September 20, 2013
Issue 31, Volume 6
It's All About the Choices!     
          
Hello All!

Please enjoy our newsletter offering.  Have a great weekend!
 
News Items:
 
  • 'Love Hormone' May Play Wider Role in Social Interaction Than Previously Thought
  • Inner-Ear Disorders May Cause Hyperactivity
  • Risk of Birth Defects Among Women Who Take Antihistamines in Pregnancy
  • Young People at Higher Risk For Stroke
  • Mother Chimps Crucial for Offspring's Social Skills
  • Discovery Helps to Unlock Brain's Speech-Learning Mechanism
  • Mindfulness Training Improves Attention in Children
PediaStaff News and Resources
  • Featured Job of the Week: School Based Occupational Therapist DuPage County, Illinois
  • Therapist Placement of the Week: Kate S. is going to Arkansas!
Therapy Activities, Tips and Resources
  • Book Talk: How One Unkind Moment Gave Way To 'Wonder'
  • Seasonal Activity of the Week: Fine Motor Skills Practice With Acorns
  • Featured App: Nurfland, Aims to Teach Social Cues and Emotions to Children with Autism
  • Pinterest Pinboard of the Week: Fall / Harvest Themed Therapy Activities and Treats!

Articles and Special Features 

  • Focus on Bilingualism: Early Language Development in Bilingual Children
  • Pediatric Therapy Corner:  Think Beyond Gold Stars: Behavior Charts for Young Children that Really Motivate!
  • SLP Corner: Using Your Cell Phone Photos as Speech Therapy Story Starters
  • Worth Repeating: Trying to Figure Out the Function for Problem Behaviors? Ask the Child!
  • Also Worth Repeating:   Understanding The Wild Child, Or 'Nonconformist' Kid
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Have a great weekend and Take Care!

Heidi Kay and the PediaStaff Team





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Oxytocin in the News: 'Love Hormone' May Play Wider Role in Social Interaction Than Previously Thought  

[Source: Medical News Today]

 

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown that oxytocin - often referred to as "the love hormone" because of its importance in the formation and maintenance of strong mother-child and sexual attachments - is involved in a broader range of social interactions than previously understood.


The Vestibular System in the News:  Inner-Ear Disorders May Cause Hyperactivity

[Source: Medical News Today]

 

Behavioral abnormalities are traditionally thought to originate in the brain. But a new study by researchers at Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University has found that inner-ear dysfunction can directly cause neurological changes that increase hyperactivity. The study, conducted in mice, also implicated two brain proteins in this process, providing potential targets for intervention. The findings were published in the online edition of Science.


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

Prenatal Care in the News:  Risk of Birth Defects Among Women Who Take Antihistamines in Pregnancy

[Source: Science Daily]

 

Antihistamines are a group of medications that are used to treat various conditions, including allergies and nausea and vomiting. Some antihistamines require a prescription, but most are available over-the-counter (OTC), and both prescription and OTC antihistamines are often used by women during pregnancy. Until recently, little information was available to women and their health care providers on the possible risks and relative safety of these medications in pregnancy, particularly when it came to specific birth defects.

 

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

Pediatric Stroke in the News: Young People at Higher Risk For Stroke

[Source:  Medical News Today]

 

Fifteen percent of the most common type of strokes occur in adolescents and young adults, and more young people are showing risk factors for such strokes, according to a report in the journal Neurology.

Neurologist Jose Biller of Loyola University Medical Center is a co-author of the report, a consensus statement developed by the American Academy of Neurology.


 

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

Comparative Developmental Biology in the News:  Mother Chimps Crucial for Offspring's Social Skills   

[Source: Science Daily]

 

Orphaned chimpanzees are less socially competent than chimpanzees who were reared by their mother. Researchers from the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics in Nijmegen, The Netherlands, observed that orphaned chimpanzees frequently engaged in social play, but their play bouts were much shorter and resulted in aggression more often. Apparently, chimpanzee mothers endow their offspring with important social skills.

 

 Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog

Language Development in the News:  Discovery Helps to Unlock Brain's Speech-Learning Mechanism  

[Source: Medical News Today]

 

USC scientists have discovered a population of neurons in the brains of juvenile songbirds that are necessary for allowing the birds to recognize the vocal sounds they are learning to imitate.

These neurons encode a memory of learned vocal sounds and form a crucial (and hitherto only theorized) part of the neural system that allows songbirds to hear, imitate, and learn its species' songs - just as human infants acquire speech sounds.


Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog

Attention Research in the News:  Mindfulness Training Improves Attention in Children  

[Source: Science Daily]

A short training course in mindfulness improves children's ability to ignore distractions and concentrate better.

 

These are the findings of a study carried out by Dominic Crehan and Dr Michelle Ellefson at the University of Cambridge being presented today, 6 September 2013, at the British Psychological Society's Cognitive Developmental Psychology Annual Conference at the University of Reading.

 

Read the Rest of this Article Through a Link our Blog

PediaStaff Featured Job of the Week:  School Based Occupational Therapist DuPage County, Illinois    

PediaStaff is working with a school district in DuPage County who is in need of an Occupational Therapist  full time for SY 2013-2014.  You will work between a few schools in close proximity in the South Downer's Grove/Darien area.    Caseload consists of three elementary schools with both included kids and classrooms with multi-needs children.   This is a great position for someone new to the schools; plenty of guidance and mentoring is available.  Experienced OT applicants will have the opportunity to hone their skills while enjoying a very manageable caseload!

 

 Read More About this Job and Apply for it Through Link our Blog

PediaStaff Therapist Placement of the Week:  Kate S. is going to Arkansas!    

Congratulations to Kate S., who is headed to Arkansas  to work in a brand new clinic for one of PediaStaff's outpatient therapy clients.

 

She will be working with primarily kiddos ages birth to 5, treating Autism Spectrum Disorder, CP, Down Syndrome, developmental delay, Sensory Integration Disorder, genetic anomalies, etc .

 

Enjoy and Best Wishes, Kate!

Book Talk:  How One Unkind Moment Gave Way To 'Wonder'    

Editor's Note:  This book has been around, I understand, for the better part of a year now.  I had never heard of it until I was listening to NPR radio late last week.    It seems like a wonderful book that our readers would really enjoy!

 

[Source:  NPR.org]

 

In Wonder, R.J. Palacio tells the story of Auggie, a tough, sweet, 10-year-old boy, who was born with distorted facial features - a "craniofacial difference" caused by an anomaly in his DNA.  

 

Palacio tells NPR's Michele Norris that the book was inspired by a real-life encounter with her own kids six years ago. They were at an ice cream store and sat next to a little girl with a severe facial deformity. Palacio's 3-year-old son cried in fear, so the author grabbed her kids and fled. She was trying to protect the girl but also avoid her own discomfort.

 

Listen to this Book Talk Through a Link our Blog

Seasonal Activity of the Week:  Fine Motor Practice with Acorns     

Editor's Note:  This book has been around, I understand, for the better part of a year now.  I had never heard of it until I was listening to NPR radio late last week.    It seems like a wonderful book that our readers would really enjoy!

 

[Source:  What Do We Do All Day]
Check out this excellent post that I found from last fall, with a handful of fun fine motor activities to do with acorns including washing, spooning, counting, rolling and more.

 

 Learn More About These Activities Through a Link our Blog

Featured App:  Not For Profit 'Project Autismus' Develops 'Nurfland' to Help Children with Autism     

[Source:  NZGamer.com]

 

A free iPad game is giving the medical fraternity something to think about as it delivers fresh observations about children with Autism and Asperger Syndrome.

 

Nurfland is the first in a series of games being developed by Project Autismus, a not-for-profit group of game developers, parents, Media Design School students and psychologists in New Zealand, India and the United Kingdom.

 

Nurfland teaches children aged 4-8 how to distinguish between various human emotions. Data collected as the children play, combined with feedback from parents and teachers, has quickly delivered new insights into their condition.

 

More About the App and a Download Link on our Blog

Pinterest Pinboard of the Week:  Fall / Harvest Themed Therapy Activities and Treats     

This week's Pinterest Pin of the Week isn't a pin, rather it's an entire pinboard of activities, crafts and ideas to do with your therapy kiddos during the autumn and harvest season.  Looking for activities dealing with the themes of trees, leaves, apples, pumpkins, or acorns?  You will find them in this board!

 

 Check Out This Pinterest Board Through a Link on Our Blog

Focus on Bilingualism: Early Language Development in Bilingual Children    

By: Virginia Li, Danielle Dietz, CCC-SLP and Ashley Springer, CCC-SLP -  Pathways.org

 

Bilingualism provides children with a number of long-lasting cognitive, emotional, and cultural advantages. The term bilingualism will be defined here as an individual's ability to use two or more languages.

 

By understanding the process of language development in young bilingual children, speech-language pathologists and other child care professionals can better recognize the difference between typical and atypical development, and address the needs of bilingual children and their families.


Read the Rest of This Article on our Blog


Pediatric Therapy Corner: Think Beyond Gold Stars: Behavior Charts for Young Children that Really Motivate!

by Stephanie Brown, Certified School Psychologist

 

My first year as a school psychologist, I said "yes" to everything! I was eager to prove myself helpful, dependable, and full of solutions to anyone in my school. Often times, teachers would approach me about a student's behavior issues in the classroom. And no matter my workload, I would scramble to come up with some concrete tool I could place in their hands by the end of the week.

 

The typical request that came my way was for a "behavior chart" - a sort of go-to signature piece that many school psychologists use to help motivate students to improve challenging behaviors. I'm a fan of behavior charts, especially for use in the school setting where staff and

 

Read the Rest of This Article on our Blog

SLP Corner: Using Your Cell Phone Photos as Speech Therapy Story Starters  

by Eric Raj, M.S., CCC-SLP

 

What is one thing that all of us speech-language pathologists have in common? If you answered that we're all awesome, you're right, but that's not exactly the response I was looking for, haha! The one commonality that I believe we all share is the fact that we all have a cell phone in our pockets. And I am willing to bet that not only does your cell phone house the phone numbers of your favorite contacts, but it also contains a massive amount of photos that you have taken, thanks to its camera capabilities. So my real question is - did you know that the personal photos on your cell phone could easily be repurposed as speech therapy story starters? Check out some of my examples below:

 Read the Rest of This Article on our Blog

Worth Repeating: Trying to Figure Out the Function for Problem Behaviors? Ask the Child!


[Source:  Special Education Advisor]

 

By Deb Leach, Ed. D., BCBA

 

When addressing problem behaviors in individuals with ASD, the first step is to determine the function the behavior serves.  The main reason why we need to determine the function for problem behavior is so that we can teach the child replacement skills that are more appropriate that can serve the same function.  There are many tools teachers and behavior specialists use when doing a functional behavior assessment to determine the function of a problem behavior.  They conduct

Also Worth Repeating: Understanding The Wild Child, Or 'Nonconformist' Kid

Thank You to Reading Rockets for Recommending this Story

[Source: NPR.org]

We all knew the "wild child" in school, the one who couldn't sit still during story time, or raise her hand to speak in class. Elizabeth Weil has written a piece for the New Republic, asking if it's the child's fault, or the education system's. She talks with host Michel Martin.

 

MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And now we turn to another story about education, specifically, about educating that kid. You know, the one we all remember from our school days? Maybe we were that kid, the one who was always cracking jokes, who couldn't sit cross-legged for very long, who just didn't or couldn't 

 

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

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