Suzanne Asherson, an occupational therapist with the Beverly Hills Unified School District in California, said the discussion is really ‘not about cursive versus technology’. ‘In today’s world … children need to know how to both use keyboarding to type, as well as being able to pick up a pencil or a pen and be able to write,’ she explained. ‘Both skills are necessary and should be taught to our children in order to have functional adults who are efficient in their jobs and in the real world.’

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2341730/Back-elementary-scrawl-Teachers-reintroduce-cursive-handwriting-lessons-improve-childrens-spelling-help-connect-past.html#ixzz2WVQI8OYf 
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A study published last year in the Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology linked the GI issues with behavior, showing that autistic children who have GI issues often experience extreme anxiety as well as regressions in behavior and communication skills. What’s worse, the side effects of the psychotropic drugs that are prescribed to many autistic children may be intensifying the digestive issues. Once the GI issues are treated, aggressive and problematic behaviors sometimes subside.

Nicole Kelly, 23, was named Miss Iowa on Saturday. According to her biography, Kelly was born without her left forearm and plans to use her new position to speak out about disabilities and spotlight VSA, a program she participated in which provides opportunities in the arts for people with special needs.

“Nothing activates the brain so extensively as music,” says Oliver Sacks, M.D., professor of neurology at Columbia University and author of Musicophilia. He should know. Sacks has documented the power of music to arouse movement in paralyzed Parkinson’s patients, to calm the tics of Tourette syndrome, and to vault the neural breaches of autism. His belief that music can heal the brain is gaining favor, thanks, in part, to Gabrielle Giffords. In January 2011, the Arizona congresswoman survived a gunshot wound to her left temple. Because language is controlled by the brain’s left hemisphere, Giffords was unable to speak. As part of her arduous recovery, she worked with a music therapist, who trained her to engage the right side of her brain — pairing words with melody and rhythm — to bring back speech.

The ability to overcome and accomplish has led Sledzinski, 19, to study occupational therapy for a career that someday soon will let her provide for others what she received the first dozen years of her life. As a girl, Sledzinski traveled to Shriners Hospitals for Children in Philadelphia for biweekly therapeutic sessions because Sledzinski was born without the lower half of her right arm. 

Children now rely on technology for the majority of their play, grossly limiting challenges to their creativity and imaginations, as well as limiting necessary challenges to their bodies to achieve optimal sensory and motor development. Sedentary bodies bombarded with chaotic sensory stimulation are resulting in delays in attaining child developmental milestones, with subsequent negative impact on basic foundation skills for achieving literacy. Hard-wired for high speed, today’s young are entering school struggling with self regulation and attention skills necessary for learning, eventually becoming significant behavior management problems for teachers in the classroom.

Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is a debilitating condition that follows a terrifying event. Often, people with PTSD have persistent frightening thoughts and memories of their ordeal and feel emotionally numb, especially with people they were once close to. PTSD, once referred to as shell shock or battle fatigue, was first brought to public attention by war veterans, but it can result from any number of traumatic incidents. 

Whatever the source of the problem, some people with PTSD repeatedly relive the trauma in the form of nightmares and disturbing recollections during the day. They may also experience sleep problems, depression, feeling detached or numb, or being easily startled. They may lose interest in things they used to enjoy and have trouble feeling affectionate. They may feel irritable, more aggressive than before, or even violent. Seeing things that remind them of the incident may be very distressing, which could lead them to avoid certain places or situations that bring back those memories. PTSD can occur at any age, including childhood. The disorder can be accompanied by depression, substance abuse, or anxiety.