Blog - PediaStaff

Gene That Influences Receptive Joint Attention in Chimpanzees Gives Insight into Autism

February 5, 2014

Attention, Autism, Comparative Biology, News of the Week, OT, School Psych, SLP

[Source: Science Daily] Following another’s gaze or looking in the direction someone is pointing, two examples of receptive joint attention, is significantly heritable according to new study results from researchers at the Yerkes National Primate Research Center, Emory University. Determining such communicative…...

February 5, 2014

7 February 2014, Autism, News, Newsletter

[Medical News Today] From birth, infants naturally show a preference for human contact and interaction, including faces and voices. These basic predispositions to social stimuli are altered in individuals diagnosed with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). One of the best methods to examine autism in very…...

February 4, 2014

Anxiety, OT, School Psych, Stress

[Source: Medical News Today] New research shows that babies not only pick up on their mother’s stress, they also show corresponding physiological changes. “Our research shows that infants ‘catch’ and embody the physiological residue of their mothers’ stressful experiences,” says lead researcher Sara…...

February 4, 2014

SLP, Speech Sounds, Temporal Gyrus, Wernikes Area

[Source: Medical News Today] Researchers at the University of California San Francisco show in a new study – published in the journal Science – that the shaping of sound by our mouths leaves “an acoustic trail” that the brain follows. Scientists have known for…...

February 4, 2014

Article, Feeding Disorders, OT, SLP

[Source: Complex Child Magazine] If someone had told me four years ago this week that my daughter Raya would still be getting 85% of her calories from tube feeds four years later, I wouldn’t have believed it. And I probably would have…...

February 3, 2014

7 February 2014, Anxiety, Article, Newsletter, Selective Mutism, SLP

By: Joleen Fernald, PhD, CCC-SLP Least Restrictive Environment Allow nonverbal communication (pointing, head nods, shakes, thumbs up or down, facial expressions etc.) Prior preparation or alternatives for presentations Video/Audio taping Verbal intermediary Small group work Testing accommodations…For example, taping reading fluency lessons at…...

February 3, 2014

7 February 2014, Article, Newsletter, OT, Visual Perception

By: Loren Shlaes, OT Most, if not all, of the children who come for occupational therapy have an undiagnosed visual problem. This is because the low muscle tone in the neck and trunk of children with sensory processing issues does not give the…...

February 2, 2014

7 February 2014, Article, Down Syndrome, Language, Newsletter, SLP, Speech Sound Disorders

[Source: Down Syndrome Online] by: Sue Buckley This article reviews the research on speech and language in children and adolescents with Down syndrome from a practical point of view. It identifies the typical profile of speech and language development, emphasising the variability in…...

January 30, 2014

31 January 2014, News, Rett Syndrome

[Source: Medical News Today] In normal development, all cells turn off genes they don’t need, often by attaching a chemical methyl group to the DNA, a process called methylation. Historically, scientists believed methyl groups could only stick to a particular DNA sequence:…...

January 30, 2014

31 January 2014, News, Newsletter

[Source: Medical News Today] New research suggests a surprising degree of similarity in the organization of regions of the brain that control language and complex thought processes in humans and monkeys. The study, published online January 28 in the Cell Press journal…...