6-Year Old Gets 3D Printed Bionic Arm  

[Source:  ABC News]

In just eight weeks a team of grad students at the University of Central Florida pioneered a prosthetic, created with a 3D printer,  that costs $350!

Effects of Weighted Blanket on Sleep in Children with Autism 

[Source: Pediatrics via Your Therapy Source]

Pediatrics published research on a randomized phase III trial determining the effectiveness of a weighted-blanket intervention in treating severe sleep problems in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Sixty seven children were randomized into a weighted blanket group or a control group (regular blanket). The blankets were introduced at bedtime and used for a two week period. The researchers measured total sleep time recorded by actigraphy, sleep-onset latency, sleep efficiency, assessments of child behavior, family functioning, and adverse events. Sleep was also measured by using parent-report.

Study Suggests Language Delay Due More to Nature than Nurture

A study of 473 sets of twins followed since birth found that compared to single-born children, 47 percent of 24-month-old identical twins had language delay compared to 31 percent of non-identical twins. Overall, twins had twice the rate of late language emergence of single-born children. None of the children had disabilities affecting language acquisition.  

The results of the study were published in the June 2014 Journal of Speech, Language, and Hearing Research.

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For School Psychologists: A Bully Speaks Up  

Editor's Note:  I really enjoy Upworthy. In a world filled with stories that make you shake your head in disbelief, this site specializes in inspiring, empowering stories.  If you don't subscribe to it, I highly recommend it .

[Source:  Upworthy]
 

Every day we hear the horrible stories of young people being bullied. But rarely do we get to hear from ... drumroll please ... the bully herself. Listening to Mariah, I'm reminded of the amazing things that can happen when girls aren't afraid to share their stories, change their lives, and live with compassion and truth.

Editor's Note:  Inclusion, Inclusion, Inclusion!
 

[Source:  Medical News Today]

The guiding philosophy for educating children with disabilities has been to integrate them as much as possible into a normal classroom environment, with the hope that peers' skills will help bring them up to speed. A new study provides empirical evidence that peers really can have an impact on a child's language abilities, for better or worse.

While peers with strong language skills can help boost their classmates' abilities, being surrounded by peers with weak skills may hinder kids' language development.

Preterm Children's Brains Can Catch Up Years Later    

[Source:  Science Daily]

There's some good news for parents of preterm babies - latest research from the University of Adelaide shows that by the time they become teenagers, the brains of many preterm children can perform almost as well as those born at term.

A study conducted by the University's Robinson Research Institute has found that as long as the preterm child experiences no brain injury in early life, their cognitive abilities as a teenager can potentially be as good as their term-born peers.

PediaStaff Placement of the Week:  School Psych in Arizona

PediaStaff News: PediaStaff Hits 75,000 Followers on Pinterest  

Wow.  We are so very humbled to report that with your help, PediaStaff has reached 75,000 followers on Pinterest in just under two years.
 

Please check out our boards there to see literally thousands of therapy ideas, articles, and links specifically for pediatric therapy.   We have over 130 boards at this writing.   Feel free too to send the parents of your students/clients to our boards.  We have lots of special needs families that get quite a lot from our boards as well!  Come check us out there at pinterest.com/pediastaff

Now, it is understandable that in many cases, you will not know enough about the job before hand to really, truly know if you want the job.  That's what the interview is for in the first place, right?   What we mean about being a good steward, is to do your very best to alert your interviewer to any contingencies before you get to the interview phase, or to pass on interviews for jobs that you really don't see yourself accepting in the near future..

Resources of the Week:  For Implementing AAC in the Classroom  

[Source:  Portland Language Lab]

I've had a few teachers, families, and Speech-Language Pathologists ask me recently if I could recommend any quick and accessible resources that describe how to best integrate new AAC devices in primary-level classrooms. I looked around and didn't find anything that I really loved, so I went ahead and made one myself. It only represents a small portion of possible ideas and so-called "best practices" (ugh), but I wanted to stick to one page to make sure that families, instructional assistants, and others who may not be steeped in the world of AAC would be willing to quickly read it. Let me know what you think!

Activity of the Week:  Come Fly with Me! - Paper Airplanes 

Pinterest Pin of the Week:  Pom Pom Color Drop