PediaStaff in the News: Vote for Us! PediaStaff Nominated by EduBlog in Two Categories! 

DSM-5 in the News:  Psychiatrists Approve New DSM, Asperger's Dropped

Autism in the News: Acoustics Of Crying Infants Studied To Determine Risk For Autism

[Source:  Medical News Today]  

Autism is a poorly understood family of related conditions. People with autism generally lack normal social interaction skills and engage in a variety of unusual and often characteristic behaviors, such as repetitive movements. While there is no specific medical treatment for autism, some success has been shown with early behavioral intervention.

Understanding the importance of early diagnosis, researchers at Women & Infants' Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk in collaboration with researchers at University of Pittsburgh have been studying the cry acoustics of six-month-old infants. Their research has recently been published in Autism Research.

Down Syndrome Research in the News: Prenatal Intervention Reduces Learning Deficit in Mice with Down Syndrome-like Condition

Mice with a condition that serves as a laboratory model for Down syndrome perform better on memory and learning tasks as adults if they were treated before birth with neuroprotective peptides, according to researchers at the National Institutes of Health.

Down syndrome results when an individual receives an extra copy of chromosome 21. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Down syndrome occurs in 1 of every 691 births. Features of Down syndrome include delays in mental and physical development and poor muscle tone. These features may vary greatly, ranging from mild to severe.

Early Intervention in the News:  Lithium Restores Cognitive Function in Down Syndrome Mice

[Source:  Science Daily.com]

Researchers report that lithium, a drug commonly used for the treatment of mood disorders in humans, restores neurogenesis in the hippocampus, a part of the brain strongly associated with learning and memory.Down syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that is the leading cause of genetically defined intellectual disability. In the brain, Down syndrome results in alterations in the connections between neurons and a reduction in the development of new neurons (neurogenesis) that usually occurs   

Childhood Anxiety in the News:  Some Victims Of Childhood Trauma Left With Lifelong Dysregulation Of Stress Hormones  

[Source: Medical News Today]

Disability Policy in the News:  Senate Rejects UN Disability Treaty 

[Source:  Huffington Post/AP]

Led by Republican opposition, the Senate on Tuesday rejected a United Nations treaty on the rights of the disabled that is modeled after the landmark Americans with Disabilities Act.

With 38 Republicans casting "no" votes, the 61-38 vote fell five short of the two-thirds majority needed to ratify a treaty. The vote took place in an unusually solemn atmosphere, with senators sitting at their desks rather than milling around the podium. Former Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, looking frail and in a wheelchair, was in the chamber to support the treaty.

Pediatric Learning in the News:  Infants Learn to Look and Look to Learn: Model Explains Crucial Links Among Looking, Learning, and Memory  

[Source: Science Daily]

Researchers at the University of Iowa have documented an activity by infants that begins nearly from birth: They learn by taking inventory of the things they see.

In a new paper, the psychologists contend that infants create knowledge by looking at and learning about their surroundings. The activities should be viewed as intertwined, rather than considered separately, to fully appreciate how infants gain knowledge and how that knowledge is seared into memory.

Speech Production Research in the News:  Mu-Rhythm in the Brain: The Neural Mechanism of Speech as an Audio-Vocal Perception-Action System   

[Source: Science Daily]

The cortical mechanisms governing speech are not well understood because it is extremely challenging to measure the activity of the brain in action, that is, during speech production. Researchers in Japan have found modulation of mu-rhythms in the cortex related to speech production.

Speech production is one of the most important components in human communication. However, the cortical mechanisms governing speech are not well understood because it is extremely challenging to measure the activity of the brain in action, that is, during speech production.
 

Therapy Resource of the Week:  Special Needs Holiday Gift Guide From an OT's Point of View!   

Editor's Note:  Abby posted her "Holiday Gift Guide" in four separate posts on her blog Notes from a Pediatric Occupational Therapist.   I thought they were very well done, and asked her to combine them into a single post that we could share here with you!

Happy Holidays, PediaStaff readers! 'Tis the season for holiday cheer and of course, gift giving! Choosing an appropriate gift for children with special needs can be tricky.   That's why I created several gift guides to help parents shop for children with special needs this holiday season:

Know a child who has been described as a "sensory kid?" Then be sure to check out "Gifts for 'sensory kids'." For toy and game ideas for a child who is blind or visually impaired, check out "Gifts for children with visual impairments," which includes suggestions for babies all the way up to school age children.

App Review of the Week:  Mask Doodle   

by Aubrey Klingensmith

App: Mask Doodle
What It Is: A mask-decorating app by 'Shoe the Goose'.
Price: $.99
OS: Apple
Version: 1.0

How It Works: Well, Shoe the Goose made this part of my review quite easy by providing a simple six-step direction page: "1. Select a mask style. 2. Change the head shape, eyes, mouth, and nose. 3. Decorate with paint, texture, and jazz. 4. Print on heavy cardstock. 5. Cut out. 6. Add an elastic band and wear."  

Pinterest Pin of the Week:  Handprint Christmas Tree   

Resource of the Week:  Chippy and the Occupotamus: A Story About a Young Chipmunk and His First Visit to the Occupational Therapist