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Showing posts from August, 2016

What is it like to have dyspraxia?

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  What is dyspraxia? In this article, we are not just going to describe dyspraxia to you but also try to get you to imagine what it is like to be dyspraxic. We would just like to point out that everyone with dyspraxia is, of course, unique so please don’t assume that every single person will experience every single difficulty! Firstly, we will start off with the basics. For all of us to perform any task, our brain will send our body signals telling it what to do. For most people, these signals are transmitted succesfully. However, for someone who is dyspraxic these signals get muddled along the way – you could even picture them as tangled wires. This can affect us in a variety of ways, from physical difficulties to social difficulties. Physical difficulties are, in our opinion, the most understood aspect of dyspraxia (and even then the understanding isn’t great!) Imagine you’re on a walk and you start walking down a hill. For the majority of people, their brains will send the

To Baby Talk or Not?

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The term “Baby Talk” first appeared in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1836, so it has been around for a long time.  It is probably something your parent’s did with you and their parent’s did with them; thus, making it hard to stop the pattern.  Plus, it is also common to see parents and caregivers talking to their little ones in this way on TV shows and movies. Some people seem to be familiar with the term “Motherese” while others have never heard of it.  However, it simply means “baby talk”.  Motherese brings with it the idea that it is something that only mothers do.   Whereas  baby talk is more gender neutral.   In our politically correct society many now prefer the term “Parentese” to “Motherese”.  Most child development experts use the term “child-directed speech” or “infant-directed speech”.  Definition of Baby Talk/ Motherese Exactly what is motherese/parentese/baby talk? As mentioned above, most people define motherese in pretty much the same way as they would define baby t