Caring for a child with severe developmental disabilities can be mentally, emotionally, and at times physically stressful for many parents. A recent study from Vanderbilt University found that just six weeks of training in simple techniques led to significant reductions in stress, depression and anxiety for these parents.
ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post with Answer Key
Nicholas Pinter’s autism and bipolar disorder pose challenges for his parents. His father, Mike, right, learned mindfulness methods to help reduce his stress. Credit Pinter family NYT
Excerpt: When the caregivers need Healing By Catherine Saint Louis The New York Times
“This has happened before,she tells herself. It’s nowhere near as bad as before, and it will pass.
Robbie Pinter’s 21-year-old son, Nicholas, is upset again. He yells. He obsesses about something that can’t be changed. Even good news may throw him off. So Dr. Pinter breathes deeply, as she was taught, focusing on each intake and release. She talks herself through the crisis, reminding herself that this is how Nicholas copes with his autism and bipolar disorder. With these simple techniques, Dr. Pinter… blunts the stress of parenting a child with severe developmental disabilities.
Parents of children with disabilities have more stress than other parents.
All parents endure stress, but studies show that parents of children with developmental disabilities, like autism, experience depression and anxiety far more often. Struggling to obtain crucial support services, the financial strain of paying for various therapies, the relentless worry over everything from wandering to the future — all of it can be overwhelming. The toll stress-wise is just enormous, and we know that we don’t do a really great job of helping parents cope with it, said Dr. Fred R. Volkmar, the director of Child Study Center at Yale University School of Medicine.
Parents can get overwhelmed. Photo- SRxA
But a study published last week in the journal Pediatrics offers hope. It found that just six weeks of training in simple techniques led to significant reductions in stress, depression and anxiety among these parents. Part of what makes the experiment innovative is that it was targeted to adults, not their children, and it was not focused on sharpening parenting skills. Instead, parents learned ways to tackle their distress as problems arise. The idea is to stop wasting energy resisting the way life is.” Read more.
ESL Voices Lesson Plan for this post
Level: Intermediate – Advanced
Language Skills: Reading, writing, and speaking. Vocabulary and grammar activities are included.
Time: Approximately 2 hours.
Materials: Student handouts (from this lesson) access to news article.
Objective: Students will read and discuss the article with a focus on improving their reading comprehension skills. They will also learn new vocabulary. At the end of the lesson students will express their personal views on the topic through group work and writing.
I. Pre-Reading Activities
The K-W-L Chart is used to activate students’ background knowledge of a topic in order to enhance their comprehension skills.
Directions: Have students use the KWL chart to list the information they already know about Autism, and what they would like to learn about this topic. Later in the Post- Reading segment of the lesson, students can fill in what they’ve learned about the topic.
New K-W-L Chart from Read Write Think
II. While Reading Activities
Word Inference
Directions: Students are to infer the meanings of the words in bold taken from the article. They may use a dictionary, thesaurus, and Word Chart for assistance.
- He obsesses about something that can’t be changed.
- She talks herself through the crisis.
- Dr. Pinter blunts the stress with these techniques.
- All parents endure stress.
- Researchers randomly assigned 243 mothers.
- One group received instructions on curbing negative thoughts.
- An assignment in group might entail taking daily notes.
- What makes the experiment innovative is that it was for adults.
- Learning to quell distress and anxiety is especially important.
- Around 41 percent of parents reported anxiety disorders.
Vocabulary Chart by Freeology.
Reading Comprehension
True /False/NA-Statements
Directions: Review the following statements from the reading. If a statement is true they mark it T. If the statement is not applicable, they mark it NA. If the statement is false they mark it F and provide the correct answer.
- Nicholas is the author of the article.
- According to Dr. Pinter Nicholas yells to show happiness.
- Dr. Pinter teaches English at Belmont University in Nashville.
- Dr. Pinter said she descends from a long line of teachers.
- The study also focused on medicine for parents.
- Dr. Fred R. Volkmar is the director of Child Study Center at Yale University School of Medicine.
- The program to help parents takes 2 weeks of training.
- During the program the parents were assigned homework.
- The experiment targeted both children and adults.
- One of the ideas parents are taught is to stop wasting energy resisting the way life is.
Grammar Focus
Structure and Usage
Directions: The following groups of sentences are from the article. One of the sentences in each group contains a grammatical error. Students are to identify the sentence (1, 2, or 3 ) from each group that contains the grammatical error.
I
- Dr. Pinter breath deeply, as she was taught.
- All parents endure stress.
- parents of children with disabilities experience more anxiety.
II
- The toll stress-wise is just enormous.
- Having an child that has a disability is all-encompassing.
- Researchers randomly assigned 243 mothers.
III
- Stress-reduction groups like these could be a cost-effective way.
- Learning to quell distress and anxiety is important of parents.
- Mrs. Shouse had to learn how to redirect anxiety.
III. Post Reading Tasks
Reading Comprehension Check
WH-How Questions
Directions: Have students use the WH-question format to discuss or to write the main points from the article.
Who or What is the article about?
Where does the action/event take place?
When does the action/event take place?
Why did the action/event occur?
How did the action/event occur?
Discussion/Writing Exercise
Directions: Place students in groups and have them answer the following questions. Afterwards, have the groups share their thoughts as a class. To reinforce the ideas, students can write an essay on one of the following discussion topics.
1. Rephrase the following 3 statements from the article in your own words:
“All parents endure stress, but studies show that parents of children with developmental disabilities, like autism, experience depression and anxiety far more often. Struggling to obtain crucial support services, the financial strain of paying for various therapies, the relentless worry over everything from wandering to the future — all of it can be overwhelming.”
“The parents were assigned some unlikely homework: In the mindfulness group, for instance, they were told to bring a moment-to-moment awareness to a daily activity like chopping vegetables. An assignment in the positive development group might entail taking a “guilt inventory” to assess if your guilt is healthy or counterproductive.”
“Part of what makes the experiment innovative is that it was targeted to adults, not their children, and it was not focused on sharpening parenting skills. Instead, parents learned ways to tackle their distress as problems arise. The idea is to stop wasting energy resisting the way life is.”
2. Do you or anyone you know care for a child with disabilities? If yes, what are some of the challenges for the caregiver?