A new study finds that when students experience an academic setback such as a bad grade, the amount of cortisol—the so-called stress hormone—in their bodies typically spikes. For most students it drops back down to normal levels a day later, but for some it stays high. These students remain fixated on the setback and have difficulty moving forward. Read more ›
Dyslexia is a complex language problem. It involves not being able to break down a word into the sounds that make it up, as well as not being able to think or write about the sounds in a word. Research from the National Institutes of Health has shown that dyslexia affects 5–10 percent of the U.S. population, with estimates as high as 17 percent. Read more ›
Just over a year ago, CHC opened its doors to a new Intensive Outpatient Program (IOP) for teens in Palo Alto. Now, in collaboration with Stanford Children’s Health, the program is expanding to serve more adolescents struggling with self-harm, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, severe anxiety and depression.
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In every classroom, teachers try to engage students who have a variety of temperaments: extroverts, introverts and ambiverts. They work with children who crave sensory stimulation and with those who are highly sensitive to noise and visual distraction.
While one temperament is not better than any other, introverted students are often “overlooked, undervalued and overstimulated in our schools,” said Heidi Kasevich, a 20-year teaching veteran and director of education for Quiet Revolution, an outgrowth of Susan Cain’s best-selling book on the power of introverts. Read more ›
Dyslexia affects every instructional task a student will face in school. We are a language-based society with deeply rooted traditions that rely on reading and writing. One in five students has a language-based learning disability, the most common of those being dyslexia. Fortunately, there is a window of opportunity to tackle and remedy dyslexia at an early age. Read more ›
Chances are, your child knew before you. She was the one sitting in class watching other kids figure out the answers before her. He was the one who pretended to read along with the class. She was the one who couldn’t remember the math facts when being timed. He was the one the teachers first told, “Pay better attention” and “You’re not trying hard enough.” Read more ›
Parents can’t be 100 percent certain that their child is ready for university life, but 30 years as a psychologist have taught me what to look for. The key indicator that an individual is ready to begin this transition is the emergence of a new level of personal responsibility. Read more ›
It can be difficult to know the difference between having social anxiety and being awkward, introverted, or shy. The American Psychological Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders defines social anxiety as “a persistent fear of one or more social or performance situations” that involve being “exposed to unfamiliar people or to possible scrutiny by others.”
Modern life provides us with constant opportunities to be scrutinized by others, and while few among us wouldn’t be nervous about giving a work presentation or a speech at a wedding, an ongoing fear of saying the wrong thing in casual conversations can become problematic. Conversation anxiety, though not itself a disorder, is an aspect of social anxiety that can make dates, parties, and mixers anywhere from mildly stressful to intolerable. Read more ›
If I had been asked to list my parenting worries, my daughter dying from a heart attack caused by an eating disorder wouldn’t have made the cut. Norah scoffed when doctor after doctor asked her about body image. “I like the way I look; my body is fine,” she said. “I’m just nauseous.” Read more ›
Avoidant Restrictive Food Intake Disorder (ARFID) was previously referred to as “Selective Eating Disorder.” ARFID is similar to anorexia in that both disorders involve limitations in the amount and/or types of food consumed, but unlike anorexia, ARFID does not involve body image issues.
A person with ARFID is not merely a “picky eater,” but rather, does not consume enough calories to grow and develop properly. In children, this results in malnutrition, low weight gain, and restricted growth. Read more ›
