Summer Newsletter 2011

What's New at The Child Behavior Guide?

Child-behavior-guide.com updates

If you missed it in the last newsletter, there is only one month left to enter the summer fun photo contest for 2011. It’s free to enter and you could win a gift card up to $125. Anyone 13 years of age and older (with guardian permission) can enter as well as children 12 and under with the supervision of their parents.

• Summer Fun Photo Contest for Kids
• Summer Fun Photo Contest Rules

Be sure to check out this great article written by Britt Collins, M.S., OTR/L Sensory Savvy Parenting reprinted with permission from a featured article that appears in the just-released July/August issue of Autism Asperger’s Digest magazine.

• Sensory Savvy Parenting

Bonus Child Behavior Tip

Grocery Store trips

Going to the grocery store with children can be extremely frustrating. Keeping the trip short for younger children is almost mandatory, but there are some ways to help things go more smoothly. This may seem obvious, but bringing toys and a snack are great ways to occupy your child. If they are small enough to fit in one of those cars, let your child cruise around while munching on a favorite snack.

For children with autism or other challenges, you may try using a social story to help prepare your child for the trip. You can take pictures from clip art or another picture program of the food items you plan to buy. Then allow your child to help you pick out the food items. Of course, this may be difficult if you have a lot of items to buy, so you may want to limit it to a certain number of items. Then, gradually work up to a longer trip.

Allowing your child to help you pick out the items you need and talking about the different reasons you are choosing certain items (price and nutritional values) are a great way to keep your child engaged during the trip. You may even give your child the list with a pen and have him/her cross off each item as he/she sees you put it in the cart.

Prior to going into the grocery store, tell your child what type of behavior you expect. I make sure to tell my son prior to going inside that he must stay near me at all times, and control his cart by not running into anyone/anything (he loves to push the little ones). If he doesn’t follow these rules then I pick him up and say, “I’m sorry, it looks like you have chosen to ride in Mommy’s cart today.” Then I have him ride in my cart for the rest of the trip.

For older children this method will obviously not work, but you may consider doing a “practice run” to the store. Arrange for a friend or your spouse to be in the parking lot if you know that shopping is typically difficult. As soon as your child begins to have difficulties, call your friend and have them come and take your child home.

There you can have your child sit in his/her room quietly (no TV or video games) until you get back from your shopping. However, this method is not recommended for an individual with a pervasive developmental disorder, but may work well for a child with ADHD.

What’s in the News?

First Direct Evidence That ADHD Is a Genetic Disorder

New research from scientists at Cardiff University have discovered that children with ADHD were more likely to have small segments of their DNA duplicated or missing compared to other children.

Research showed a significant overlap between these segments, known as copy number variants (CNVs), and genetic variants. These are also implicated in autism and schizophrenia, providing strong evidence that ADHD is a neurodevelopmental disorder. This backs up the theory that children with ADHD have brains that differ from children without ADHD.

I think this also helps to support the theory that certain things in a child's diet as well as things in the environment can exacerbate symptoms due to the brain responding to and perceiving things differently than a typical child's brain would.

New Possible Early Detection of Autism

According to researchers at Columbia University in New York City, functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) may provide an early and objective indicator of autism. Researchers used the technique to document language impairment in children with autism symptoms. Results of their study appear online and in the August issue of Radiology.