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October 5, 2012
Weekly Edition Issue 30, Volume 5
It's All About the Choices! Please enjoy our weekly newsletter! Fall holidays are coming up soon, so check out all the Halloween ideas and apps in our Activities, Tips and Resources section!
News Items:
- Gene That Causes a Form of Deafness Discovered
- Leptin Implicated In Hearing And Vision Loss
- New York Times Blog: How Exercise Can Help You Master New Skills
- Study: Baby Communication Gives Clues to Autism
- Expert Says New Definition of Autism in Updated Psychiatric Clinical Manual Will Not Exclude Most Children
- Infant Fussiness Not Tied to Later Mental Health
- Drug Reverses Abnormal Brain Function in Rett Syndrome Mice
- Mom's High Blood Pressure in Pregnancy Could Affect Child's IQ Into Old Age
Therapy Activities, Tips and Resources
- App(s) of the Week: 'Appdated' List of Halloween Themed Apps
- Pinterest Pinboard of the Week! Halloween Themed Pinterest Board - Now in Year Two!
- Therapy Resource of the Week - Where Does Stuttering Come From? Podcast
Articles and Special Features
- OT Corner: What, So What, Now What?
- Pediatric Therapy Corner: Voice for the Voiceless - Experience in Zambia
- Pediatric Therapy Corner Too: In-School Strategies Can Help with Students with Memory after TBI
- Worth Repeating: Identification and Treatment of Landau-Kleffner Syndrome
- Also Worth Repeating: Developing Receptive Language before Expressive Language
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
Feed My Inbox and have any feed you like delivered to your email inbox! Have a great weekend and Take Care! Heidi Kay and the PediaStaff Team
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Usher Syndrome in the News: Gene That Causes a Form of Deafness Discovered
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[Source: Science Daily]
Researchers at the Univ. of Cincinnati and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have found a new genetic mutation responsible for deafness & hearing loss associated with Usher syndrome type 1.
These findings, published in the Sept. 30 advance online edition of the journal Nature Genetics, could help researchers develop new therapeutic targets for those at risk for this syndrome.
Partners in the study included the National Institute on Deafness and other Communication Disorders (NIDCD), Baylor College of Medicine and the University of Kentucky.
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Hearing and Vision Loss in the News: Leptin Implicated In Hearing And Vision Loss
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[Source: Medical News Today]
Leptin - commonly dubbed the "fat hormone" - does more than tell the brain when to eat. A new study by researchers at The University of Akron and Northeast Ohio Medical University (NEOMED) shows that leptin may play a role in hearing and vision loss. This discovery, made in zebrafish treated to produce low leptin, could ultimately help doctors better understand sensory loss in humans.
While the scientists expected the leptin-deficient fish would be unable metabolize fat, "we did not expect that the leptin also affects the development of sensory systems," says Richard Londraville, UA professor of biology.
Read the Rest of This Article Through a Link on our Blog
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Exercise in the News: New York Times Blog: How Exercise Can Help You Master New Skills
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Thanks to Loren Shlaes of the Pediatric OT Blog for suggesting we featured this article!
[Source: The New York Times Well Blog]
Can you improve your body's ability to remember by making it move? That rather odd-seeming question stimulated researchers at the University of Copenhagen to undertake a reverberant new examination of just how the body creates specific muscle memories and what role, if any, exercise plays in the process.
To do so, they first asked a group of young, healthy right-handed men to master a complicated tracking skill on a computer. Sitting before the screen with their right arm on an armrest and a controller similar to a joystick in their right hand, the men watched a red line
Read the Rest of This Article Through a Link on our Blog
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Autism in the News: Study: Baby Communication Gives Clues to Autism
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[Source: Science Daily]
Approximately 19 percent of children with a sibling diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) will develop Autism due to shared genetic and environmental vulnerabilities, according to previous studies. For that reason, University of Miami (UM) psychologists are developing ways to predict the occurrence of ASD in high-risk children, early in life, in hopes that early intervention will lead to better outcomes in the future. Their findings are published in the journal Infancy.
The study is one of the first to show that measures of non-verbal communication in children, as young as eight months of age, predict autism symptoms that become evident by the third year of life. The results suggest that identifying children, who are having difficulties early enough, can enhance the effects of interventions.
Read the Rest of This Article Through a Link on our Blog
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DSM-V in the News: Expert Says New Definition of Autism in Updated Psychiatric Clinical Manual Will Not Exclude Most Children
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[Source: Science Daily]
Parents should not worry that proposed changes to the medical criteria redefining a diagnosis of autism will leave their children excluded and deemed ineligible for psychiatric and medical care, says a team of researchers led by psychologists at Weill Cornell Medical College.
Their new study, published in the October 1 issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry, is the largest to date that has tried to unpack the differences between the diagnostic criteria for autism spectrum disorders in the fourth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-IV) and the proposed revision in the fifth edition (DSM-5), which is expected to be published in May 2013. These manuals provide diagnostic criteria for people seeking mental-health-related medical services.
Read the Rest of This Article Through a Link on our Blog
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Infant Behavior in the News: Infant Fussiness Not Tied to Later Mental Health
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[Source: Reuters Health]
Babies who fuss and cry a lot may not have a greater chance of mental health issues later in life - despite what their mothers might think, a new study suggests.
Parents sometimes worry that if their baby seems overly irritable, that could be an omen of distress later in life, too.
So the new findings should help set their minds at ease, said lead researcher Dr. Rebecca Hyde, of Mater Children's Hospital in South Brisbane, Australia.
Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link on our Blog
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Rett Syndrome in the News: Drug Reverses Abnormal Brain Function in Rett Syndrome Mice
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[Source: Science Daily]
A promising study out October 3 in the Journal of Neuroscience showed that in a mouse model of Rett syndrome, researchers were able to reverse abnormalities in brain activity and improve neurological function by treating the animals with an FDA-approved anesthesia drug, ketamine. Rett syndrome is among the most severe autism-related disorders, affecting about one in 10,000 female births per year, with no effective treatments available.
"These studies provide new evidence that drug treatment can reverse abnormalities in brain function in Rett syndrome mice," says David Katz, PhD, professor of neurosciences, Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and senior author of the study. "They also provide new leads as to what kinds of drugs might be effective in individuals with Rett syndrome."
Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link on our Blog
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Prenatal Care in the News: Mom's High Blood Pressure in Pregnancy Could Affect Child's IQ Into Old Age
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[Source: CNN]
Hypertension isn't just risky for a pregnant woman, it can have lasting consequences for a child's cognitive ability, a new study suggests.
A Finnish study found that men whose mothers' pregnancies had complications from hypertensive disorders scored lower on tests of cognitive ability than those whose mothers did not have high blood pressure during pregnancy. The study appears in the journal Neurology.
About 10% of all pregnancies become complicated by hypertensive disorders, such as preeclampsia, the study said. Such conditions are linked to premature births and small baby body size, factors that are also linked with lower cognitive ability.
Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link on our Blog
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App Review(s) of the Week: 'Appdated' List of Halloween Themed Apps
| by Jeremy Legaspi, The Speech Guy
Halloween is going to be here before we know it, so spend some time now and stock up on some great quality Halloween themed apps! I have always enjoyed working on Halloween themed activities throughout the month of October and I now really enjoy having my clients interact with Halloween themed apps. I know some you school SLPs out there aren't allowed to call these activities "Halloween themed" and usually have to go with "Fall Festival" or use some other workaround title.
Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog |
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Pinterest Pinboard of the Week: Halloween Themed Pinterest Board - Now in Year Two!
| Wow, can you believe PediaStaff has been bringing you therapy ideas via Pinterest for over a year now? I just realized it today when I noticed just how many great pins we have for you in our Halloween Themed Therapy Activities and Treats board
Take your time and grab a Pumpkin Spice Latte because you will need a while to peruse all the great language, sensory, fine and gross motor activities, sequencing, social stories and more! (Not to forget treats to make for your kiddos and with your kiddos!)
Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog |
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Therapist Resource of the Week: Podcast - Where Does Stuttering Come From?
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Check out this interview that Evan Sherman (of the 'I Stutter So What' blog) did with Dr. Lisa LaSalle of the University of Redlands in Redlands Washington. Excellent listen and share!
Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog |
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Occupational Therapy Corner: What, So What, Now What?
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by Jill Perry, MHA, MS, OTR/L
The theme of the first group with our 3rd and 4th grade Social Adventurers was change; how difficult it can be, how resistant we can be to change, and yet, how important it is to learn how to manage ourselves in the midst of these transitions. Change is a fundamental part of each new school year... new teachers, different classmates, new room, new rules, new everything! And our students have a really hard time with change! When I googled "resistance to change" I came across a business presentation that used the words: "What?" "So What?" and "Now What?" as a model for introducing change within an organization. I found it rather fascinating and decided to try it with our group. We use what we call, "Social Catch Phrases" to help our kids remember important principles of social interaction so these simple words fit right in with our typical style.
Read the Rest of This Article on our Blog
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Pediatric Therapy Corner: Voice for the Voiceless - Experience in Zambia
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By: Sandra Carroll & Chrysty SturdivantCo-Founders of Neonatal Therapy SolutionsLast summer, we traveled to Zambia, Africa for a medical mission. Of course, it was life changing, and the specific ways our lives were changed continues to be revealed. We wanted to share a fraction of our experience and provide some information about the organization that we were aligned with in order to make this part of our life's story. Zambia is the size of Texas with a population of almost 10 million people. According to the 2000 census of Population and Housing, out of the 9.3 million Zambians included in the census, 256,690 are disabled which equates to 2.7 percent of the population. Two fifths of the disabled persons have never attended school and another two fifths have only completed primary education. The proportion of those who have never attended school is highest among the hearing and speech impaired. (www.zamstats.gov.zm) Read the Rest of This Article on our Blog
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Pediatric Therapy Corner Too: In-School Strategies Can Help with Students with Memory after TBI
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by Katherine Kimes, Ed.D.
Compensatory strategies help students with cognitive deficits
There are many cognitive deficit issues that can challenge the education of the child or adolescent after acquired brain injury. These implications include memory loss, organizational problems, conceptual skills, problem-solving, the inability to multi-task, trouble concentrating or paying attention in the classroom, and word finding. Typically, most students with brain injury have inconsistent patterns of academic performance and/or uneven cognitive deficits. In order to provide the most pro-active learning environment for these students, teachers need to learn how to implement strategies that will help the child or adolescent learn to compensate for these deficits and surpass expectations.
Read the Rest of This Article on our Blog
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Worth Repeating: Identification and Treatment of Landau-Kleffner Syndrome
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[Source: The ASHA Leader]
Dillon was a bright, normally developing child with no apparent illnesses or language delay, but at about age 31/2, his nursery school teachers began to notice changes in his behavior. Hearing loss was suspected because he did not respond when called, but the results of an audiological evaluation were normal. His teachers continued to have concerns, but it was not until a full year later that Dillon experienced a severe regression in language functioning and was diagnosed with a rare epileptic disorder, Landau-Kleffner Syndrome (LKS).
Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link on our Blog
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Also Worth Repeating: Developing Receptive Language before Expressive Language
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by Kristen Brown
This post was written by student speech pathologist, Kristen Brown as part of her placement at Talking Matters. What is receptive and expressive language? Why is it important to develop receptive language before expressive? How can I target receptive language first? Language is used as a means of communicating Speech pathologists will often classify language into receptive language and expressive language. This is because communication is a two way process. It involves an ability to understand a message (receptive) and to send a message to another person (expressive).
Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link on our Blog
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