Since March 7, 2022, IGNIS Community has been training South Korean parents in how to apply the Neuro-Developmental Approach for their children at home. Two cohorts of Korean mothers raising children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), Down Syndrome, and other developmental disabilities have received training in sensory processing activities and neurodevelopmental exercises to encourage and empower them to personally address their own child’s special needs. In addition, each child benefiting from the program has been monitored for his or her progress over the span of these past several months.

But progress for a child with a developmental disability can be slow and difficult. The greater the disability, the longer the journey is towards wholeness. The older the individual is the more stimulation required to restore neurological connections.

However, despite the enormous amount of effort and perseverance required to help restore function for a child with a disability, mothers in the program are seeing significant improvements. Those who diligently implement the Neuro-Developmental Approach with their children at home are witnessing incredible results.

Many of the children are behaviorally improving. Some are able to sit for longer periods of time, are distracted less, and are learning how tune in to their own bodies. Children’s aggressive behaviors and hyperactivity have reduced.

One mother testified that after four months of training her child’s hearing and comprehension has significantly improved. Her child is now able to communicate emotions that were not previously expressed. Improved comprehension and communication skills likewise directly reduced the intensity and frequency of her child’s irritability. Through this program, children like this one who were never before able to carry on intelligible conversations are now engaging in two-way communication.

However, this kind of progress is only possible with consistency. Only when the prescribed activities are implemented on a daily, consistent basis is progress made. Contrast these changes with mothers who did not diligently implement neurodevelopmental exercises, and the result are drastically different. Because of unique circumstances, a few mothers were unable to follow through with the training. They did not implement the activities on a daily basis, and as a result, they did not observe the same kind of improvements in their children.

We all know the saying that, “Anything worth doing is worth doing well.” This is not only true for mothers caring for children with disabilities but also evident in other spheres of influence. Any kind of effort impacting change will require perseverance, patience, and hard work.

Similarly, obtaining peace on the Korean Peninsula is proving to be extremely difficult. On October 18, North Korea fired around 250 rounds of artillery into the inter-Korean buffer zone. North Korea stated that the artillery fire was a “warning” against South Korean military drills that began the day before on Monday.

These kinds of military warnings are common place on the Korean Peninsula. In fact, they are to be expected. Every time military drills are executed on one side of the border; the opposing side will respond with military exercises of equal magnitude. In this way, military posturing has become an annual event in both Koreas.  

Intimidation by military strength only serves to further aggravate tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Even when certain steps for peace help move the situation forward positively, inevitable military posturing hinders any further progress towards peace.

If peace is the objective, then dialogue and diplomacy have to be the priority. Engaging in dialogue once every several years will not suffice. Depending upon large breakthroughs such as presidential summits is also not the answer. Only consistent diplomatic efforts will prove fruitful, even if the process is long and difficult.

We have to be committed to peace if we want to see it happen. Most people agree that peace is a beautiful thing. But making peace not so much. Just like helping a child reach his or her full potential, achieving peace will require unrelenting effort and daily, patient perseverance.