Autism in the News:  Minority Children with Autism More Likely to Regress than Whites 

Some children with autism appear to be developing normally when they are very young. They babble or even talk, make eye contact with their parents, and crawl and walk on schedule. Then suddenly, these skills seem to vanish.

Described as developmental regression, this loss of language, motor or social skills occurs more often in black and Hispanic children compared to white children, according to a study presented at the Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in May.

Acquired Brain Injury in the News:  Mirror Therapy Assists Upper Limb Motor Recovery in Patient with Acquired Brain Injury  

[Source:  Medical News Today]

The Occupational Therapy team at The Huntercombe Group's specialist Brain Injury Rehabilitation Centre at Frenchay (Bristol), are exploring the use of mirror therapy to aid motor recovery in patients with acquired brain injury who are suffering from hemi-paresis (loss of control and weakness). Upper Limb Hemi-paresis is common in patients following an acquired brain injury often impacting on the individual's ability to use the limb functionally. 

Happy to Be an SLP:  And to Have a Chance at Winning Some Toobaloos!   

Happy Better Hearing and Speech Month!

As you know, SLPs make great bloggers.  After all, the SLP field is all about communication, right?   Well, 18 of the speechie bloggers are doing a "Happy to be an SLP" blog hop for BHSM!  They are sharing great information as well as hosting a giveaway of 3 incredible prize packs including TpT gift certificates, apps, materials, and more!

Physical Activity in the News:  Children with Autism Have Mitochondrial Deficits    

[Source:  Medical News Today] 

Children with autism experience deficits in a type of immune cell that protects the body from infection. Called granulocytes, the cells exhibit one-third the capacity to fight infection and protect the body from invasion compared with the same cells in children who are developing normally.

The cells, which circulate in the bloodstream, are less able to deliver crucial infection-fighting oxidative responses to combat invading pathogens because of dysfunction in their tiny energy-generating organelles, the mitochondria.

Life Skills Research in the News:  "Help" or "Helper" for Life Skills 

[Source:  Your Therapy Source]

Self-Harm in the News:  One in 10 16-Year Olds Have Considered Self-Harm, Study Shows

PediaStaff Placement of the Week:  Early Intervention SLP - California's 'Gold Country'  

Congratulations to Mindy O., SLP on her part-time early intervention position in California's "Gold Country" through PediaStaff!

Mindy will be providing EI speech and language services in a home-based environment in their home based program which serves several counties.   

This is a great opportunity that also has the potential to grow to full-time!    Hooray, Mindy

Ask PediaStaff:  Can PediaStaff Place Me Anywhere I Want to Go?  

QUESTION:  Will PediaStaff be able to find me a job or assignment anywhere I want to go?  

ANSWER:  Sometimes yes, and sometimes no. Remember, PediaStaff is a business, so our services (although free to our therapist applicants) do cost our client companies and school districts money. That said, if an organization can easily find therapist through their own means, they will usually try that first.

But as soon as they realize that the top clinician that they really want isn't knocking at their door, they sure do contact us!  Our national reputation for finding and screening the very best pediatric therapy clinicians means that you have more options than ever. Willing to relocate?  There are some amazing positions that we know about that offer fantastic professional opportunity if you are able to grab it!

Did you call us to learn that PediaStaff doesn't have jobs in your geographic area? That's ok! Enjoy our resources and tell your friends about us. Maybe someday we can help you find the position of your dreams.   And if not - that's ok too!

Featured Job of the Week:  Pediatric Outpatient SLP, Bismarck ND  

Speech - Language Therapy Resource of the Week: Downloadable Activity Sheets for Babies and Toddlers from Busy Bugs  

Book of the Week:  'The Kiss Box' and a Companion Craft  

From Amazon: "In this soothing love story between mother and child, Mama Bear offers various vessels to contain their love while they are apart-but none seem right. It's not until Little Bear suggests that they make each other a Kiss Box-filled with a hundred kisses-that they are able to stay connected-no matter where they are"    

The Mama Smiles blog has a wonderful craft so a child can design their own kiss box for the person they want to stay connected to.   Adorable!

Pinterest Pin of the Week:  Stringing Matching Pairs of Sight Words  

But I like to bring what he's working on at school into the house so that I can see how he's doing first hand.

I made a simple sight word activity for him to connect matching pairs. It's basically a simple worksheet made big on our floor to get him involved instead of 'doing work'.

SLP Activity of the Week:  Minecraft Words for Articulation