High-dose caffeine safe, lowers risk of motor disorders in preemies: study

By: Helen Branswell, The Canadian Press Posted: 01/17/2012 3:29 PM | Comments: 0 (including replies) A newborn baby is seen at the premature birth unit of a hospital in Istanbul, Turkey, Tuesday, Sept. 23, 2008. A high-dose jolt of java in the neonatal unit is safe and helps lower the risk premature babies – the […]

Welcome to the Age of Overparenting- How I Learned to Let My Kids Be Kids

By Katherine Ozment WHEN BOSTON WAS HIT by last winter’s barrage of blizzards, my two oldest kids, then ages eight and five, spent their snow days lounging around the house in their pajamas, occasionally dabbling at the computer. “Mom,” they said, “we’re bored.” Finally, I suggested they go outside — but not too far and […]

Gluten-free grains

The following are grains one can consume while on a gluten free diet.  Kathy Smart, HTC, PTS, RNC, RSNA AMARANTHAmaranth is not an actual grain; it is an ancient Aztec plant which produces flowerets containing tiny grain-like seeds.  It has a nut-like flavour, and is high in protein and is the second highest in quality […]

Are kids suffering from nature-deficit disorder?

A Conservation Council of New Brunswick initiative is urging parents and educators to take children outside more often in an effort to promote better health and environmental stewardship in the future. According to author Richard Louv, “Nature-deficit disorder describes the human costs of alienation from nature – among them: diminished use of the senses, attention […]

Trained Peers Better at Aiding Autistic Kids with Social Skills

By Rick Nauert PhD Senior News EditorReviewed by John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on December 1, 2011 _____________________________________________________________________________ A new study suggests training peers can help children with autism spectrum disorder improve their social skills, even more than a direct adult-led intervention. Researchers led by Connie Kasari, Ph.D., discovered children with ASD who attend regular education […]

Brain Enlargement Seen In Boys With Regressive Autism, But Not Early Onset Autism

In the largest study of brain development in preschoolers with autism to date, a study by UC Davis MIND Institute researchers has found that 3-year-old boys with regressive autism, but not early onset autism, have larger brains than their healthy counterparts. The study is published online in the Proceedings of the National Academy of SciencesEarly […]

Social Stories: An Emerging and Effective Intervention for Students with Autism Spectrum

Over the past decade social stories have shown promise as a positive and proactive classroom strategy for teaching social skills to children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). They continue to be widely discussed, reviewed, and recommended as an effective and user-friendly behavioral intervention. Social stories allow the child to receive direct instruction in learning the […]

Autistic Brains Develop More Slowly Than Healthy Brains, Researchers Say

ScienceDaily (Oct. 20, 2011)  — Researchers at UCLA have found a possible explanation for why autistic children act and think differently than their peers. For the first time, they’ve shown that the connections between brain regions that are important for language and social skills grow much more slowly in boys with autism than in non-autistic […]

A combination of rare and common genetic variations could play a part in biological pathways linked to Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)

Cardiff University scientists revealed last year that children with the condition, like those with autism, were more likely than unaffected individuals to carry duplicated or omitted small DNA segments known as copy number variants (CNVs). The findings suggested that rare genetic variations contribute to ADHD risk. Similar findings have been found for autism, schizophrenia and […]

Celebrate Crawling! 8 Reasons Crawling Creates Capable Kids

Did you know that this generation of kids is less likely to crawl than any generation in the history of toddlers? That is, if you live in the U.S. or the U.K. We have embraced the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) “Back To Sleep” program which trains new Moms to place their babies on their backs to […]