If you’ve had an appointment recently, you have experienced some of the few apps I am using as a tool. And there are also a couple you may catch me playing from time to time.
Angry Birds
Ok, so it is the current most popular app game, and it is insanely addictive. The game is now available for both Apple and Android devices. Not only is the game fun and quick, it uses principles of physics in interesting ways, and encourages strategy development.
The reason I like to use this game as a tool is the visual tracking. It requires left to right movement similar to that used in reading and writing. When kids are playing the game we are able to observe instability in their bodies that directly relates to reading. We stabilize the motor patterns and it allows visual function to improve in efficiency.
Cut the Rope
The objective is to feed the little critter candy. Although the game is Christmas candy themed, it also employs use of physics principles. You are able to easily repeat the levels to develop strategies for getting more points.
The reason I like to use the game is the different directions of finger movement and ocular-motor skills mimic real-world mechanical tasks. We are able to observe changes in body position and posture that accompany the hand motions. It is amazing to see how contorted the kids end up as some of them play this game. As we stabilize the involved body movements, an immediate change in game playing position is observed. It is very cool to see the fast changes.
Rollercoaster
A completely different type of game, Rollercoaster requires tilting and shifting of the iPhone/iTouch to get points. During the rollercoaster ride the rider reaches for various items which add or subtract from game points. There are processing speed and visual-spatial processing which come into play.
Again, we like this game because we can observe a different set of real-time visual motor skills and can stabilize the associated body movements. This enables more efficient visual processing.
Strong Mind Puzzles
This is a brain game. It starts off simple and gets more complex as you progress through the levels. There are very specific brain connections created and reinforced through the design of the puzzles. My brilliant colleague, Donalee Markus, PhD, developed this app which targets Pre-frontal Cortex function (tightly related to executive function) and the Visual Cortex used in visual processing and spatial orientation. In addition a number of whole brain functions are developed and reinforced including: working memory, decision-making, critical thinking, reflexive thinking, and mental flexibility.
We like it because it makes our thinking easier! There are thousands of combinations to play!
Bejeweled
Bejeweled has been around as a favorite PC game and is now available as a mobile app. It is great for developing scanning for patterns in both horizontal and vertical alignments. As familiarity increases, there is strategy and working memory that come into play, similar to chess. You can think ahead several moves to optimize points.
I like it since it is only a little bit addictive, and the games go quickly. My personal way to spend some time when waiting for my kids at appointments when I’m not doing brain puzzles.
Children and their parents can face a variety of challenges navigating from birth through adulthood. We know we should be watching to ensure our children meet their milestones for crawling, walking, fine motor skills and even speech and language. But are you aware that there are similar milestones for social skills?
Jordan Sadler, a speech language pathologist, spoke to this issue at the November 2nd Resource Konnections workshop. During her presentation, Sadler identified stages from various methodologies and provided ideas on how to help children with social confidence and success.
“You can easily find identifiable stages for language development,” Sadler said “But you don’t see the same type of identifiable guidelines for social development and how that should be moving along over years. And that seems to be a primary concern for parents. We hope our children are doing well socially.”
Sadler emphasized that social communication development is concerned with symbolic expression and its successful usage. It is important to note that early skills provide the foundation and integrate into later skills rather than being replaced by them. The developmental stages of social language are:
• Interactive play and non-verbal communication
• Social language
• Conversation
Interactive play and Non-verbal Communication
From birth to 18 months, children should develop social language skills involving:
• Social play
• Imitation and modeling
• Parallel play
• Non-verbal communication
• Vocal communication
Indications that these skills are not developing appropriately may include:
• A low rate of initiation of or response to communication
• An inability to sustain attention (child may disengage very quickly)
• Replacement of narrative communication with instrumental communication (communication aimed solely at expressing his or her wants and needs)
Sadler emphasized the importance of teachers and parents monitoring interactions with the child to ensure we are not attempting to maintain too much control over conversation nor expecting too much, too soon. Some suggestions for facilitating appropriate verbal communication included interacting more frequently with the child’s behaviors, focusing on the relationship and social interactions rather than skills, and celebrating small steps. In addition, Sadler said with her own clients she incorporates sensory motor activities such as tunnels and beanbags at this stage to provide playful and joyful interactions.
Social Language
In this stage, from 18 months to three years, milestones are mostly involved with how the child uses language. The child should be developing the ability to use language to communicate spontaneously and be learning to initiate and maintain interactive play. One of the main developmental milestones is intentional pointing, which indicates that the child is developing Theory of Mind, or the understanding that other people have different thoughts, ideas, and feelings than we do.
Problems at this stage can be identified by observing:
• What the child says
• The reasons the child speaks
• What the child talks about
Indications that these skills are not developing appropriately may include:
• Echolalia, in which the child uses language only to recite, repeat or perform
• The child may consistently neglect to ensure that he or she has someone’s attention before initiating conversation
• The child may parallel play rather than play interactively
• The child may not be able to stay on topic
Sadler again cautions against attempting to dominate the play or expecting too much during this developmental time. She suggests modeling appropriate language skills for the child by making specific comments rather than asking questions that can be quickly answered ending the line of conversation, i.e. “Lunch smells so good and I’m so hungry. I’m sure looking forward to having lunch,” rather than “Are you hungry?” It’s important to observe, listen and match the child’s language levels before trying to push them to the next level.
Conversation
This stage ranges from three-years-old to 10-years-old and then into adulthood. Social dialog increases with developing ability to assess another person’s interest in conversation, stay on a mutual topic, and take cues from the other person to direct the conversation.
Problems at this stage can be identified by:
• Observing whether the child enjoys conversing with others
• Stays on a mutual topic
• Converses for many reasons
Indications that these skills are not developing appropriately may include:
• Inability to tend to other people’s cues or take the other person’s perspective
• Over-attention to details with an inability to summarize
• Tendency to monologue.
At this stage, problems can lead to dysfunctional conversation styles and appear as social awkwardness, putting the individual at social risk. Interventions at this stage must be highly individualized to the child’s learning methods. Sadler emphasized the importance of visual aids and said that her personal motto is “When in doubt, draw it out!”
About Jordan Sadler
Jordan Sadler, MS, CCC/SLP, moved to Chicago four years ago, bringing along her already established practice, Communication Therapy, P.C. As the company’s director, Jordan describes the Chicago-based practice as serving families who are committed to improving the overall quality of their children’s communication skills across home, school and community settings. “Our philosophy is that all children can learn to be better social communicators when we meet them where they are developmentally and design strategies and tools that suit their individual learning profiles.”
Working in both school and private practice settings, Sadler said she draws from many pioneers in the field and incorporates a variety of approaches based on the needs of each individual child. These include SCERTS (Social Communication, Emotional Regulation, Transactional Supports) and DIR (Developmental, Individual Difference, Relationship Based). In her presentation, Sadler also referred to the developmental stages of social language formulated by Dr. James MacDonald, publisher of COMMUNICATING PARTNERS, a national newsletter that provides updated guidelines for parents and professionals concerned about their children’s communication development.
Resources
IPad App: Sentence Builder
IPad App: Story Patch
Book: Linda Mood Bell “Visualizing and Verbalizing”
Books: Michelle Winner Garcia “Superflex” series
Websites:
http://www.communicationtherapy.wordpress.com
http://www.pelicantalk.com (click on “autism” for great visuals!)
http://www.socialthinking.com
http://www.scerts.com
http://www.jamesmacdonald.org
http://www.icdl.com
http://www.fireflyandfriends.com
http://www.thegraycenter.org
by Darcy Nee
This time of year can trigger a bit of the “winter blues” for some people. The sun sets earlier, the temperature begins dropping and time spent outside begins to dwindle. Author Julia Ross, M.A., addresses this issue in her book “The Mood Cure: The 4-Step Program to Rebalance Your Emotional Chemistry and Rediscover Your Natural Sense of Well-Being.” Ross talks about the cause of these “blue” feelings as well as ways to eliminate the feelings of anxiety, stress, and even depression. And one way she says, is exercise.
Exercise can help reshape our moods by increasing the levels of serotonin within our bodies, Ross explains. “Serotonin deficiency is far and away the most common mood problem we see at our clinic,” she describes in the book. The depletion of serotonin can inflict a dark cloud on men and women of all ages. Serotonin is a human’s primary defense against depression and anxiety and a deficiency of this hormone can be a factor in many unrelated psychological and physical symptoms, including irritability and panic, insomnia and muscle pain, Ross explains. When the brain acquires enough serotonin, you are more likely to experience positive thoughts and feel happy. However, when there is a decrease in serotonin levels, the opposite feelings can occur.
“Serotonin is synthesized in your body from tryptophan, an amino acid (protein building block) found in foods like turkey, beef and cheese. Tryptophan first converts into a substance called 5-HTP (5-hydroxytryptophan), which then converts directly into serotonin. This crucial three-step process can be short-circuited by a number of things,” said Ross. A few examples include not ingesting enough tryptophan in our diets, or your natural production of serotonin may be inhibited by chemicals in our foods such as caffeine, alcohol or even the artificial sweetener aspartame, Ross describes. Furthermore, she adds that serotonin production can also be affected by pregnancy, lack of sunlight or not enough exercise.
Exercise increases serotonin levels by requiring your muscles to work. By doing so, the body needs amino acids for muscle repair. “Your bloodstream always carries an assortment of amino acids for just such contingencies and delivers them quickly to the muscles in need,” Ross writes. That’s true for all amino acids except one—tryptophan—the only one that can be used by your brain to make serotonin. While the other amino acids are diverted, tryptophan travels straight to the brain and is quickly converted into enough 5-HTP and then serotonin so that in half an hour you are feel rejuvenated.
In addition, the increase in oxygen the body receives from exercise helps raise serotonin levels because oxygen is critical in the formation of serotonin from amino acids, Ross said. And because an exercise-stimulated serotonin works only in the short term, we should be exercising frequently. In fact, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services recommends receiving an equivalent of 150 minutes of moderate intensity aerobic physical activity (2 hours and 30 min.) a week.
So what are we waiting for? It seems as if exercise is a win-win: it burns calories, strengthens muscles, and aids in relieving the stress, anxiety and the “winter blues”. What more can we ask for!
At Kinetic Konnections we make exercise easier for adults and children. By improving your stability and alignment, your coordination improves as does efficiency. You get a better workout, and use your muscles more appropriately when the muscles work better together.