February 5, 2016
Issue 5, Volume 9
It's All About the Choices!     
          
Greetings and Happy Friday!

Please enjoy our weekly newsletter offering!
 
News Items:
  • Obesity, Diabetes in Mom Increases Risk of Autism in Child
  • Lego, In A First, Will Unveil A Minifigure In A Wheelchair
  • ADHD Drugs May Actually Reduce Suicide Risk
  • Easily Stressed Teens Have Increased Hypertension Risk Later in Life
  • Meltdown Leads To Felony Charge For Teen On The Spectrum
  • Helicopter Parenting Can Hinder Child Development
Hot Jobs 
  • Placement of the Week! Yes, We Place Part-Time and PRN!
  • Placement of the Week: Early Intervention PTA, Las Cruces, NM 
  • Hot Job: Contract School COTA Position - Euclid, OH
Therapy Activities, Tips and Resources
  • Seasonal Resource: 90+ Winter Themed Activities
  • Gross Motor of the Week: 10 Jumping Activities Sure to Wear Out the Kids
  • SLP Activity of the Week: Foam Trucks for Pre-Schoolers!
Articles and Special Features 
  • Autism Corner: Autism and Drooling: Why so Common? What Helps?
  • OT Corner: Occupational Therapy Evals in the School - How Do They Work?
  • SLP Corner: The Best of SLP Bloggers
  • School Nurse's Corner: What's a Good Breakfast for Kids? 
  • School Psych Corner: Take Me to NASP - a Video!
Feel free to contact us with any questions about our openings or items in these pages. Have you discovered our RSS feed? Click on the orange button below to subscribe to all our openings and have them delivered to your Feed Reader!  Don't have an RSS Feed Reader set up? Sign up at Blogtrottr and have our blog posts delivered right to your email.

Have a great weekend and Take Care!

Heidi Kay and the PediaStaff Team





The Career Center

The links to the right are "live" and reflect the most recent SLP, OT, PT and related assistant jobs, and ALL our Bilingual and School Psychology Jobs. 
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Recent Occupational Therapist and COTA Jobs 

Obesity, Diabetes in Mom Increases Risk of Autism in Child
[Source:  Science Daily]

Children born to obese women with diabetes are more than four times as likely to be diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder than children of healthy weight mothers without diabetes, new Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health research suggests.
 
The findings, to be published Jan. 29 in the journal Pediatrics, highlight what has become a leading theory about autism, that the risk likely develops before the child is even born.

Read the Rest of This Article Through a Link on our Blog
Lego, In A First, Will Unveil A Minifigure In A Wheel
[Source: NPR]

This summer, Lego will release its first-ever minifigure that uses a wheelchair, the company says, confirming reports that emerged after one of the toys was seen at a toy fair. In recent years, the company has been urged to show more diversity in its offerings.

Read the Rest of This Article Through a Link on our Blog
ADHD Drugs May Actually Reduce Suicide Risk
[Source:  Psych Central]
 
Although recent attention has focused on intentional or unintentional overdoses of ADHD medications, new research suggests the benefits of the drugs, including suicide reductions, are often overlooked.
Black-box warnings about the dangers of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) medications are confusing and could have serious consequences for the risk of youth suicide, explain researchers at the Institut universitaire en santé mentale de Montréal (CIUSSS de l'Est-de-l'Île-de-Montréal) and the University of Montreal.

Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog
Easily Stressed Teens Have Increased Hypertension Risk Later in Life
[Source: Medical News Today]

High blood pressure is a large and growing problem in the US. A new study that followed 1.5 million teens through to adulthood investigates the role of early psychological parameters on the likelihood of developing hypertension.
 
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is both common and dangerous.
 
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimate that 1 in 3 American adults have high blood pressure, equating to around 70 million people.

Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog
Meltdown Leads To Felony Charge For Teen On The Spectrum 
[Source:  Disability Scoop]
 
Steve and Susan Gordo have known the struggles of raising a child with autism, the progress and setbacks, and the haggling with local schools over education plans.
 
Now, their 18-year-old son Paul is awaiting trial on a felony assault charge stemming from an incident at a library near Monterey, Calif. last July that the parents say criminalizes the disorder.
 
"You can't prosecute someone for behavior that is a direct result of their disability," Steve Gordo said.

 Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog
Helicopter Parenting Can Hinder Child Development
[Source: Psych Daily]

New research suggests overparenting, known as helicopter parenting, may hinder a child's development. Investigators found this can occur when parents become too obsessed with homework, particularly in middle school and high school.

Investigators from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) followed 866 parents from three Brisbane Catholic/independent schools.

They found those who endorse overparenting beliefs tend to take more responsibility for their child doing their homework and also expect their child's teachers to take more responsibility for it.

Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog
Placement of the Week:   Yes, We Place Part-Time and PRN!  
YES!  PediaStaff places people part-time and PRN too!
 
Congratulations to Leslie U, OTR/L in Chicagoland!   Leslie will be working four hours per week at two of PediaStaff's charter school clients.
 
Nice job, Leslie!  Always nice to have a few extra hours!
Placement of the Week:   Early Intervention PTA, Las Cruces, NM
YES!  PediaStaff places people part-time and PRN too!
 
Congratulations to Leslie U, OTR/L in Chicagoland!   Leslie will be working four hours per week at two of PediaStaff's charter school clients.
 
Nice job, Leslie!  Always nice to have a few extra hours!
We have a wonderful second semester school job opportunity for a Certified Occupational Therapy Assistant through May in the Euclid area. This position is 6.5 hours per day working with students K-12th grade. The COTA will assist the Occupational Therapist at multiple school sites in close proximity to one another.

Qualifications: Must hold an Associates Degree in Occupational Therapy; a current state license (or eligible) if applicable. Must hold an Ohio COTA license.

Learn About / Apply for This Job on our Blog
Seasonal Resource: Winter Themed Activities 
[Source: Inner Child Fun]

Need some ideas for what to do with the kids during Winter? These books, crafts, and activities are perfect for celebrating snow whether you are stuck inside during a blizzard, outdoors playing in the snow, or wishing you had snow, you will find lots ideas to inspire plenty of Winter-themed creative play fun! In case of a snow emergency, you'll want to pin this post as your ultimate resource for snow day fun for all ages!

Check out this Fantastic Collection of Books and Activities Through a Link on our Blog
[Source:  Hands on As We Grow]

Is jumping allowed in your house? We love to jump and jumping activities are a sure fire way to wear out my kids when they need it (err, when I need it...).

These are 10 quick and easy to do activities that get the kids jumping around! Its a fantastic gross motor skill that kids need to learn too!

And if jumping isn't allowed in your house, sometimes rules need to be broken in order to just let kids be kids.

My kids learned to jump anywhere from 18 months to 3 years old. I think my youngest learned quicker than the other older two since he had quite a bit of daily motivation.

Read About this Great Jumping Activities Through our Blog
SLP Activity of the Week:  Foam Trucks for Pre-Schoolers!
[Source:  Crazy Speech World]
If there is one thing I know about my PKs, it's that they love trucks.  Sometimes, Ms. Alcorn gets tired of making the car noise and running all over the room.  Sometimes.  For those days, I found  this pin and I was like...um, helllllloooooo.  I need this in my life.  Just so happens that the previous SLP left me a big package of primary colored foam.  It was meant to be.  If you don't have a foam stash, you could definitely do this with felt or even card stock!

Learn More Though a Link on our Blog 
Autism Corner: Autism and Drooling: Why so Common? What Helps?
[Source:  Autism Speaks]

Our 3-year-old was recently diagnosed with autism. He has made progress and is now talking, requesting and labeling. But he drools all the time, and we have to wipe his face constantly. How can we help him not drool?

Today's "Got Questions?" answer is by behavior analyst Kara Reagon, Autism Speaks associate director for dissemination science.

We all start out drooling. But constant drooling beyond 24 months suggests a developmental delay. Flickr photo by Christopher LanceEverybody drools - at least to start. Typically developing infants start to gain control of their swallowing and mouth muscles between 18 and 24 months of age. But it's common for children with developmental disorders to drool excessively and for longer than is typical with other children. This includes children with autism, many of whom have delays and difficulties with muscle control and sensitivity.


OT Corner: OT Evals in the School - How Do They Work?
[Source:  Go-To-For-OT]
 
by Marie Toole, MS, OTR/L
 
Last month I wrote about the special education process and what you as a parent could expect. There was lots of information about timelines, permissions, and the kinds of evaluations that may occur. This month I want to tackle the occupational therapy evaluation in particular.  When I evaluate a student, I am looking at him through the eyes of a school-based pediatric occupational therapist (OT).  Let's just clarify what a school-based OT can and will need to do to fully explore all options to best plan for your child's educational needs.


SLP Corner:  The Best of SLP Bloggers
Editor's Note:    PediaStaff is very honored to have been included in this fantastic resource! Enjoy!

The amount of information being offered on SLP blogs each week is astounding and rather overwhelming.  Wondering how you can make better sense of it and find what you really need?  Check this out!

Over 70 SLP bloggers have compiled an ebook of blog resources.  Each blog's page offers a sample of their writing as well as clickable links to the post and/or blog's homepage.  All of these blogs are established (at least six posts within the past six months) and do not focus strictly on promotional materials.

Read the Rest of This Article and Download the e-Book Through a Link on our Blog 

School Nurse's Corner: What's a Good Breakfast for Kids?
[Source:  Medical News Today]

A team of researchers, led by Tanja Kral, PhD, Associate Professor in the Department of Biobehavioral Health Sciences at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing, concluded that a breakfast high in protein - like eggs - keeps children fuller longer than cereal or oatmeal, causing them to eat fewer calories at lunch. The study, recently published in Eating Behaviors, also concludes that the effects of a protein-rich meal don't last throughout the day. It only impacts a mid-day meal.

The study recruited forty, 8- to 10-year-old children to consume one of three, 350-calorie breakfasts (eggs, oatmeal, or cereal), then played games with research staff and then ate lunch, once a week for three consecutive weeks. On each occasion, every participant had to eat their entire breakfast, but could eat as much or as little lunch as desired. 
School Psych Corner: Take Me to NASP - a Video!
]Source: NASP]

"Take Me to N.A.S.P." highlights the importance of school psychologists continuously developing their professional skill set and being available and supportive for students in need. It is a parody of Hozier's "Take me to Church." Big thanks to Anton Robert Berzins and Sara Fae Douglas, who helped co-author and participate in the video!

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