Letters 2 December 2010
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Letter of the Week
ATTACHMENT MATTERS
Julian Grenier (To the Point, 4 November) is right to counsel against making snap judgements about the security of a child's attachment to their family. However, I'm not so sure I agree with his comments about the importance of secure attachments in general and I don't accept his analogy of 'wanting all children to have a secure attachment is rather like wanting all adults to be six feet tall'. Speaking as a six-foot-tall woman, I know the disadvantages that height brings - and from an equalities perspective, I fail to see why 'tallness' is considered better than shortness and therefore something we would wish for all.
Good mental health, however, is something I would wish for myself and every future adult - and increasingly we are becoming more and more aware, through theoretical research confirmed by neuroscientific developments, that the security of our early attachments has a huge part to play in our future mental health.
To paraphrase Bruno Bettelheim, who suggested that parenting need not to be perfect but 'good enough', I believe that aiming for attachments that are 'secure enough' is what's important. Varying degrees of insecurity are inevitable, but 'good enough' attachments build the mental health and resilience that enable a child to cope with the stressful situations that life presents. They allow the brain to move from survival mode, to a rational mode when faced with a perceived threat - something that impacts dramatically on society, from 'road rage' to extreme anti-social behaviour, hate crime and terrorism. Research into prison populations and the general concerns over increased challenging behaviour among children and adolescents show that supporting secure attachments is important for society as a whole.
There are many factors that impact on the development of secure attachments in families, and rarely are these simply the fault of the parents, so assessment should never imply judgement. What we do know is that a strong network of secondary attachments are also important in making up for any shortfall in primary attachments. The relationships that family members, childminders, key persons, teachers and other professionals have with children are also vitally important.
Practitioners with a good understanding of attachment processes and their impact on the brain know that it's about so much more than just categorising degrees of attachment. In particular, it helps us to better understand and respond to children's behaviours, particularly where conventional behaviour strategies are failing. I don't think we have all the answers yet, but there is evidence enough, I believe, to show that we should not be dismissive about the significance of secure attachment. We need to keep fighting for increased awareness and understanding of this important process and how it impacts on all of us.
Anne O'Connor, Cushla Early Years Consultancy, Lancaster
Our letter of the week wins £30 worth of books
PROPS AND DYSLEXIA
I read with great interest about the work and research of Magda Gerber ('Free to choose', 26 August). What caught my interest in particular was the quote relating to children who are freed from being propped up in baby seats, who 'from being tiny, are hugely confident in terms of balance'.
I have been involved with childcare for the past 30 years as a teacher and nursery owner and in the delivery of childcare vocational courses in schools and through Apprenticeships.
I have a granddaughter who is very dyslexic. She not only found reading very difficult, but also things like riding a bicycle, and was put on a programme of exercises to improve her balance. Research says the cause of dyslexia is the underdevelopment of the part of the cerebellum related to balance.
I now wonder whether the use of props - high chairs, bouncy chairs and children's seats - actually increases the risk of dyslexia as the child is not encouraged to use his own muscles, especially those in his neck, to sit up.
I would be interested in readers' thoughts on this.
Yvonne Schofield, Heathercroft Training Services
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