We all know this really. When we spend time with our kids and interrupt it to check our phones or tablets, we are signaling to them that they don't matter. Or matter less than the information on the screen. Even though we are with them in our bodies, our minds are elsewhere. And they know it. A new early study done at the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital and Illinois State University shows an association between child behavioral [...]
See if your child will talk with you to strategize about how to improve the homework process so that he or she has more free time. Emphasize that the goal is to make the whole homework thing less burdensome and time-consuming. That way you are joining your child to meet his or her goals instead of trying to get him to satisfy yours. Treat it as a mutual problem solving exercise, not the imposition of adult authority. It may not happen [...]
Self control at 16 months My 16 month old granddaughter Ayla sits next to me. She looks at my coffee mug with interest, then looks up at me. She is checking for permission. I just shake my head. I don't say a word. She responds almost immediately by turning her gaze away from the mug onto something else nearby of interest to her. Deal done. Problem solved. Moving on. We communicated clearly. She cooperated with me and practiced self control [...]
Call me old fashioned. In my opinion, many schools nowadays are wrongly pressuring parents to take responsibility for getting their kids to do homework. Great. Just what you need - another thing to nag your children about. Problem is, it doesn’t work. It just generates tension, conflict, and resistance. It undermines the quality of your relationship with your child, which, in the long run is MUCH MORE IMPORTANT to your child’s development and success in life than homework. And if [...]
Here they are, way simple: 1. Don't talk, listen. Or at least, talk less, listen more. 2. Don't talk directly to your child. Let him overhear you expressing your concern or uncertainty (but not any criticism or judgment) to someone else. 3. Write him or her a letter. Yep. Actually on paper. (Less likely to elicit an immediate and defensive reaction). OK. Now for a little elaboration: 1. Don't talk, listen. Or at least, listen more. Sometimes we grown ups [...]
It's really no big surprise, is it? There is growing evidence that pot smoking is harmful to the developing brains of adolescents. The frontal lobe is developing rapidly during adolescents. The brain is also undergoing pruning during this period. Connections that aren't being used are being eliminated, making processing more rapid and efficient. So what happens if these processes are impaired due to substance use? As presented in a recent piece on NPR, Kristal Lisdahl, director of the University of [...]
"A trajectory of small miracles" Cam's mom tell us the story of her son's growth and improvement with neurofeedback for his ADHD and other symptoms. The story is long, but well worth the time: "Cam’s neurofeedback has yielded a cascade of successes. Thanks to his sessions, Cam experiences things more fully, is starting to grow into himself with more ease, and expresses himself better. A trajectory of small miracles you could say. Cam's complexities We had pursued a number of [...]
A small moment on the beach tells a big and important story about Aspergers parenting: Bella's meltdowns and the message Mom got Bella's mom came for her first visit quite desperate. Bella was prone to severe emotional outbursts and aggressive behavior, especially when she was upset. These outbursts occurred at home, in the community, at school. In front of everyone. Mom knew something was wrong. Something she did not entirely understand. But everyone, including family members, friends, educators, and professionals told her [...]
A landmark study: Can preschoolers wait? A study done by psychologist Walter Mischel at Stanford in the sixties has long been a classic. But it takes on dramatically increased significance with the growth of our understanding of brain plasticity in the last two decades of neuroscience. In this study, preschoolers were seen in a small room with their mothers. The experimenter put a marshmallow on the table and told the child he can eat it right away. Or, if the child [...]
A new study has shown a link between the prevalence of ADHD and solar intensity (SI) in the US and nine countries abroad. Using three datasets (across 49 U.S. states and across 9 non-U.S. countries) a relationship between sunlight intensity and ADHD prevalence was found. These results suggest that exposure to lots of sunshine has a preventative effect: Sunshine may help to prevent ADHD. A big effectThis "Sunshine Effect" was not a small factor. It explained 34%–57% of the variance in ADHD prevalence. This [...]
