BY J. FREEMAN KING Even though American Sign Language (ASL) and English are totally diverse languages in that one, ASL, is a visual language and English, in its spoken form, is an auditory language, their manner of acquisition is strikingly similar, in that the brain readily encodes both a visual language and an auditory language in like fashion. Certainly, deaf children are born with a predisposition to learn language, whether it be visual , spoken, […]
BY KIMBERLEE RUTAN McCAFFERTY Eleven years ago my husband and I entered a developmental pediatrician’s office with our then-17-month-old son, Justin. We were both nervous and resigned, anticipating, and in some ways welcoming, the autism diagnosis we were sure our boy would merit. Four years later we would retrace our steps in a different state with our second son, Zach. On this occasion we were much less scared, even eager to get a diagnosis to […]
EARLY PREPARATIONS FOR UNIVERSITY BOUND STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES BY EMILY WEIBLE AND IVOR WEINER, PH.D. Many young men and women with disabilities want to succeed. They enjoy work or school and relish the chance to serve society, but despite their best efforts, something isn’t working. These young people are trying their hardest to make an independent life, to no avail. Chances are, if you’re reading this, you know what we’re talking about. The transition from […]
GENETIC ALLIANCE BY REBECCA DOWNEY AND SHARON ALEXANDER, MPA There is no right answer or complete list of what to look for in an adapted toys. Each individual has unique abilities, needs, interests and goals. Playtime is the time when kids are able to free their minds and bodies from the stresses of academic achievement and do what they do best: be kids. Healthy child development is impacted greatly by playtime. Developing dexterity, cognitive, and […]
AMERICAN ACADEMY OF DEVELOPMENTAL MEDICINE & DENTISTRY BY H. BARRY WALDMAN DDS, MPH, PHD, STEVEN P. PERLMAN DDS, MSCD, DHL (HON), AND MISHA GAREY, DDS AN INORDINATE FONDNESS FOR BEETLES “The Creator would appear as endowed with a passion for stars, on the one hand, and for beetles on the other, for the simple reason that there are nearly 300,000 species of beetle known, and perhaps more, as compared with somewhat less than 9,000 species […]
