Autism Genes Activate During Fetal Brain Development

Why Slowing Down Stimuli to Real Time Helps a Child's Brain

By Eric Westervelt, NPR via MindShift
 

Our "Tools of the Trade" series is taking a look at some of the iconic objects that form a vital part of our educational lives. For an upcoming piece, I'm reporting on how young children learn through that most basic of preschool education tools: simple wooden blocks.
 

Dr. Dimitri Christakis has done done extensive research on blocks and play and lectured on media and children. He is the Director of the Center for Child Health, Behavior and Development at Seattle Children's Research Institute. He's also a pediatrician at Seattle Children's Hospital and a professor of pediatrics at the University of Washington School of Medicine.

Infants are Hardwired to Link Images & Sounds as They Learn

[Source: Science Daily]
 

In a paper published in the journal Cortex, an international team of researchers in the UK and in Japan, including those at the University of Warwick, examined the electrical activities of the brain in 11 month-olds at the initial stages of word learning.
 

They used novel words ('kipi' or 'moma') to refer to pictures of a spiky or a rounded shape. They found the infants very quickly began to match the word to the image.
 

One of the authors, Dr Sotaro Kita from the University of Warwick said: "The oscillatory activity of the infant brainincreased when the word they heard matched the shape they were shown, compared to when it did not. This suggests that the infant brain spontaneously engages in matching visual and auditory input."

How Brain Waves Guide Memory Formation

[Source:  Science Daily]
 

Our brains generate a constant hum of activity: As neurons fire, they produce brain waves that oscillate at different frequencies. Long thought to be merely a byproduct of neuron activity, recent studies suggest that these waves may play a critical role in communication between different parts of the brain.

Growth Hormone Can Significantly Improve Social Skills in Autism

[Source:  Medical News Today]
 

A growth hormone can significantly improve the social impairment associated with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) in patients with a related genetic syndrome, according to a pilot study conducted at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and published on Pub Med, a public database of biomedical topics maintained by the National Institutes of Health (study originally published in the December 12 issue of the journal Molecular Autism).

Two New Studies Shed Light on Stuttering

[Source:  Medical Xpress]
 

Stuttering-a speech disorder in which sounds, syllables or words are repeated or prolonged-affects more than 70 million people worldwide. That's 1 percent of the global population. Four times as many men as women are afflicted with the disorder and, while the condition is not life-threatening, it is debilitating as it interferes with effective communication and erodes self-esteem and confidence.

Hot Jobs of the Week:  Sign Language Interpreters - Northern CA!  

We have several school clients in California who have asked PediaStaff to assist them in locating Sign Language Interpreters (ASL) for their schools.  These positions would be working with students in their classrooms.  Most are one-school locations.  These are full-time jobs working school hours...NO nights, weekends, or working holidays!
 

Qualifications: National certification by the Educational Interpreter Performance Assessment� (EIPA). Must reach proficiency level of 4.0 on the EIPA, ESSE or NAD/AACE Exam.

Pay for these positions will be between $61-69 an hour based on your level of relevant experience and other factors.  If you meet the qualifications for Per Diem, some portion of your pay will be non-taxed to assist in housing.  

Placement of the Week:  Maternity Leave School-Based SLP in Ohio

Congratulations to Denise M., on her new position to fill a 6-week maternity leave with a charter school client of PediaStaff's.   The therapist will service children kindergarten through 8th grade at two charter schools in close proximity to one another.
 

Thanks so much for helping out Denise!

Hot Job:  School Psychologist: Worthington, OH  

Fine Motor Activity of the Week:  Sorting & Matching Pom Poms  

[Source:  Stay at Home Educator.com]
 

Sorting and matching pom poms is an easy preschool measurement activity that requires very little set-up. In fact, it takes less than five minutes to prepare and is a fun way to introduce preschoolers to basic measurement.
 

Remember I said this activity is crazy fast to set up? Well, it certainly is. Grab some pom pomsof various sizes, (I used red and green since I offered this activity as a center around Christmas time) and coordinating markers and several sheets of printer paper. Eyeball the size of the pom poms and draw matching circles in size and color on the paper. 

Seasonal Book of the Week:  Green Shamrocks  

He plants them, waters them and then waits. One day, he discovers his pot of shamrocks has disappeared and he sets off to search for it.
 

He finds them just in time and is able to make his necklace. During his search he makes a friend who attends the parade with him.
 

Gather the children close so that they will all be able to see the pictures while you read. Remember to read with expression.

Pinboard of the Week: St. Patrick's Day Themed Therapy Activities  

Resource of Week: Toilet Training & Autism: Infographic for OTs 

This s a great resource that AOTA just put on their website!

[Source:  AOTA]