All posts in child development

Early Childhood Development and the Brain

Came across this video by Dr. Bruce Perry. Really brings home the importance of relationships in a young child’s life.

 

https://www.chicagoideas.com/videos/the-body-s-most-fascinating-organ-the-brain

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Play and neurodevelopment: Have fun=building brain

Happy belated Easter. I hesitate to say happy spring given this very un-spring-like weather. I keep telling myself that any moisture we get at this time of the year is great for our plants and trees. It’s only somewhat successful at warding off melancholy.

In preparing for a meeting I came across this article from the Child Trauma Academy about play and brain development. The article is a wee bit dense but nice and short and super interesting. I might be biased because I think anything about play or brain development is fascinating. Anyhow, I hope you think it’s interesting too!

 

https://childtrauma.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/CuriosityPleasurePlay_Perry.pdf

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Spring break!

Spring break is upon us and although it can be a great time to slow down, get away and spend some time together, for many families it’s a week of flexing work time, patching together childcare options and scrambling to keep kids busy and engaged.

Here’s an interesting article on the impact of breaks from school on mothers, in particular.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/moms-bear-the-brunt-of-spring-break-chaos-psychologist-says-1.4041469?utm_content=buffera2da4&utm_medium=social&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_campaign=buffer

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Adult ADHD

ADHD continues to be a misunderstood neurological disorder. Typically associated with childhood, most still assume that ADHD doesn’t exist in adults, a myth that contributes to many adults struggling with negative symptoms and the shame, frustration and negative self-image that often result. In addition, the presentation (i.e. range of symptoms) varies so much from person to person it can be difficult to identify and often people are simply labelled as “scattered”, “lazy”, or “irresponsible”.

As someone who was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult, I can relate to these struggles. I was fortunate because I had so much more information about ADHD than most before I was even diagnosed (I actually diagnosed myself and then went to a specialist to confirm my suspicions!). When I speak to both children and adults about ADHD I encourage them to think of it the same way they would diabetes. We have brains that work differently, just like people with diabetes have a pancreas that works differently. Sometimes that “differently” creates difficulties and sometimes hidden gifts.

CBC is screening a new documentary tonight on The Nature of Things on adult ADHD. http://www.cbc.ca/natureofthings/

For more information on ADHD, here are some reliable sources:

http://caddra.ca

http://www.caddac.ca/cms/page.php?2

http://addvance.com

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Childhood fears: What’s normal?

Hi! I’ve always said that the best thing parents can do is inform themselves about typical childhood development. Have you ever noticed how much information there is out there on prenatal development (hello, babycentre app?!) and development in the first year but then once your little person turns 1 it’s like, ‘Ok, doesn’t really matter what’s going on with their development anymore. Time to just wing it!’ Often times parents’ frustration comes from a misunderstanding of what is normal for children (e.g. stop beating yourself up every time your 1.5 year old steals toys from other kids. They are cognitively unable to understand sharing at this stage!).

Here’s a website I came across that talks specifically about childhood fears and what’s typical at certain stages of development.

Child Therapist’s List of Childhood Fears by Age

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