English teacher Barbara Bednarz taught every type of student in her 30 years with Chicago public schools – from a disruptive boy who was always tardy to a wild girl with a lengthy police record.
Always searching for a way to help, Bednarz said she discovered a “simple but profound” method in a group of exercises called Brain Gym. The exercises stimulate the three different parts of the brain – the limbic system, brain stem and especially the cerebral cortex, or the “thinking brain.” With the cerebral cortex working smoothly, a person is better able to control stress and emotional outbursts.
Bednarz, now a certified Brain Gym instructor, shared her experience with 150 Evanston residents at the second annual Power of the Brain Conference on Saturday morning. Several Evanston organizations sponsored the conference, including Metropolitan Family Services Community Board and the Evanston Mental Health Board. Parents and teachers filled the second floor of the Evanston Civic Center, 2100 Ridge Ave., from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. for the conference.
The crowd attended workshops designed to examine the brain and brain disorders. The workshops focused on infants, toddlers and preschoolers. They included topics such as “When Things Go Wrong,” “How Reading Aloud Influences Cognition” and “Introduction to Brain Gym.”
Keynote speaker Dr. Linda Gilkerson explained how parents shape children. A mother and her child are so emotionally connected that their heartbeats often are in tandem, she said.
“I don’t think we realize what we’re doing when we’re with our children,” Gilkerson told the audience. “When we are in tune to a child, he experiences himself as good. It is a powerful connection.”
Gilkerson is an infant specialist at the Erikson Institute, a Chicago graduate school in child development. She developed the Fussy Baby Program to help parents deal with particularly cranky babies. Specialists meet with first-year parents in their homes to discover ways to calm and soothe babies.
“That was a challenging time in my life,” Gilkerson said of raising her first son. “Like a lot of new mothers, I felt vulnerable. I thought this is my field of study, and I should know what to do.”
Parents need to soothe their children when they’re stressed and amplify their emotions when they’re happy, she said. When children don’t have this attention they have trouble sleeping, eating and behaving properly. Some children may be expelled from kindergarten.
Metropolitan Family Services clinician Dr. Andrea Bacon presented information concerning bipolarity and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in “When Things Go Wrong.” About 7 percent of school age children suffer from the disorder, she told the audience.
“I’m hoping people understand that mental disorders are not totally genetic,” she said. “They need to know and understand what factors contribute to them and that having a disorder is not a shameful process.”
Bednarz taught visitors Brain Gym techniques, showing them how to massage the ears and face gently to reduce stress.
“The freshmen took to it with a passion,” Bednarz said. “It was phenomenal.”
Sheri Alber visited the conference to brush up on techniques she could use to help her students. She taught children at Byrd Community Academy in the Cabrini-Green district before it closed. Her students demonstrated behavioral problems similar to those Bednarz witnessed.
“In Cabrini-Green, a lot of the children came to school behind academically, and I wanted to know what I could do to help them catch up,” Alber said.
Alber discovered Brain Gym at another workshop and introduced it to her students. One student had difficulties concentrating, but after crawling around on the floor as part of the exercise, he was much more focused.
“It was fascinating,” she said.
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