Posted in Advocacy for Inclusion, Autism, Behavioural Needs, Chronic Health, Counsellor, Deaf Blind, Deaf or Hard of Hearing, Doctor, Emotional, English, Extended Family, Family, Fine Arts, Gifted, Health Issues, Inspirational Moments, Intellectual Disabilities, Language Arts, Learning English, Math, Mental, Mental Illness, Moments that Make You Smile, My Reflections, Occupational Therapy, Organizations, Physical, Physical Dependent, Physical Disabilities, Physical Education, Physiotherapist, Psychologist, Reading, Research, Researchers, Resources, Science, Social, Social Services, Social Studies, Special Education Assistant, Special Needs Categories, Special Needs Teacher, Speech and Language Therapist, Spelling, Spiritual, Subjects, Teacher, Technology, Visual Impairments, Website Educational Games, Working Together: Professionals and Family, tagged ability, activities, activity, advocacy, Assessment, child, children, classroom, Disability, Family Ties, hope, learning disability, psychologist, resource, Resources, school, special education, Special Education Learning Centre, special needs, strategies, Teacher, Teachers on April 8, 2012| Leave a Comment »
I saw this old play pony in a playground the other day. It was a classic little beauty but needed so much tender loving care. Seems like some children I work with need that kind of care too. They are stuck. Not going anywhere.
Well, I came across an Australian educational psychologist blog which I found inspirational and exciting. Maybe the little ponies in our lives might start to move with a little bit of inspiration from our Australian colleague.
http://www.schoolpsychologyblog.com/
Posted in Advocacy for Inclusion, Behavioural Needs, Counsellor, Doctor, Emotional, Extended Family, Family, Health Issues, Mental, My Reflections, Psychologist, Reading, Research, Researchers, Resources, Science, Social Services, Special Education Assistant, Special Needs Categories, Special Needs Teacher, Speech and Language Therapist, Teacher, tagged ADD, ADHD, attention, behaviour, Behavioural Needs, class, classroom, doctor, doctors, research, researchers, Teacher, Teachers, University of British Columbia, youngest on March 5, 2012| 3 Comments »
Well, a shocking study has come out of the University of British Columbia where:
… researchers focused on 937,943 students who were six to 12 years old between Dec. 1, 1997, and Nov. 30, 2008 in a province where the cutoff age for entry to school is Dec. 31. The study, published in Monday’s Canadian Medical Association Journal, found children born in December were 39 per cent more likely to be diagnosed and 48 per cent more likely to be treated with medication for ADHD, compared to children with a January birthday.
The background and concerns are clearly expressed in the summary of the research:
The annual cut-off date of birth for entry to school in British Columbia, Canada, is December 31. Thus, children born in December are typically the youngest in their grade. We sought to determine the influence of relative age within a grade on the diagnosis and pharmacologic treatment of attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children.
The results of our analyses show a relative-age effect in the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD in children aged 6–12 years in British Columbia. These findings raise concerns about the potential harms of overdiagnosis and overprescribing. These harms include adverse effects on sleep, appetite and growth, in addition to increased risk of cardiovascular events.
This study will hopefully have positive ramifications where educators, doctors, parents and students will have the knowledge and wisdom to know the these student may just be immature compared to their classmates and that there are serious implications in jumping into medication too quickly.
To read more click on the following links:
Posted in Advocacy for Inclusion, Behavioural Needs, Inspirational Moments, Learning English, Mental, Social, tagged classroom, crying, death, emotion, Empathy, Japan on August 26, 2010| Leave a Comment »
Empathy is an essential tool! Below is a link to a touching video about instilling Empathy in a classroom. If we can build empathy into our teaching and build this vital skill in children today we could literally shape the future of the world.
Empowering and Building Empathy
Notes from a Special Needs Teacher
Notes From a Special Needs Teacher 