By: Michelle VanderHeide, BSW Development is a complex process, and truly amazing when you break it down. Each little gain that a child makes is a miracle, especially when you begin to look at the complexity of the brain. The ventrolateral prefrontal cortex (VLPFC) is the part of the brain used to read and understand …
By: Nicole Beurkens, PhD My husband and I had three sons when our daughter joined our family. I was thrilled with the idea of finally being able to put one of my children in dresses, buy cute little shoes, and do her hair. After three boys, it was time for me to have another female …
My son is very rapidly approaching his second birthday, and has progressed so much developmentally. The rate of development obviously slowed since his first year of life, as there is so much that happens in the first year. You may wonder what development has to do with autism, and why this topic is so important. …
Communication is critical to continued human development throughout our life span. It is what allows us to share thoughts, feelings, wonderings, and knowledge with others. Whether you are a verbal or nonverbal communicator, the vast majority of communication we do is through nonverbal channels. So if nonverbal communication makes up a substantial portion of our …
I found this great little movie on the internet at www.simpletruths.com, and was inspired to write about the message it conveyed. The story begins by talking about how the penguins were the leaders in many organizations. One day, a peacock comes along and begins spreading his creativity and ingenuity. At first, the penguins were excited …
It seems like only yesterday that I started this series on infant development, and now my baby boy has turned a year old. It is fun to look back and reflect on how much has changed from one year ago. No year is like the first in the amount of growth and development a child …
Now that spring has arrived here in Michigan, many construction projects are once again underway. Land is being cleared, holes are being dug, and foundations are being laid. Each time I see a foundation being poured for a new home, school or business, it makes me think of the foundations we must lay in our …
Curiosity is something that is developed very early in life and becomes very evident once a child starts to move. Although it can be very annoying to pull babies out of cupboards, dishwashers, refrigerators and toilets, curiosity is an extremely important foundation to a child’s neurotypical development. Curiosity allows discoveries – it offers children those …
It is the dance of life, the basis of human interaction. It’s about moving fluidly through our interactions. It’s not about an outcome, but the process in which we get there. It’s about doing it together. It’s the give and take. It’s the responses given to our actions and/or words. It’s co-regulation. By 9 months …
By: Erin Roon, MA CCC-SLP Competence is a word I use a lot in my day to day work with families as an CORE Approach consultant. Not many sessions go by in which we don’t talk about their child’s feelings of competence or incompetence. Many people do not stop to think about feelings of competence …
