For those of you living in Canada and seeking more interventions for sensory integration dysfunction, ADHD, or learning disabilities, check out the Wise Choice Educational Services. This practice appears to house many state-of-the-art interventions in one place, with a staff that sounds knowledgeable not only in how to administer these interventions, but what it’s like to parent and teach a child with these disabilities.

The way they state it is that they “look for the root cause of neurocognitive inefficiencies.” David and Suzanne Day, educators with training... more

In sharp contrast to the Rosemond article comes this article from MSNBC entitled When Babies See Shrinks. The article discusses the growing trend of early mental health interventions.

It talks about the value of mental health wellness and the importance of understanding the impact the first few weeks, months and years have on children’s brain development. This is in stark contrast to those who... more

Part 1

The other camp is : The child HAS a problem. Clearly a child exhibiting aggressive behaviors has to change. But when viewed through the lens of the child having the problem not being the problem, the adults can start looking for ways to identify what the problem is and how to help the child learn what he needs to do to change.

But first, the adults have to understand the causes behind the behavior. In the... more

In the end there are really only two camps of belief about children with problem behaviors. One belief is “the child IS a problem” and the other is “the child HAS a problem.”

The child IS a problem believers see the behavior problems as willful misbehavior. If a child gets angry and refuses to do his homework, the teacher or parent see the child as lazy, or his anger as disrespectful. The immediate reaction may be to demand the correct behavior and use punishments or threats “do it my way, or... more

Gotta have that balance! Gotta have that structure! While nurturing is ever so important, every child has to learn to live within society and be a productive member. Parenting is really a two-fold effort. Our jobs, if we do them right, are about nurturing the person within our child AND teaching them how to be successful in this world…successful at learning, successful at supporting themselves, but most importantly, how to be successful at relationships. And we can’t do that without eventually imposing some kind of structure on the kid.

Just... more

There seems to be a growing number of interventions that use the brain’s plasticity as their basis. When brains were found to have plasticity (grow new neuronal connections and have the ability to repair cell damage), things radically changed in the world of neurology.

It hasn’t been too many years ago that scientists, and therefore the public, believed that you had a limited number of brain cells. Sure you have many more than you were actually using, but in the 1970s and 1980s what college student wasn’t warned that drinking too heavily could kill off all your brain cells…and those don’t grow back. You are born with the number of brain cells you have all your life – WRONG!

Well,... more

In Diagnosis Dilemma, I explained that LuLu has several diagnoses that could be considered counter-indicated. The professionals (psychologists, psychiatrists, neurologists) often seem to be at odds over diagnosing children with complex symptoms that seem to overlap, yet can’t be explained by one disorder or another.

The beauty of having “friends” on listserves in cyberspace is that you get such a variety of ideas and opinions, as well as links to information from all... more

A couple of weeks ago in court, the validity of diagnosing LuLu with both RAD and PDD-NOS (an autism spectrum diagnosis) was called into question. You see, the DSM-IV states that autism must be ruled out in order to diagnose RAD. And LuLu carries both “labels”, not diagnosed by the same professional, but she still has them both on numerous medical records, along with other diagnoses that professionals debate as to whether they can co-exist.

So, while the DSM-IV is pretty clear that the diagnostician needs to rule out autism, it doesn’t clear... more

For the last 9 weeks, LuLu has been using Interactive Metronome. Our occupational therapist comes two times a week to administer this brain-based intervention.

What is Interactive Metronome?

The Interactive Metronome is an intervention that focuses on rhythm and timing and helps to build a person’s motor planning and sequencing abilities. As defined by the Interactive Metronome website:

The IM program is an intervention where the patient is challenged to synchronize a range of hand and foot exercises to a precise computer-generated... more

“Mom, if we didn’t have dyslexia, would we be rich?” Now there’s a question for you! (Read it on an online support group today.) The truth of the matter is that children with special needs often put a true, intense financial burden on their families. Parents scramble to find funding for the many therapies and interventions their child needs. Sometime insurance will cover pieces of it. Sometimes not. Sometimes schools will provide therapies; sometimes not. Sometimes the child qualifies for government assistance; sometimes not.

Parents of children... more