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Dear Parenting Digest Subscriber,
Summer is in full swing and vacations, picnics and BBQ's mean exposure to insects for your family.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends the following Bug Safety Tips to keep your children comfortable and bite/sting free this summer:
Don't use scented soaps, perfumes or hair sprays on your child. Avoid
areas where insects nest or congregate, such as stagnant pools of
water, uncovered foods and gardens where flowers are in bloom.
Avoid dressing your child in clothing with bright colors or flowery prints.
To remove a visible stinger from skin, gently scrape it off horizontally with a credit card or your fingernail.
Combination
sunscreen/insect repellent products should be avoided because sunscreen
needs to be reapplied every two hours, but the insect repellent should
not be reapplied.
Insect
repellents containing DEET are most effective against ticks, which can
transmit Lyme Disease, and mosquitoes, which can transmit West Nile
Virus and other viruses.
The
current CDC and AAP recommendation for children over 2 months of age is
to use 30 percent DEET. DEET should not be used on children under 2
months of age. For more information on DEET Click HERE.
Don't forget to check out our BLOG as well as the latest in early intervention news on our FORUM at the Early Intervention Support web page.
Early Intervention Support is a place for families who are facing any challenge
pertaining to their child's growth and development. It is a place where you can
come to find answers and practical suggestions from licensed therapists on how
to work on a variety of issues. Whether you are a parent, grandparent or
therapist of a child with a disability, challenging behavior or other
developmental issue-childhood is short, it should be savored and enjoyed!
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FEATURED ARTICLE: Preventing Torticollis and Plagiocephaly in Infants & Toddlers
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By Tamara Guo, M. Ed.
What is Torticollis?
Torticollis means "twisted neck" and is caused by damage to
or a shortening of the Sterno-cleido-mastoid muscle (SCM muscle) in a baby's
neck. Congenital Muscular Torticollis (CMT) can be caused by in-utero positioning,
lack of space in the uterus, a traumatic birth, a multiple birth or low amniotic
fluid. Some babies have an actual tumor in the SCM muscle, while other babies
just have tightness or thickness in the SCM muscle. Some babies may have no tumor
or tightness, but have asymmetric neck posture due to eye problems, congenital
absence of cervical muscles, low muscle tone or general delayed development.
Associated problems can include hip dysplagia, clubfoot, and brachial plexus
injury.
Torticollis can also be positionally induced or
environmental. We are seeing more and more babies with torticollis ever since
the Back to Sleep campaign began in the early 1990's to combat Sudden Infant
Death Syndrome. Because all babies are sleeping on their backs now, the muscles
in the neck and upper back aren't being stretched out as they were with tummy
sleeping.
What is
Plagiocephaly?
Plagiocephaly refers to any condition characterized by a
persistent flattened spot on the back or side of the head, and is sometimes
called Flat Head Syndrome. Plagiocephaly can be pre-natal, again due to a
restricted uterine environment, lack of amniotic fluid, multiple births or
increased abdominal or uterine muscle tone. As with torticollis there has been
a recent dramatic increase (some experts say a 5 fold increase) in the number
of babies with positional plagiocephaly. This is also due to babies sleeping on
their backs and not receiving tummy time during awake periods and also due to
babies spending too much time in car seats, swings, infant carriers, etc.
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Promoting & Encouraging Friendship for Children with Special Needs
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By Kristen Burke, OTR/L
Friendship plays an important role in everyone's life. When one has no friends life spans are
significantly reduced. Experts agree
that friendship is not a luxury, it is essential to life. Despite this fact, the social networks of
friends and intimate relationships for children with disabilities are often
smaller than are the social networks of children without disabilities. Children with disabilities may have unique
barriers that prevent them from developing and maintaining friendships. These barriers, however, are not
insurmountable but should serve to challenge the creative parent to incorporate
strategies for promoting friendship.
Friendship is an art so there is no one way to approach its development. However, you may want to consider some of the
following ideas and strategies to promote friendship development.
Make friendship development a priority. This may sound simple enough, but families
have such busy lives it is easy to put off scheduling play dates or other
social activities. Families who have
children with special needs often have additional demands to their schedules
like doctor's appointments and therapies.
Look for an activity, club or group in your community that you think
your child would enjoy. Make time to set
up play dates with neighbors or classmates.
Capitalize on your child's strengths and interests. Friendships often begin based on mutual
interests. Maybe your child loves
basketball, is there a local team that he/she could join? Even if a child's physical limitations may
not allow him/her to fully participate in playing basketball is there a role he/she
could fill on the team?
When your child participates in activities be sure to set
him or her up for success. Make sure the
appropriate adaptations are in place. Make
sure his/her abilities are highlighted within the activity. Observe the group and how the children
interact with one another. Could the
group be restructured to promote socialization?
Can children be regrouped to break up cliques? Are there opportunities to pair kids up
one-on-one? The group leader may be open
to some suggestions to create a sense of belonging for all children within the
group.
Practice being a friend with your child. Some children with special needs may need
help learning how to be a friend. We often spend a lot of time teaching
children with special needs specific skills like walking or tying their shoes
but neglect teaching them skills for friendship development. Think about ways in which you can help your
child be a friend, like rehearsing social situations or preparing your child
with social communication skills.
When developing an IEP at school think about
friendship. Can strategies be
implemented that will help your child make friends. For example if your child needs assistance in
the lunch line can peers take turns helping him or her? Maybe your child and his/her friend would get
to go to the cafeteria a couple of minutes early and be first in line, now the
children will view getting to be your child's buddy as a privilege.
It is not possible for you to "mandate" friendship for your
child. However, it is possible to create
opportunities for your child to meet and spend time with other children in ways
that encourage friendship to take root and flourish. It is essential that families think about the
many ways to facilitate these opportunities.
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"A true friend is the most precious of all possessions
and the one we take the least thought about acquiring" ~ La Rochefoucauld
From The Team At Early Intervention Support
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