Category: Early Childhood Development

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Parenting During Pandemic: How to Address Adolescent’s Fears and Keep Their Healthy Routines

Posted on by Ahmad Amirali

Parenting During Pandemic: How to Address Adolescent’s Fears and Keep Their Healthy Routines

In South Asian countries like India and Pakistan, it has been three months since our lives and activities have become limited to our home only. Like everybody else, teenagers have also become the victim of this pandemic, and it brings them a set of newfound fears at an age when young people tend to feel invincible. Schools and colleges have been shut down with no favourable chances of reopening them soon. Many of my students are connected to me as well as parents; they usually share their concerns and hopes just to make sure things will going to be normal soon – which I also hope and pray. However, talking with them makes me think that students, especially teens, are at a significant transition period in their lives, and parents should consider this transition seriously. During this crucial period in their development, teens often are suddenly faced with processing a range of intense emotions, from fear and anger to sadness and grief. Continue reading “Parenting During Pandemic: How to Address Adolescent’s Fears and Keep Their Healthy Routines” →

Dealing with Parent-Child Trust and Control Issues

Posted on by Ahmad Amirali

Dealing with Parent-Child Trust and Control Issues
By Ahmad Amirali

These days I am attending a residential ten-day adolescent and youth training program where selected educators around the country meet and gathered in one platform. Yesterday, while discussing youth-related issues with one of the educators over dinner, a topic arose that why youth no longer trust their parents nowadays? After a while, we went for dinner but this brought a series of questions in my mind. Being a secondary educator, parents usually come and share their concerns about their child’s behaviour and ask for suggestions. And I remember that sometimes, parents simply said ‘My child doesn’t trust me’ or ‘I think my boy is having trust issues with me’. Although I discuss in my previous article Why Do Teens Shut Themselves Away from Their Family and Friends? that such short-term behaviour in adolescents is common, and it usually happened when adults unable to keep their promises with their child. However, what if their short-term behaviour would become their life-long habit? What if the reason behind this untrusted behaviour is far more different than simply broken promises? Continue reading “Dealing with Parent-Child Trust and Control Issues” →

How Do We see Autistic People in Our Daily Lives?

Posted on by Ahmad Amirali

How Do We see Autistic People in Our Daily Lives?
By Ahmad Amirali

Sunday is the day of relaxation for many people, including myself. So, I had nothing to do except surfing the internet this Sunday, and there I found a topic for this article. I was surfing randomly on websites where I found an interesting article on Autism. It was full of information and recent researches, and I found it fascinating. But after reading it, a random thought struck my mind, and I wrote ‘Autistic people’ in the google search panel. In Images, the very first picture I saw was Donald Trump (I laughed out loud). However, the very thing that made me question people awareness about this disease was the picture of a devil or a demon, and then I just scrolled down and found funny pictures about autism and autistic people. This made me wonder How we see Autism and Autistic children in our daily lives?

Generally, people tend to establish an opinion about autism with really specific ‘check-box’ descriptions. For example, autistic people are nonverbal, autistic people always like Math and science and nothing else, autistic people do not feel emotions, or they don’t know how to reciprocate empathy or love. However, the real picture is far more different than these ‘STEREOTYPICAL MYTHS’. I know many kids with autism who love being creative like drawing and painting (I mean serious painting), poetry, pottery etc. Long story short, many autistic people consider autism as an ability rather than a disability. Continue reading “How Do We see Autistic People in Our Daily Lives?” →

Do Our Positive Words Negatively Affect Students?

Posted on by Ahmad Amirali

Do Our Positive Words Negatively Affect Students?
By Ahmad Amirali

This morning, while working on my lesson plans, I reviewed an article on Power of Words that mentions the importance of using positive and encouraging language and its impacts on adolescent’s mental and personality development. I still remember, my mum used to say ‘Go on, champ!’ or ‘don’t worry! You’re a smart kid’. Similarly, my teacher used to cheer me and encourage me by using similar kind of words. Our words play an essential role in the cognitive development of our student more than anything else. One line of appreciation, one word of praise during the class, even the word ‘excellent’ meant a lot to a student who finished presenting his/her project. We all know the power of positive and affirming words, and I agree with the article. Still, the question that is puzzling my mind since this morning can positive words have a damaging effect on student development? Continue reading “Do Our Positive Words Negatively Affect Students?” →

How Traumatic Childhood Affects Adulthood?

Posted on by Ahmad Amirali

Today, I met one of my childhood friends after a long time, and we cherished our childhood memories. However, not all childhood memories brought happy feelings or a moment of delight. For some, reminiscing childhood brought nothing but tears and traumatic experiences. A similar kind of childhood experience was shared by one of my students, aged 19, three weeks back when I was conducting educational camps in the central regions of Pakistan. Firstly, it is essential to know how childhood abuse impacted the adulthood of the abused one. A child can be manipulated either physically, sexually or mentally neglected by parents or known relative. A child who suffers from abuse or neglect, feel wounded and deprived. If these wounds do not heal on time, they constantly deteriorate the child’s subsequent relationships. Continue reading “How Traumatic Childhood Affects Adulthood?” →