Baby Talk: Resources to Support the People Who Work With Infants and Toddlers
Issue No. 18, November 2012
National Baby Facts
ZERO TO THREE’s publication uses facts about health, education, and socio-economic status to tell the story of how the youngest children in the U.S. are faring and gives the facts on the social supports that play a role in nurturing their development. http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/pdf/national-baby-facts.pdf
- To view the sources and appendices for National Baby Facts, go to http://www.zerotothree.org/policyguide
- To view data for your state or territory, go to http://www.zerotothree.org/public-policy/state-community-policy/infant-and-toddler-state-fact-sheets.html
Using Visual Supports with Infants and Toddlers
The October 2012 Tots-n-Tech E-Newsletter (http://tnt.asu.edu/files/Oct2012Newsletter.pdf) talks about and illustrates ways in which visual supports and organizers can be used successfully in child care, preschool and home settings to support children with and without disabilities.
Updates on Autism
- Early intervention therapy specially designed to improve cognitive and linguistic skills among autistic children as young as 12 months old has been found to be effective in improving their social skills and decreasing symptoms associated with the disorder, according to the results of a nationwide study. http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1112721363/autism-early-intervention-therapy-102712/
- Autism may be spotted early with the use of electroencephalogram tests (EEGs) in children as young as age 2 according to researchers at Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School who wrote about their findings in a study published in BMC Medicine (http://www.biomedcentral.com/content/pdf/1741-7015-10-64.pdf). The researchers found that EEG readings for children with autism differed from those for children without autism, particularly in regards to parts of the brain controlling language. Their findings suggest that EEG tests could help diagnose autistic children earlier and more accurately in the future.
Math Anxiety
Math anxiety has been a topic of conversation in both the education and psychology fields for half a century. However, it is only recently that scientists have been able to find a physiological link. A study, published in Psychological Science, finds that the part of the brain that activates when faced with fear-inducing stimuli reacts similarly when faced with problems involving math for those with performance fears surrounding math. http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/inside-school-research/2012/03/study_finds_neurodevelopmental.html?cmp=ENL-CM-NEWS2
Baby Talk is a free, one-way listserv that is distributed every other week. Each issue features one or more resources, the majority of which are available to download at no cost. To join the listserv, send an email with no message to subscribe-babytalk@listserv.unc.edu. To suggest resources, please contact Camille Catlett at camille.catlett@unc.edu or (919) 966-6635.