Deficits in Early Infancy May Point to Autism in Pediatrics from MedPage Today:

Research in child development confirms that language and communication skills benefit from early intervention. Identification of early signs in infancy has great potential to identify and treat communication conditions earlier resulting in improved language development.

Give Peace A Chance

We are a nation at war and it still surprises me at times but most things about war surprise me and shock me. I am always amazed at the casualty numbers and how we separate our American losses from the countries we are fighting. The number of civilian losses in Iraq are staggering yet we scarcely blink an eye because it is not "our" people. Well there in lies much of the problem.

I believe in the interdependence of all things. In early science classes we were all taught about ecosystems and that organisms working in harmony as a community result in growth and life. We seem to forget it applies not just to plants and other animals. We are part of it too and it includes the people we count as separate from us based on imaginary boundary lines.

We came to create a ball of hope, The Catch Peace Thumball is covered with the word Peace in different languages just like our world is covered with different nations and tongues. We use it to discuss the many languages that exist and find on a map where they are spoken. It is fun to highlight the different way words sound and trying to pronounce words "foreign" to us.

We use Catch Peace Thumball to honor the belief that to focus on our similarities not only our differences will help cultures understand each other and lead to communication and respect. It is a small step perhaps but to share the concept of oneness to children from a young age can't be a bad thing.

The war being fought is not American vs. Iraqi. The majority of Iraqis are people like us raising families, working hard, living simply and wanting peace. Toss it around, practice saying peace. it just may give peace a chance... of growing.

Move Your Body Is Fun For All

Another of our latest designs is the Teal and Yellow Thumball titled MOVE YOUR BODY. A spontaneous game erupted with our family on Father's Day and it was a blast seeing everyone from our 8 year old daughter to our 77 year old father acting out movements and interacting with enthusiasm and humor.

This Thumball has suggestions such as "Flap your wings and soar; March proudly and salute; Lift your knees to your elbows." So you respond to the direction under your thumb in your choice of ways:

1. Perform it one or more times for the physical activity. Multiple sets of each action really is an excellent all over workout.
2. Act it out and let others guess what you are doing, like Charades.
3. Give direction to another player. Add difficulty by using the Simon Sez format. They must remember to hear "Simon Sez" before they do that action.
4. Discuss an experience they had such as "Cast your pole and reel in a fish" will prompt great fish stories.

The goals worked on with Move Your Body Thumball are numerous:

• Physical exercise, body language, vocabulary development, listening skills and oral expression.
• Players can perform the actions while seated, standing or move around in a gym or outside.
• A great icebreaker when a meeting goes long and everyone needs a release and a laugh.

Even people not overly physically active, enjoy using Move Your Body Thumball to get the creaks out and get the blood flowing. This Thumball will not fail to impress, excite and bring friends and families together in a new, interactive way. The physical benefits are inherent and the cross generational experience is priceless. Move Your Body Thumball will become available September 15, 2008.

Read to Your Womb

Reading to your child while still in the womb is either encouraged or scoffed at. I believe it is a worthy practice from a speech therapist's point of view and a mother's experience. The cadence of a voice reading has it's own unique rise and fall.Hearing the rhythm and rhyme in a story lays critical ground work for later language development.. The rate of reading is slower and more measured than the typical speed of speech and consequently received in an important way.

Changes in volume can be both subtle and significant depending on the story. Emotion comes through whether relating a cheerful story or a sleepy bedtime tale. Now the new life curled inside may seem to know little of these things and yet can recognize these changes in pitch, tone, speed and volume. There are studies out there (which I should be referencing but it is late and I am tired) that can confirm changes in the fetal respiratory, muscular and circulatory systems when being read to.

I really observed the effect when my own daughter was born as she readily stopped, looked and listened in a very natural way when a story began from the earliest moments after her birth. Her language skills advanced extremely quickly being my little speech and language experiment and I felt proud of her early accomplishments as she beat milestone after milestone.

Other studies show precocious youngsters usually even out in these talents with their peers by second or third grade and this followed suit with my daughter. I never intended to get caught up in what appeared to be a gifted learner but at times I found myself imagining the full scholarship award ceremony and our first visit to an Ivy League school.

So in retrospect I believe reading to my womb had a positive impact on my daughter's language development and continues to this day with her true love of reading and learning. It is a great way to lay a foundation for learning and should be a pleasurable experience for its own sake. Stay in the moment as much as possible and know that too much emphasis on future plans can steal golden moments right in front of you.

To those that see reading to a fetus as a laughable concept I say try it and you may be amazed what a wonderful way it can be to unwind. Reading a children's story in a slow, soft way, the duties of the day float away and there you are with a cat in a hat or three little pigs. Better still create daily reading habits before the birth and you are sure to keep this nighttime ritual for many treasured years. Both you and your child will have sweeter dreams to share together and piles of stories to plan for the future.

Fish Gotta Swim, Kids Gotta Move

Parents, It's hot out there so the kids will be indoors more and they need activity, lots of it. Post-its have become a terrific teaching tool to me. In a matter of minutes I can jot down the names of our family, pets and friends, one on each post-it. Then I place them through out the house.
Now the kids get to hunt for the names. Older kids can carry a clip board and when they find a name they put it on the paper and write down where they found it. They must find all the names (throw in a few funny ones, Sponge Bob etc) and where they found them specifically (in the kitchen,on the counter under the microwave) before they can come back.

I tell them how many name post-its are out there. They can work as a team or take turns. The one with the most names found now gets to conduct the next hunt. They can choose to write letters, words, sentences or draw pictures and place them around the "approved rooms". The other kids get to hunt. They will be active mentally and physically and will come up with their own creative ideas in the process.
A fun twist is to pick 10 compound words (football, airport, snowman etc.) and write each word separately on a post-it. Once they find all 20 notes then they must sort them and make 10 words.

If you have younger children learning to read you can place 10 post-its all with the same word and it will help them build sight word vocabulary. Go to http://www.quiz-tree.com/Sight-Words_main.html
for lists of these important words.

The value I get from a pack of post-its is fantastic but I attest that the 3M post-it people are not giving me a kick back.
Kids love to hunt, search, explore and discover even if it's small slips of sticky paper in the house. Language skills grow and hearing "I'm bored" fades away. Enjoy some lemonade and a day inside until the cool evening air lifts the heavy heat and the kids can hunt for lightening bugs instead.