On the Use of the iPad As an Assistive Technology For Children With Autism: Show and tell

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At our last meeting Catharine demonstrated the use of an iPad as an assitive technology for children with special needs in her classroom. The particular app was the Art of Glow. We were all mesmerized. -gw
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Turn-taking was amazing


A child with down syndrome was skilled at matching


I show them the video of themselves being a good student

On Autism, ADHD & Disruptive Behavior: Triumvirate for services

http://sunfieldcenter.com/
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Are autism, ADHD, and disruptive behavior the Big Three concerns for child mental health these days? I was looking at the website for an Ann Arbor MI-based agency that markets itself by invoking these concerns. Certainly these have been topics we have been addressing consistently in our monthly consultations, too. By the way, I really like the description used on the Sunfield site for Parent Child Interaction Therapy. -gw
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Parenting is not always easy, particularly when a child’s temperament negatively affects his or her ability to adapt to the demands of daily life. Parents of children with behavioral difficulties, often experience increased frustration and higher levels of depression, particularly mothers. Parent Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT) is an empirically-supported treatment approach designed to help parents manage problem behaviors while building a stronger relationship with their child.

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http://sunfieldcenter.com/for-families/blog/parent-child-interaction-therapy/

On ADD 200 Years From Now: You would never be called someone with a disorder.

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They do respond to context, and they do respond to medication, but the sad thing is they get labeled with a disorder instead of with a temperamental variation that doesn't match the absolutely sick environment we're having people grow [up] in. "You gotta go there, so you'll take this pill." That's what I tell people. Whenever I prescribe medication for ADD, I say, "Look, if you were 200 years from now, you would never be called someone with a disorder. You'd be mentored by somebody, and you'd be learning, you know, by example. And that would be all fine. You wouldn't be sitting in a classroom until you are 18 years of age, for God's sake, sitting on your butt. You just wouldn't. And no one would think you had a disorder."

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I was only able to attend two hours of a webinar offered on campus at Kitsap Mental Health Services. Anita said I would enjoy every minute of it. She was right. Dan Siegel's presentation offered many insights as cutting to the quick as this one on Attention Deficit Disorder. It was in a section of the day-long training that addressed temperament, the biological differences -- the hard-wiring -- that we enter the world wtth. -gw

On Meeting Anita: The luxury of a month-long assesment of a child

We do something a little unusual at our meetings. We do video as it relates generally to our work and post it on our blog. We're all on first name basis here. Meet Anita. -gw

I started to notice children's reactions when their parents came to pick them up


We had a whole month with the child


The rocking helped the body to calm down

On a Child Psychiatrist's Answer to the Question: Could We Treat These Kids Without Medication?

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Those who attended last month's exhilerating consultation will remember this discussion thread, which we intend to carry forward at our October meeting. Interested in the subject? Want to offer your 2 cents? Come on down. -gw

On the Power of the Internet to Magnify Discourse: From around the table to around the world

This little blog based in not-exactly-backwater Bremerton WA had 73 pageview hits on Oct. 1st, it had 262 on Oct 2nd, 463 on Oct. 3rd, and 134 on Oct. 4th. Almost a 1000 pageviews in four days, a nice way to start the month. -gw

On Observations of a Behavioral Pediatrician: Facilitating children’s healthy emotional development

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What is infant mental health? A case of a hitting toddler http://t.co/Zv0Lx2wO via @BostonDotCom

about 12 hours ago

Keeping Your Child in Mind - A Book Review http://t.co/4ynY5ZIP

1 day ago

Experts debate proposed child mental health disorder diagnosis http://t.co/7VHQoedT

3 days ago

Pediatrician Claudia Gold urges parents to see world as kids do - Berkshire Eagle Online http://t.co/6yTVHfCJ via @BerkshireEagle

4 days ago

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Claudia Gold's Twitter feed, from which the four items above are drawn, is an indication of her focus. Here is a paragraph from her blog describing her new practice.
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There are two major problems with the term "infant mental health." First of all, it implies that there is such a thing as infant mental illness, which is, in my opinion, not the case. Second, when say that I am a pediatrician who treats behavior problems in children under age five, most people are puzzled. I tell them that I give parents space and time to reflect, and to be curious about the meaning of behavior, with the aim of getting development back on a healthy path. Still the blank look. I have found that the best way to explain it is through stories, as I do in my book Keeping Your Child in Mind.

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Two items of note, the first, her statement that "there is no such a thing as infant mental illness." True? Second, the very fact of her starting a specialty practice of behavioral pediatrics. Is she one-of-a-kind or are there other behavioral pediatricians whose focus is strictly on young children? And then there is this from her blog header description.
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I will show how contemporary research in child development can be applied to support parents in their efforts to facilitate their children’s healthy emotional development. I will address factors that converge to obstruct such support. These include limited access to quality mental health care, influences of a powerful health insurance industry and intensive marketing efforts by the pharmaceutical industry.

Her short list of" factors that ... obstruct" is interesting, citing, as she does, both the health insurance and pharmaceutical industries. The "medicated child" (see the previous post on this blog) is an agreed upon topic for discussion at our next meeting of the Peninsulas Infant & Early Childhood Mental Health Consultation group. -gw