KaylaPearson.com

Research at the Baby Lab Project at Uppsala University in Stockholm is studying electromagnetic brain activity in babies by attaching electrodes to their heads whilst they are playing with different objects.The aim of this research is to tell which part of the brain does what when the child interacts with the world around him. This will help the researchers to discover the differences between brains in those with autism and others. In order to do this they had to develop special light electrodes so that they were not too heavy for the baby.One of the reasons for the research is to be able to diagnose autistic children sooner and more easily. This will enable treatment to start earlier, currently it is practically impossible to diagnose before the age of 18 months and sometimes it can take much longer, even into adulthood.

A recent report by ABC News and Good Morning America examined a relatively new method of helping children with the disorder (and their families) by using trained service dogs—the kind of dogs that we are all used to seeing assist the blind and deafService dogs provide comfort, help and supportGroups such as 4 Paws for Ability and the North Star Foundation have been working with service dogs and the families of autistic children and people with other disorders and disabilities. The dogs from both groups are trained to do work with specific disorders—in other words, these service dogs are specialists to an extent. 4 Paws was the first agency to begin placing skilled autism service dogs and continues to be the largest organization in the United States to do so. The dogs that work with autistic children are trained to work with specific behaviors that are unique to the autism spectrum including impaired or limited verbal ability and communication skills, an inability to connect well with his or her environment, an inability to read emotions, wandering and repetitive, often ritual-like behaviors.These specially trained service dogs have proved helpful with all of these behaviors. Tracking is one of their key tasks and is a relief for many parents of autistic children who wander. Using a distinctly Pavlovian model, the dogs are trained in such a way that the child’s behavior elicits a response in the dog that will be helpful, calming, protective (or all three) depending upon the task at hand. Some dogs even attend school with the children. The dogs are also socialized with the children to ensure that the paring is a good one. North Star has a puppy education program which occurs during the first six months of the puppy’s life. That education is then provided to the families of their clients, who become partners in training the dog to meet their child’s specific needs.
According to 4 Paws: “Research indicates that the child with Autism displays behaviors toward their dog that they rarely, if ever, display towards human companions. In addition, the child that is partnered with a [service] dog is found to seek their dog out for companionship, comfort, and confiding in ways never shown to family members.”Both 4 Paws and North Assert that using service dogs has a therapeutic effect that is heightened in a child with autism because of the powerful nature of communication between the dog and the child. The nonverbal avenue of interacting with a dog is important advantage because of the communication issues surrounding the autistic spectrum, and through this nonverbal advantage they help with socialization, emotional and educational issues.Are service dogs a cure? At this point, there is no cure for autism or any of the disorders along the PDD spectrum. According to John Adams, Ph.D., “Left untreated, many autistic children will not develop effective social skills and may not learn to talk or behave appropriately. Very few individuals recover completely from autism without any intervention.There is however,a variety of treatment options and their effects.” Among the common therapies are medication, emotional and behavioral therapies including Applied Behavior Analysis , music therapy, sensory therapy and many others. While there are many therapies being used and studied for helping autistic children, working with service dogs seems to be one that is having positive effects not only for autistic children but for their families as well.

You would never think something like this would go back as far as it does. When I read up o it it just really supprised me that it goes backa s far as it does and just think we were now here near as medically advanced then as we are now. Pretty scary if you ask me.Esophageal Atresia is documented as far back as the seventeenth century (1600’s). Not much is known before then due to lack of documentation. Here is a guide to the history and documents on Esophageal Atresia. 1821 Dr. Martin reports the second case of esophageal atresia and distal fistula 124 years after first description by Gibson. 1840 Dr. Thomas Hill reports on the first know case of esophageal atresia and rectal agenesis. His description of the birth defects of the trachea, esophagus and fistula (TEF) including the anal defect could be considered for first describing the multiple birth defects we see today coined VATER Association.
1841 Dr. Hirschprung had seen four cases of esophageal atresia with fistula adding to the 10 already in literature. 1869 The first suggestion of surgical treatment by Dr. Timothy Holmes on babies born with esophageal atresia and fistula. 1873 A different type of fistula is described in literature with Lambs description of the ‘H’ fistula in 1873. Usually there is no missing part of the esophagus but there is a small connection between the esophagus and trachea in the shape of the letter H. An example would be when you write the capital letter H you make two vertical lines and connect the lines with a horizontal line. The two horizontal lines are the esophagus and trachea connected by horizontal line the piece of tissue called a fistula. Today also described as both an ‘H’ fistula and ‘N’ fistula. 1880 Morell Mackenzie in 1880 writes an article on ‘Malformations of the esophagus’ adding the one he has now seen to the 56 others already written in literature.October 20, 1888 Dr. Charles Steele of London performed the first operation on a baby with esophageal atresia. In 1898 Hoffman operated on a baby with esophageal atresia and is believed to be the first to do a gastrostomy on a baby with esophageal atresia. October 22, 1670 The first recorded case of esophageal atresia was in 1670, by Dr. William Durston of England, who found a blind-ending upper esophagus in one of a pair of female thoracopagus conjoined twins. Of it he wrote a paper, “Description of a Monstrous Birth in Plymouth”.1697The first report of esophageal atresia with tracheoesophageal fistula was done by Thomas Gibson in 1697, titled: “An Anatomy of Humane Bodies Epitomized, a Clinical Account of Esophageal Atresia with Distal Tracheo-esophageal Fistula.” October 22, 1670
The first recorded case of esophageal atresia was in 1670, by Dr. William Durston of England, who found a blind-ending upper esophagus in one of a pair of female thoracopagus conjoined twins. Of it he wrote a paper, “Description of a Monstrous Birth in Plymouth”. 1697
The first report of esophageal atresia with tracheoesophageal fistula was done by Thomas Gibson in 1697, titled: “An Anatomy of Humane Bodies Epitomized, a Clinical Account of Esophageal Atresia with Distal Tracheo-oesophageal Fistula.” * 1821
Dr. Martin reports the second case of esophageal atresia and distal fistula 124 years after first description by Gibson. 1840 Dr. Thomas Hill reports on the first know case of esophageal atresia and rectal agenesis. His description of the birth defects of the trachea, esophagus and fistula (TEF) including the anal defect could be considered for first describing the multiple birth defects we see today coined VATER Association.1841 Dr. Hirschprung had seen four cases of esophageal atresia with fistula adding to the 10 already in literature. 1869 The first suggestion of surgical treatment by Dr. Timothy Holmes on babies born with esophageal atresia and fistula. 1873
A different type of fistula is described in literature with Lambs description of the ‘H’ fistula in 1873. Usually there is no missing part of the esophagus but there is a small connection between the esophagus and trachea in the shape of the letter H. An example would be when you write the capital letter H you make two vertical lines and connect the lines with a horizontal line. The two horizontal lines are the esophagus and trachea connected by horizontal line the piece of tissue called a fistula. Today also described as both an ‘H’ fistula and ‘N’ fistula.
1880 Morell Mackenzie in 1880 writes an article on ‘Malformations of the esophagus’ adding the one he has now seen to the 56 others already written in literature.
October 20, 1888 Dr. Charles Steele of London performed the first operation on a baby with esophageal atresia. 1898
In 1898 Hoffman operated on a baby with esophageal atresia and is believed to be the first to do a gastrostomy on a baby with esophageal atresia.1913 Dr. Richter tries to separate a baby with esophaageal atresia with a tracheoesophageal fistula. 1923 Dr. Smith tries ligation of the esophagus at the cardia. 1928 Dr. Scott does a gastrostomy and divides the esophagus at the cardia. 1936 Gage and Oschner do a cervical esophagostomy. Open the neck on either side and bring out part of the esophagus. They ligate the esophagus and do a gastrostomy.T. H. Lanman tried the first direct approach to correct esophageal atresia as did Robert Shaw.
1938 Dr. Shaw attempts a primary anastamosis. (bringing the two ends of the esophagus together.)Dr. Gamble does a cervical esophagostomy and divides the stomach.1939
The First survivor of esophageal atresia with distal tracheoesophageal fistula is a baby girl and patient of Dr. William Ladd (Father of Pediatric Surgery) in Boston in 1939. Dr. Ladd’s patient had a distal fistula and he used a staged approach to the operation. This staged approach means that one part of the operation is disconnecting the fistula from the lower part of the trachea and then feeding the baby by the gastrostomy tube and now letting the baby grow and gain strength for the next part of the operation.In the same year and at almost the same time in Minnesota Dr. Leven does a similar operation on a baby boy and this boy survives. This boy was born one day before the baby girl Dr. Imperatori described the success of his operation on a patient with an H fistula. 1941 Dr. Cameran Haight and Dr. Harry Towsley from Michigan successfully operate on a baby girl born with esophageal atresia with a tracheoesophageal fistula. This is the first time the lower part of the esophagus is disconnected and rejoined to the top part of the esophagus called a primary anastamosis (sewing the two ends together) and the patient survives. Medical history is made. Haight had tried this on ten other patients and none survived. This baby girl survived 12 days before her operation was to take place.
1943 using an extrapleural approach, Haight and Towsley reported the first successful repair of esophageal atresia (EA) with
(TEF). 1944 Haight & Towsley successfully repair of esophageal atresia.

Notochord is a flexible, rod shaped body found in embryos of all chordates. It is composed of cells derived from the mesoderm and defines the primitive axis of the embryo.] abnormalities, desynchronous Lack of synchrony, as in brain waves.] esophageal mesenchymal loosely organized connective tissue present in the embryo regardless of origin and epithelial. In biology and medicine, epithelium is a tissue composed of layers of cells that line the cavities and surfaces of structures throughout the body growth rates, neural crest transient component of the ectoderm, is located in between the neural tube and the epidermis or the free margins of the neural folds of an embryo during neural tube formation cell involvement, and incomplete tracheoesophageal separation resulting from a lack of apoptosis a form of programmed cell death in multicellular organisms are some of the conditions theorized for EA embryogenesis. Similarly, incomplete tracheoesophageal septation, lateral ridge fusion failure, and tracheal and esophageal proximity have been suggested as possible explanations for the origin of TEF. In addition, vascular insufficiencies genetic factors; vitamin deficiencies; drug and alcohol exposures; and viral, chemical, and external physical events may contribute to the development of EA.

This presidential election has been fun. I’ve never followed one more closely, in fact, the Democratic primary process was a downright adrenaline rush. But I must say I am ready for it all to be over. The last few weeks of the election are always the most grueling, and I just get tired of the negative-ness of it all. I mean, wasn’t that “cat fight” between Obama and McCain oh so flattering at the last debate? “You need to say sorry!” “I’ll say sorry if you say sorry!” “No, you hurt my feelings!” It was ridiculous.

But what I am most excited for is all the Sarah Palin talk to be over. The whole topic is simply wearing me out. And what I’m most tired of is the judgmental feeling I get from (some) other women when I say I don’t support Sarah Palin. I think they automatically assume I don’t support Palin because I’m judging her as a woman and mother. Woman or not, I don’t agree with her politics and have not been impressed with her on so many levels. For me, it’s not about whether or not she’s a woman, it’s about what she stands for, what she says, how she campaigns.
I will admit that, at first, I was a bit judgmental of her as a mother. After all, she does have a nursing baby with special needs. That is some time-consuming stuff. How can someone deal with that and have a big old job like Vice President of the United States. I have a child with disabilities and you would think that she would feel a little bit guilty about not being there. I mean we spent 7 months in the hospital with our son day in and out and when i new that travis really waned to be a stay at home dad i stepped up to the plate and started workin 6 days a week 10 hour days and it was hard. I now look back and was thinking what was i doing.I missed out on so much. I dont feel like i got to bond with my son the way I wanted to, dont get me wrong we have a a awesome very strong bond and if anyone but mom dad or grandma pick him up he will most generally let you know. He is a awesome kid a true angel. But this issue doesn’t bother me anymore. Obviously her baby is taken care of and I’m not going to judge how she handles the situation. This no longer plays a role in how I view Sarah Palin.
But I will judge how she has handled the campaign, how she has come up short in so many ways that have nothing to do with her status as a woman or a mother. Yes, Sarah Palin obviously has some brains and has done well in Alaska, and I’m certain she’s a very nice person. And I do think the media frenzy (positive & negative) around her is over the top But I do not see or hear ‘President’ when she speaks. And the McCain campaign keeping her away from the press on several occasions drives me crazy. It just reinforces the feeling that she can’t handle the job.
Bottom line I’m tired of feeling defensive when I say I don’t support Palin. And I know it’s because I’m a woman and she’s a woman. It’s unfortunate and I can’t wait for November 5, when all the “gossip” is over.

When kids started eating solids, there poop — and therefore the diaper pail — gots a lot stinkier. A friend suggested that I dump a bag of whole bean coffee in the bottom of the pail before I put the bag in. In order to contain the beans, I put them in a zip-up mesh laundry bag. I couldn’t believe that it worked! At first it smelled a little bit like Starbucks in my son’s room, but after about a week, we really couldn’t smell the coffee, and even better, we couldn’t smell the poop either.

Researchers at the University of Denver (DU) Morgridge College of Education are conducting a groundbreaking study that will compare two early literacy intervention approaches to educating young children with Down syndrome. The Rocky Mountain Down Syndrome Educational Fund is funding the study, which hopes to improve teaching methods for children with the condition.
Researchers are seeking children in the Denver area, ages 2 1/2 to 5, to participate in the study, which will involve a two-day training session to be held at DU followed by an at-home intervention program in which parents will implement the program with their child for approximately 15 minutes per day for approximately 10 months. There is no cost to participate. Contact Staci Jordan at (303) 871-3465 for information on how children can be enrolled.
“There has been little to no research on how our children with Down syndrome learn, especially regarding reading and language,” says Michelle Sie Whitten, executive director of the Anna and John J. Sie Foundation and Advisory Committee Chair of The Rocky Mountain Down Syndrome Educational Fund. “There have been significant breakthroughs in terms of how children with other developmental disabilities learn, and I strongly believe that our kids deserve the same attention.”The result of this pilot study, Whitten said, could have a profound effect on the academic achievement of children with Down syndrome. An international team of experts has contributed to the study, including Sue Buckley, a chartered psychologist in England with more than 30 years of experience in the field of developmental disabilities.
“What is so exciting and unique about this particular study is that scientifically based research on early learning intervention has been translated into applied research in areas such as autism, but never before in Down syndrome research,” says Karen Riley, assistant professor of Child, Family and School Psychology at DU, and the key investigator driving the pilot study. “In addition, we are attracting researchers for this study who have expertise in other developmental disabilities, and we are applying their knowledge to Down syndrome.”
This study was initiated by The Rocky Mountain Down Syndrome Educational Fund. It is underwritten by a $130,000 gift from The Rocky Mountain Down Syndrome Educational Fund, $10,000 from the McDonnell Foundation and $10,000 from the University of Denver. The researchers working on this study have been trained by Buckley, who is one of the world’s leading researchers in the education and development of children with Down syndrome. I just think this incredible..

I didnt even know about this until now but i wish i would have that is for sure.The purpose of this study was to determine whether there have been changes in the use of second-trimester genetic sonograms and in the second-trimester sonographic markers used to screen for fetal aneuploidy by maternal-fetal medicine specialists in the United States from 2001 to 2007. A survey was mailed to Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine members in the United States in April 2007 inquiring about their practice patterns regarding the genetic sonogram. Specific sonographic markers used for risk adjustment as part of the genetic sonogram were also assessed. The responses from 2007 were compared with responses from a similar survey administered in 2001 (Am J Obstet Gynecol 2002; 187:1230-1234) using descriptive statistics, the chi(2) test, and the Wilcoxon rank sum test. RESULTS: A total of 991 responses were analyzed: 543 of 1638 (32%) in 2001 and 448 of 1756 (26%) in 2007. Significant increases (P < .0001 were noted in the number of specialists who used the genetic sonogram as a screening tool for Down syndrome and for every single sonographic marker used to adjust a woman’s risk for having a fetus with Down syndrome during a genetic sonogram, except for choroid plexus cyst, clinodactyly, sandal gap toes, and widened pelvic angle. CONCLUSIONS: Practitioners in the United States are using an increasing number of second-trimester sonographic markers to help identify aneuploid fetuses. The growing acceptance of sonography to screen for fetal aneuploidy and the recommendation by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists for universal screening suggest that more resources may be necessary to meet the growing demand for second-trimester sonograms.

New parents, if there is one thing I can tell you that I wish I would have known when I had a newborn in my arms it is this: People want to help you. Anyone who has ever had a baby knows how incredibly confusing, exhausting, and stressful it can be. Nobody expects you to be a perfect parent the second your baby is born. If you’re anything like me you’ll spend a lot of time fumbling around, trying to figure out how to take care of a new baby without losing your mind.

The thing I didn’t realize is that most new parents – particularly new moms who are staying home from work for the first time and experiencing a HUGE life change while also dealing with hormones from labor and delivery – is that the vast majority of new parents struggle quite a bit. Everyone gets tired during this confusing time, but it’s important to realize that everyone gets overwhelmed at some point too when dealing with a new baby. I have some friends who didn’t get nearly as overwhelmed as I did, but all of them admit that at some point they could have really used some help but didn’t ask anyone.

Why are we afraid to ask for help? I think we want to seem like we’re good parents, and for one reason or another many of us think that translates into not needing help from anyone. I also had a problem with trusting anyone with my baby because I was convinced that nobody could care for her like I could. If you don’t believe me, then ask my love about the horrible sobbing fit I had when the nurses would tell me time and time again to go home and get some sleep, the only thing i wanted to do was be right next to our son in the nicu. Give in the situation that we were in I dont really think anyone would want to except help, but what im saying is if you have a normal healthy delivery take the help if it is offered.
Don’t think that anyone will assume you’re an terrible parent if you ask for help. I wish I would have taken more people up on their offers of help back when our baby was born. When people asked what they could do to help, I should have said “please bring dinner over one night” or “please come watch the baby so I can get a long shower.” Instead I said the same thing that i always have“Thanks for the offer but we don’t need any help right now.” I didn’t want anyone to think that I needed help. I wanted to be Supermom.

It’s no shock that I wasn’t Supermom. I was tired and overwhelmed.

When your baby is born you should be prepared to field plenty of offers of help from people. Practice saying this over and over again, “Yes, please!”

Not much has been happening over the last months that increased our understanding of the stuttering brain. As I mentioned before, scientists are hitting the complexity barrier with the new research avenues, namely brain imaging and genetics. The easy part has been done. It is one thing to put someone in a scanner and report functional or structural differences, but it is another to devise a experimental setup that can falsify or confirm a theory on stuttering. The same is true for genetics: we now know that genes are involved in stuttering in many cases, and we even have located the chromosomes in some cases. Even if we then know the genes, we again hit the complexity wall; it’s like we know the killer but not who he (or she! killed and why. In fact, very few scientists (and I am talking about the professional ones and not clinicians-turned-researchers) are well equipped to handle this situation. Many are trained to work well within the experimental paradigm (i.e. how to find the genes or how to scan and interpret the findings), but stuttering is a muddy territory where you need to fine-tune your methods appropriately to the idiosyncrasies of stuttering.