconsciously or consciously copy their parents behaviour. Kagan (1999) in his study
claims that children tend to honour what parents do rather than
what they say. Therefore parents need to put an equal emphasis on both disciplining
themselves and being honest and fair. In this sense Maysoon was very lucky, as
her parents treated equally to all their children and never showed that
cerebral palsy can ever be an obstacle in any of her undertakings.
Parents
also influence development of maturity and drive in their children. In Maysoon’s case her father played a
key role in her life and advocated certain success, which is learning to walk
by her own. Parent’s belief in his or her child’s success affects the child’s
success and stimulus to excel (Aunola, Nurmi, Lerkkanen, & Raku-Puttonen,
2003). Thus, if the parent believes the
child is going to be successful, infant becomes more focused on success and, as
a result, achieves higher outcomes in life.
As the personality of a child
cannot be viewed in isolation, it is worth to put much effort in bringing up
children with good behaviour and traits and always support your child to make up a complex system called
society better place. Indeed, being a parent is the most responsible and toughest job. It needs constant
development and good physical and psychological state. And in your mind, what else should parents do to positively affect development of a child?
Reference
Aunola, K., Nurmi, J.,
Lerkkanen, M., & Rasku-Puttonen, H. (2003). The roles of achievement related
behaviors and parental beliefs in children’s mathematical performance. Education Psychology, 23 (4), 403-421.
Kagan, J. (1999). The role of parents in children’s psychological
development. Pediatrics, 104 (1), 164-167.
There is no doubt that the role of parents in the life of every child is irreplaceable and crucial in his or her development. However, not all parents can treat their disable child and their healthy children at the same way. It may be impossible because disabled child needs more attention and care. Maysoon Zayid’s parents did great job by not letting her to feel that she is different. However, we live in the society where the attitude toward disabled children is still like in soviet time. In soviet time disabled people were put in special institution for whole life. It rarely happened that child was left in his or her family. Unfortunately, we do not get rid of this attitude toward disabled children and people completely. Parents may feel shame that their child is disabled and keep him or her at home. Certainly, families get a support from Kazakhstani government, but sometimes it is not enough. We cannot make people to change their attitudes towards disabled people and children at once. It takes a lot of time and patience. Therefore, we should concentrate on the issue of the status of disabled people in Kazakhstan.
ReplyDeleteDear Gulnur,
ReplyDeletethis post was kind reminder for me to thank my parents one more time for care, love,wisdom and opportunities they gave me!
This is really true, parents play important role in children lives, especially if child is vulnerable. For this reason UNESCO and UNICEF organizations call parents to be more involved in educational process of their children and to treat them as ordinary kids (UNESCO, 2005; UNICEF, 2012).
References
UNESCO (2005). Guidelines for inclusion: ensuring access to education for all. France: Paris. United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. Retrieved from the www.unescodoc.unesco.org
UNICEF (2012). The right of children with disabilities to education. Switzerland: Geneva. UNICEF. Retrieved from the official cite www.inicef.org
I would definitely agree with you that parents' involvement in their childrens' development is vital. Also I consider that a child with special needs does not initially need physical assisstance, but he or she needs phychological support first. When I had job shadowing in one school with inclusive classrooms in Astana, I realized that children with SEN (special education needs) who are paid much attention by their parents are more successful in their academic life. I also agree with previous commenters that this is an issue which must be taken into consideration.
ReplyDelete