July 11, 2014
Issue 28, Volume 7
It's All About the Choices!     
          
Greetings and Happy Friday!

Here is our weekly newsletter offering!  Have a great weekend!
 
News Items:
  • New York Cyberbullying Law Violates Free Speech, Top Court Rules
  • Why States are Backing off Common Core
  • Gross Motor Deficits and Fetal Alcohol Exposure
  • A Dominant Hemisphere for Handedness & Language?
  • Genetic Link to Autism Found, Known as CHD8 Mutation
  • On the Punny Side: SLP Humor 
PediaStaff News
  • PediaStaff Placement of the Week: Part Time SLP in Washington State
  • PediaStaff Hot Job of the Week: Early Intervention OT - St. Helens, OR
Therapy Activities, Tips and Resources
  • OT Activity of the Week: Building Blocks as Therapy Tools
  • Autism Resource of the Week: Over 50 Free, Fantastic Visual Supports
  • Interdisciplinary Therapy Activity of the Week: Beaded Dragonfly & Lightning Bug Craft
  • Pinterest Pin of the Week: PVC and Connectors

Articles and Special Features 

  • OT Corner: Solutions for the Struggles of Left-Handed Writers
  • Physical Therapy Corner:  When Kids Grow Up
  • SLP Corner: Just Open More SLP Programs, OK?
  • Worth Repeating: Helping Asperger's and HFA Teens Deal with Their Disorder
  • Also Worth Repeating: Why So Many Kids Can't Sit Still in School Today
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

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Recent Occupational Therapist and COTA Jobs 

School Psychologist Jobs 

Cyberbullying Law Violates Free Speech, Top Court Rules

[Source: Huffington Post]
 

New York's highest court said on Tuesday that a law designed to criminalize cyberbullying was so broad that it violated the First Amendment, marking the first time a U.S. court weighed the constitutionality of such a law.

The 2011 Albany County law banned electronic communication intended to "harass, annoy, threaten...or otherwise inflict significant emotional harm on another person." 

The law was challenged on First Amendment grounds by Marquan Mackey-Meggs, who at age 15 in 2011 pleaded guilty under the law to creating a Facebook page that included graphic sexual comments

 

Read the Rest of This Article Through a Link on our Blog

Why More States are Backing off Common Core

[Source:  PBS News Hour]

 

JUDY WOODRUFF: Now that we're into July, most students and teachers in the U.S. are enjoying their summer vacation from the classroom. But that hasn't stopped the red-hot debate over the so called Common Core public education standards for K-12 and new tests that go along with them.

The battle is picking up momentum on several fronts, as Jeffrey Brown reports.  

 

JEFFREY BROWN: One major battleground, a growing list of states that are dropping the Common Core standards. Indiana, Oklahoma and South Carolina have done so. Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal has issued an order for his state to join them.

 

Read the Rest of This Article Through a Link on our Blog

Gross Motor Deficits and Fetal Alcohol Exposure  

[Source:  Pediatrics via Your Therapy Source]

 

Pediatrics published research a systemic review of 2881 articles consisting of observational studies including children aged 0 to ≤18 years with (1) a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) diagnosis or moderate to heavy prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE), or a mother with confirmed alcohol dependency or binge drinking during pregnancy, and (2) gross motor outcomes obtained by using a standardized assessment tool. Only 14 of the studies met the systemic review inclusion criteria. The subjects' mean age ranged from 3 days to 13 years.

 

Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog

A Dominant Hemisphere for Handedness & Language 

[Source:  Science Daily]

 

Through an innovative approach using a large psychometric and brain imaging database, researchers in the Groupe d'Imagerie Neurofonctionnelle (CNRS/CEA/Universit� de Bordeaux) have demonstrated that the location of language areas in the brain is independent of left- or right-handedness, except for a very small proportion of left-handed individuals whose right hemisphere is dominant for both manual work and language. This work was published in PLOS One on June 30, 2014. 

 

 Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog

Genetic Link to Autism Found, Known as CHD8 Mutation 

[Source:  Science Daily]

 

In a collaboration involving 13 institutions around the world, researchers have broken new ground in understanding what causes autism. The results are being published in Cell magazine July 3, 2014: "Disruptive CHD8 Mutations Define a Subtype of Autism in Early Development."  

 

"We finally got a clear cut case of an autism specific gene," said Raphael Bernier, the lead author, and UW associate professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the clinical director of the Autism Center at Seattle Children's.

 

Bernier said people with a mutation in the CHD8 gene have a very "strong likelihood" that they will have autism marked by gastrointestinal disorders, a larger head and wide set eyes.

 

Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog

On the Punny Side:  SLP Humor    

Editor's Note:  Thank You to Ann Kulichik on the SLPeeps Facebook Group for sharing this groaner!

 

[Source:  Scott Hillburn via Grammarly on Facebook]

 

Look at this Cartoon on our Blog

Therapy Placement of the Week:  Part-Time SLP in Washington  

Congratulations to Gena H., CCC-SLP on her rehire with one of PediaStaff's school-based clients in Washington State.

 

Gena will be working there one day per week. It doesn't seem like a lot, but it is the perfect solution for both our district and the therapist!

 

Talk to PediaStaff today about how we might find you the part-time solution that you've been looking for.

Hot Job of the Week:  Early Intervention OT - St. Helens, OR  

We are searching for an Occupational Therapist to provide Early Intervention/Early Childhood services throughout Columbia County, Oregon.  The position is part time, approximately 24 hours/week.  Scheduling is flexible. Prior experience in home based settings is preferred.  This is a contract assignment that begins late summer, and ends in May/June, 2015.

 

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

 

Learn About / Apply for This Job on our Blog

OT Activity of the Week:  Building Blocks as Therapy Tools  

[Source:  Pediatric Occupational Therapy Tips] 

 

Are you looking for inexpensive items to include in your therapy "bag of goodies?"  Are you a parent that is tired of spending the BIG bucks on therapy equipment and supplies for your child? Well, if you have $20.00 to spend, I have a recommendation for you!  This 100-piece wooden block set is available on Amazon for $18.95, and it is one of my favorite therapy "tools."

 

Read the Rest of this Post our Blog

Autism Resource of Week: 50+ Free, Fantastic Visual Supports  

Special Thanks to our friends at the Success Box who we know on Linked In for this recommendation!  

 

[Source: Success Box]

 

I work with some of the most passionate people I have ever met, as a special education teacher and as an ABA therapist. Their dedication to supporting students with special needs and their families just amazes me!

 

That's why I'm always looking for great visuals to pass on to my colleagues and parents. Recently, I came across a website that has over 50 charts, schedules, activity cards, communication and behavioral cue 

 

Download these Through a Link on our Blog

OT/SLP Activity of the Week:  Beaded Dragonfly & Lightning Bugs  

How adorable is this??  Thank You to I Heart Crafty Things for this fantastic summery, insect-themed idea that combines fine motor practice with a 'reward-for-correct-utterance' activity!     I would combine it with a reading of Sam and the Firefly - one my all time favorite books!

 

Learn More About this Activity Through our Blog

Pinterest Pin of the Week:  PVC and Connectors  

[Source:  Brick by Brick]

 

Yesterday I posted about using kitchen utensils in the blocks center. Today on the collaborative blog, PreK and K Sharing, I posted ideas of other unusual things we've used in the blocks center.    

What other great ideas are possible for PVC pipes and connectors?

 

Check out this Fun Idea on our Blog

OT Corner: Solutions for the Struggles of Left-Handed Writers

by Katherine J. Collmer  M.Ed, OTR/L

Left-handed writers can be a menacing force in the classroom when it comes to handwriting instruction!  Their struggles are confusing for teachers and parents and can result in a great deal of stress for the students.  A search of the web can offer some help, but most often very few of the tips or adaptations are easy to use both in school and at home.  With nearly 15% of the population being left-handed, it makes sense to share some of the simple strategies that can turn handwriting groans into grins.

The preference we develop for one hand allows us to use that hand efficiently as a "tool" in our daily activities.  As we develop our fine motor skills, it becomes "second nature" to use our two hands together, with our dominant hand being supported by our non-dominant one for dressing, hobbies, or handwriting.  This is an important skill for the development of  a legible 


Read the Rest of This Article on our Blog


Physical Therapy Corner: When Kids Grow Up

by Shelley Manell, PT, C/NDT

Before I get your hopes up, I need to say that this month's blog is not about shoes.  Although I love shoes, today I actually want to discuss our paediatric clients as they grow up.  Generally speaking, there are more children with physical disabilities than there were several decades ago. There are a greater number of children identified with sensory processing disorders.  And the latest statistics indicate that one child in 68 is diagnosed with autism in the USA.

We are seeing more research on postural control in children with Cerebral Palsy, Autism, Sensory Processing Disorder, Developmental Coordination Disorder and Anxiety.  This 


Read the Rest of This Article on our Blog


SLP Corner: Just Open More SLP Programs, OK?

[Source: SLP_Echo]  


A note from Katie:   
Bellow is a guest post by Brian Goldstein, Ph.D., CCC-SLP (Dean & Professor, La Salle University). His words echo my own thoughts on the issue I frequently discuss on my blog - admittance into SLP graduate programs. He has much to say, and we should all be willing to listen, digest, and act. Read on my dear followers...

  

by Brian Goldstein, Ph.D., CCC-SLP  


The Discussion

In my almost 10 years as a University administrator, I have had occasion to talk to members of the Board of Trustees at two different Universities. You might expect that main topics of conversation with Board members might have been graduation rates, faculty hiring, new programs, or budgets. You'd be wrong on all counts. The most common topic 
of discussion with Board members has involved admission into the master's program in speech-language pathology. 

As the current Provost of La Salle University says, "it's easier to get into some Ivy League schools than it is to get into the master's program in speech-language pathology." For the Fall 2014 class
 at La Salle, we had over 400 applications for 18 spots. In 2011-2012, there wer52,339 applications to the 224 ASHA-accredited programs that completed the survey,  I'm sure I don't have to do that math for you. I would suggest you read this report for this and other sobering statics such as average GPA and average GRE score.

 

Read the Rest of This Article on our Blog

Worth Repeating: Helping Asperger's & HFA Teens Cope 

[Source:  My Aspergers Child]

Teens with Asperger's (AS) and High Functioning Autism (HFA) bring their unique flavor to adolescence, essentially determined by the levels of three principles: avoidance, insight, and interest. Let's look at each in turn:

 

Level of avoidance- In the social development of AS and HFA teens who show some interest in peer interactions, social anxiety and resultant avoidance play an important role. Some of these teens get very nervous just with the thought of approaching others and may choose to avoid it at all costs. Their avoidance may appear as if they are not interested in others. It's important to differentiate this since anxiety can be treated much more easily than genuine lack of interest.

Also Worth Repeating: Why So Many Kids Can't Sit Still in School

Editor's Note: This is a FANTASTIC article.  Why do our kids fidget in class?  Because we don't let them move around enough.  Bring back more recess and classroom movement and attention will follow!

 

[Source:  Washington Post]


The Centers for Disease Control tells us that in recent years there has been a jump in the percentage of young people diagnosed with Attention Deficit and Hyperactivity Disorder, commonly known as ADHD: 7.8 percent in 2003 to 9.5 percent in 2007 and to 11 percent in 2011. The reasons for the rise are multiple, and include changes in diagnostic criteria, medication treatment and more awareness of the condition. In the following post, Angela   


Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link on our Blog

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