Farm Programs Helping Children with Learning Disabilities

Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Ashley Klann, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Side effects of the modern lifestyle are causing a “crisis” for many children, especially for children with learning and behavioral disabilities. According to Lisa Burris at Burris Farm, An overdose of technology, lack of critical thinking, and a complicated addition of diagnoses have caused negative consequences. Burris believes the answer lies in nature.

“We have a problem finding balance in our society and we want to fix our problems with one solution,” Burris said. She’s worried that children aren’t getting adequate time outside, causing detrimental effects to their critical thinking and development. She believes that getting children out of these cloistered environments, out into nature with animals will help them conqueror behavior issues and cope with disabilities.

The Crisis Facing Today’s Children

“One thing we’ve been talking a lot about is that people understand the symptoms of what I believe is a crisis we’re in,” Burris said. “People know that there are alarming rates of childhood obesity. They know there are diagnoses of ADHD and bipolar at alarming rates. They know that our environment needs to be protected, and they know that the average age of a farmer is 55. Those are the symptoms.”

“Turn Back Time” is a new program that will be launched at Burris Farm Saturday, May 19th to provide children and parents with a way to get a balance of nature and connection in today’s hectic world.

“The cause, I think, is that we’re not connecting children with the natural world, with their food, with farming. They don’t value it or know the benefits,” she said. “There have been studies that have proven that natural environments improve learning. For children who play in a closed space or blacktop, that area is less effective than being outside.”

Burris is united with many scholars who believe that our modern focus on technology and rigid, one-sided fixes – like medication – is harming children with disabilities and that giving them a natural remedy will do wonders. But this doesn’t mean Burris is anti-tech.

We Still Need Technology

“I believe that technology is very important. I don’t think we need to take it away, but our children need to gain critical skills and start outside,” she said. “We don’t need to put an iPad in front of a kindergartener. Then they’ll become the critically thinking young person they need to be, and then as high schoolers, let them use it.”

Burris has found ways of incorporating the good in both of these worlds and knows that the answer doesn’t lie in removing all technology from our lives.

I take my iPhone out to the farm,” she said with a laugh. “If I see there’s something no right with our chickens, I’m Googling what’s wrong with my chickens.” It’s not the technology, she says, but the environment.

“This cloistered environment is not what children need,” she said, citing Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. In a world where math and linguistics are at the forefront, a child may do very well in a structured, class environment, but there are other intelligences. “They have recently added nature as an intelligence. If children are not allowed to explore that, they may spend their whole life thinking there’s something wrong with them.”

What Children Aren’t Getting

Burris says that children who are missing this part of their lives and their way of thinking are not getting a crucial part of their ability to understand their environment.

“They’re missing out on coming in contact with the unpredictable. Nature is unpredictable. It teaches problem solving and competencies that are important in going forward in life,” she said “Nature – although it’s unpredictable and firm in its reactions to us, is non-judging. Animals respond to how we behave but they don’t judge.”

“So, a child who may struggle with difficult behaviors, an animal will tell them when they’re not where they need to be. A horse or goat will run away or get nervous, but they’re not placing judgment on them. The child can assess and think, ‘Ok, I need to calm down.’”

Introducing Another Solution

At their opening event this Saturday, Burris Farm will be introducing types of activities families can partake in. School groups, scout groups, or multiple families will be welcome. “Summer camp is going to be our main focus, then in the fall, we want to have individual group classes, so that preschool children can come a couple times a week – after school and weekend programs,” Burris said. The schedule will be out soon and families will be able to sign up online.

“I want every child to have an opportunity to have this experience,” she said. “This will be a place where you don’t have to worry about them being around a staff that doesn’t know how to handle them. It’s not a special needs camp, but it is a camp that can accommodate special needs.”

“We’re a brand new program,” she said. “Last year as we were beginning to create our program and lessons and things we were going to do, we did five test classes with friends and family. We had 12 kids come for these classes, and we needed their input.”

Burris shared a success story from their first bunch: “One of the positive experiences was a young boy who was having some struggles with some behaviors and was getting a lot of negative interaction from that,” she said. “He wasn’t super excited about coming, but he came with his arms crossed and came into the program kind of unhappy.” After their nature walk into the woods and a very positive experience with a salamander, Burris said that he returned willingly and excited every week since.

Enjoy this post? Share it with others.

Email to a friend Permalink