The Jason Miller Better Health Podcast

Have your kids been doing virtual school or going in person? My children are getting ready to head back to school in person from virtual. It's been since March that they've been in school. Like you I was concerned about the possible drawbacks to such a long "lock down." How would their social skills be impacted? I've put together this episode to help you as you start bringing your kids out of lock down. As always, I welcome your comments and messages!

One question that I am frequently asked by parents of children with whom I work, is how they as parents should handle the questions and advice that they are often given from members of their own family. Normally, I would write this article to help the parents of children who have some sort of developmental delay, whether it be autism, downs syndrome, global development delay or sensory processing disorder. However today, I want to talk to another group of you; the aunts, uncles, and especially the grandparents of children with special needs. Whether a child is born with a disability or disorder, or whether it develops later in life, the child’s special needs are likely to affect the entire family. Grandparents are no exception. Grandparents can and should play a vital role in providing support for their adult children, often helping care for their grandchild. However, moving through this very sensitive area can be challenging. Therefore, my article today will focus on giving you a few tips on how to support your adult child while at the same time, making your time spent with your special needs grandchild more rewarding So how do you help? We'll talk about that in this episode!

It looks like some form of school will be through virtual and remote learning. This has placed a lot of parents, myself included, in the position of having to sort of "home school" our kids. It's definitely going to be a challenge, but I put together a quick episode on how you can get through it a little easier!

I get asked all the time about Sensory Processing Disorders. Parents often want to know if I think their child has one. I always recommend that if you have a concern, then you should seek out an Occupational Therapist who specializes in sensory processing disorders. But if you are unsure whether or not to start that process, I have made a quick episode for you on some of the more common signs of a sensory processing disorder. As always, reach out to me directly if you need help!

I talk a lot about how a child's screen time affects their development. But have you though about how YOUR screen time affects your kids? In this episode I explain some of the effects your digital usage has on your children and what you can do about it!

It’s July, and that means, the beginning of school is (hopefully) around the corner. If you’re like my wife and myself, you are desperately praying that schools open this fall! If it’s time for your child to enter kindergarten for the first time, this may be a day that you’ve been looking forward to. Or, for some of you, the thought of your child entering kindergarten might bring some anxiety. It’s kindergarten! And it’s the first step in a long series of educational milestones. However, as excited as you and your child might be, it’s perfectly normal to question if your child is ready for this big step. Today’s kindergarten classroom looks very different from the one you and I remember. How can we as parents know if our little one is ready? Most districts have a cut- off date for kindergarten enrollment. When they reach a certain age, they must enroll. There is a little bit of wiggle room that allows you to wait to enroll until the following year. But, how do you know whether or not to hold them back? As parents, we’re often not the best judge of readiness, simply because we can be plagued by anxieties. We might worry that they’ll get lost in the crowd, not have any friends, get picked on by others, or not be able to keep up with instruction! Keep in mind, there are some basic guidelines to help you determine if your child is ready. You need to consider your child’s age and maturity. Most of us think the magic number is the age of 5 for starting kindergarten. Most children enroll at the age of 5, but just because your child is the right age, doesn’t mean they are automatically ready for school. In this episode we look at a list of signs that can help you determine whether or not your child is ready for kindergarten.

If we want to raise our children to be compassionate people who can contribute to society as responsible citizens, then we need to find ways to talk to our children about some of the thornier issues that we struggle with in this country. First of all, let me explain who I am. I am a white male trying to raise children in today’s world. I can’t possibly begin to understand what it must be like to be a black male trying to raise children in today’s world. I know that I don’t have to have the same conversations with my own children that a black man must have with his children, and I can’t even begin to understand what those conversations must be like. Demonstrations, sparked by the killing of George Floyd, have left many parents, myself included, trying to figure out how to talk to their children about the resulting protests and the events that led up to them. But how exactly do you do that? In this episode, I'll talk about some of the best ways for you to talk to your kids about racism and provide some valuable resource to help.

Special education services and distance learning. Does it work? The Covid-19 Crisis has closed schools and rehabilitation clinics. But that hasn’t stopped the need for services such as speech therapy, occupational therapy and physical therapy. Many schools and clinics have made the pivot to online therapy, or telehealth, in order to continue providing various therapies. But does it work? Is online therapy as effective as in person therapy? Can it be beneficial at all? Personally, I have made the switch to online therapy for about 90% of the children on my caseload, and so my answer to whether or not online therapy is effective is “yes” Some of the children I am working with, have actually made more progress working with me online, than when they were physically coming into the clinic for face to face therapy. However, as with anything in life, online therapy has both positives and negatives. Therefore, let’s explore both, to help you decide whether or not it is a good fit for your child. What’s Good About Online Therapy? First of all, online therapy is better than no therapy at all. I normally would not use phrase “it’s better than nothing” but in truth, during a pandemic when there are no other options, it is. Secondly, online therapy offers children face to face interaction with someone who is specifically there for them. Online therapists, just like therapists whom you would see face to face, are preparing lessons designed specifically for you child. Online therapy, provides your child with an opportunity to speak, converse with another person, ask questions and simply interact with someone outside of the family which is especially, if not more so, important during this time of social isolation. In addition, online therapy provides children, especially special needs children, with the stability and consistency that they need in order to thrive. With daily routines changing overnight, seeing the same therapist face to face, even if by computer, keeps the children in a routine and helps them adjust to this “new normal” we are living in. Therapists, like classroom teachers, most often become a big presence in children’s lives and in many cases, they become as close as a family member. It is important to note that many aspects of therapy, speech or occupational, are easily transferable to the “online therapy” format. In this day and age, most children are very well versed in anything involving electronics, so the majority of them will have very little trouble adapting to online therapy. What seems difficult to us as adults, is often very easily learned by children. Something that pleasantly surprised me, was that some of my most severe patients have adapted to online therapy easily, and actually seem to be enjoying it quite a bit. And lastly, online therapy eases a parent’s workload just a little. You get to stay home! You don’t have to get your child dressed and remember to leave the house with plenty of time to make it to your appointment. It takes seconds to “log on”, making it easier to keep appointments. In addition, you don’t have to worry about keeping brothers and sisters occupied in the waiting room while your child is in his or her session. Don’t forget, during this time, routines are what children (and even parents) are longing for the most. Having regular online therapy sessions will provide your child with some of the routine they are so desperately craving.

With school out for the summer, and social distancing the new norm, the lack of socialization for children could impact them later on. Social interaction is critical to a child’s development and the skills they learn and develop will follow them through the rest of their life. Whether this time of social separation will have a lasting impact on their development, will likely depend on how long social distancing lasts. This is new territory for all of us, and the effects it will have on children remain to be seen. What we do know, is that we still have options to help our children socialize, even while confined to their homes. While many in-person interactions are currently out of the question, we still have ways through which we can connect with others. This is where technology becomes important. If you have been following me for a while, you know that I am fairly outspoken about reducing the amount of time children spend in front of screens. My opinion on that has not changed. Spending too much time browsing social media and even educational apps, has been shown, by research, to be harmful to a child’s development. However, this does not apply when your phone or tablet is used for meaningful communication. Platforms such as Zoom, Facetime, and Skype and others are perfectly acceptable, especially during this time of social distance. Although many special needs children struggle in social situations, peer and family support can make for a more positive experience even as we socially distance. Having a conversation and interacting with someone via the internet has been shown to work particularly well with children on the autism spectrum. I conduct online therapy through zoom and am having good results with many of the special needs children whom I work with. Therefore, if you are looking for a way to provide some social interaction for your child, get them off of social media and video games, and instead, connect them with a friend or family member through Zoom, Facetime, Google Hangouts, Discord or simply pick up the phone and make an old fashioned phone call!

So, school has been canceled and your kids are stuck at home complaining about being bored. Due to the shutdown resulting from rising covid19 cases, there aren’t many places to go, and you can’t really visit anyone. Therefore, it seems that the only thing to keep children busy is to let them watch tv or browse YouTube. Right? Wrong. Being cooped up inside is hard. But you don’t have to result to letting your kids watch endless rounds of tv, play hours of Xbox, and constantly scroll through YouTube. Too much of that screen time in one day can actually be harmful to a child’s development. There are plenty of things that can be done around the house, at no cost, that are not only safe, but can encourage a child’s development. So, today I want to talk about an old favorite from my childhood. How many of you remember building a fort when you were young? Do you remember how much fun it was? Most children build at least one fort over the course of their childhood, while a large number of parents has wished that they hadn’t given their child the idea to build a fort. Building forts automatically has children dragging every blanket and dining room chair in the house into the living room, often taking up most of the floor space. Most likely your children have built one before, and if they haven’t, I strongly encourage you to motivate them to get started on one.

Most child development experts believe “the earlier the better” when it comes to detecting developmental delays in children. However, social distancing due to COVID-19, has made early detection increasingly difficult. Social distancing is keeping children away from teachers and various other childcare providers, many of whom can be critical sources for early identification of delays. These professionals are often vital in connecting parents to other services in the community, such as occupational and speech therapy. With preschools, public schools, and day cares closed, those children who might need screening for developmental delays may be missed. With children at home during the pandemic, it is even more important for parents to educate themselves on their child’s developmental expectations. So how is this accomplished? Online screening is slowly becoming an essential strategy to try and meet some of these needs. With early intervention, there’s no time to waste. The earlier a child development expert can identify a problem, the better. How does online screening work? While there might be slight differences between therapists’ approaches, most therapists walk parents and caregivers through a series of tasks and ask various questions about their child. Part of the screening my require children to perform a certain skill, such as stacking blocks, drawing shapes, and even pronouncing certain words. In some cases, the therapist may need to simply observe the child talking or playing. This may seem a little confusing to parents, which is why it is essential that therapists communicate their reasons behind the questioning and observing to parents. Each screen can differ according to the child’s age. Younger children will have more of a parent response screening, where the questions are directed to the parent. As kids get older, more questions are directed directly at the child. If the screening reveals that there is a potential delay, then further recommendations may be made. This could include full evaluations to a speech-language pathologist, occupational therapist, developmental psychologist or even a physical therapist. The important thing to remember is that these resources are out there. If you have a concern about your child’s development, then act now. The earlier the better! If you have any questions, feel free to reach out to me. I would be more than happy to help!

I wanted to share a letter to you that a mother of a nonverbal 3-year-old wrote to me. “Hi Jason. My son has been in speech therapy for a while and is beginning to use words. He babbles quite a bit and some of the words he uses are difficult to understand. This is all new to us and we are excited. However, I’m surprised that his speech therapist doesn’t use sign language in therapy. I have heard that sign language encourages speech development and I figured she’d want to use it. At least teach him a new way to communicate. What are your thoughts on this? Do you use sign language in your therapy?” So, I did respond to this mom, but I’ll tell you what I said. First of all, it’s impossible for me to know the reasoning behind someone else’s treatment. A good therapist has a reason behind whatever course of treatment they are taking and should always explain it to you. If you don’t know why a therapist is doing this or that, you need to ask. Now, as to what I think about sign language in therapy. I don’t use it that much primarily because I haven’t had many kids on my caseload who would benefit from it. If that’s the only way a child can communicate, you bet I’d use it. However, most of the time I have been working on getting the child to verbalize and fortunately have had success at that. I will tell you my frustration with sign language in speech therapy. So many times I have seen a child pointing to an object that they want “juice” for example, indicating that the child wants more juice. The logical thing to do is to give the child the juice. Especially if they are pointing at it. It’s right there and they’ve singled it out. They are communicating very clearly what they want. I think it’s a disservice for a parent or a therapist to withhold that very specifically requested item because they didn’t sign “more” or “please.” I’m not a big fan of “more “and “please.” Those could mean anything and when not taught properly, it’s used for everything. I’ve seen so many kids that want something, frantically signing “more.” But because “more” is the primary word taught, I or the parent no longer know if they want more juice, Cherrios, snacks, music, tv, fun, etc. So I have always found that part to be useless. However, it can be useful with concrete signs. But remember, the goal is to help your child communicate, not learn sign language. Whatever functional form of communication that they choose should be rewarded.

I want to share with you my one of New Years resolutions. I have a few which include getting better organized, getting in shape, spend less time working. But I wanted to share with you one and I hope you’ll join me in it. And that is less screen time. There has been a lot of research released recently about the amount of screen time that teenagers, kids and young children get each day and it’s staggering. What’s troubling is some of the damage that can be done to a child’s learning abilities and overall development if he or she spends to much time in front of a screen. But what is this doing to adults? No one really talks about it and I haven’t read any research on it. However, I can’t force my kids to limit the amount of screen time they get and not limit my own. I’m not going to tell my kids that they can’t have a smart phone and then spend hours thumbing through Facebook and Instagram. I’m not going to tell my kids to shut the TV off and then spend hours watching nonsense shows after they go to bed. So, I’ve made this resolution to cut my time drastically. And I’m starting with my phone. I’ve decided to use my phone for work only. No more thumbing through anything on my phone just to relieve boredom. Also, I’m not going to use my cell phone while I’m with my wife and kids. A while back I shared a picture of my son and me. He’s cuddled up next to me and I am staring at my phone. Completely disengaged. Unfortunately, I’m sure that situation has been repeated since that picture. But no more. I hope you’ll join me. I have found my phone to be a bit addicting. So, I’m starting slow. My phone for work and not around my kids. I’d love it if you would try this to. I’ll keep you posted, and I hope you will keep me posted!

I want to share with you my one of New Years resolutions. I have a few which include getting better organized, getting in shape, spend less time working. But I wanted to share with you one and I hope you’ll join me in it. And that is less screen time. There has been a lot of research released recently about the amount of screen time that teenagers, kids and young children get each day and it’s staggering. What’s troubling is some of the damage that can be done to a child’s learning abilities and overall development if he or she spends to much time in front of a screen. But what is this doing to adults? No one really talks about it and I haven’t read any research on it. However, I can’t force my kids to limit the amount of screen time they get and not limit my own. I’m not going to tell my kids that they can’t have a smart phone and then spend hours thumbing through Facebook and Instagram. I’m not going to tell my kids to shut the TV off and then spend hours watching nonsense shows after they go to bed. So, I’ve made this resolution to cut my time drastically. And I’m starting with my phone. I’ve decided to use my phone for work only. No more thumbing through anything on my phone just to relieve boredom. Also- I’m not going to use my cell phone while I’m with my wife and kids. A while back I shared a picture of my son and me. He’s cuddled up next to me and I am staring at my phone. Completely disengaged. Unfortunately, I’m sure that situation has been repeated since that picture. But no more. I hope you’ll join me. I have found my phone to be a bit addicting. So, I’m starting slow. My phone for work and not around my kids. I’d love it if you would try this to. I’ll keep you posted, and I hope you will keep me posted!

I want to talk to you about one of the three main areas of development that we look at here at the clinic and that fine motor development. Fine motor development is important because the ability to use the smaller muscles in the hand allows children to perform self-care task without our help. Some of these tasks are brushing the teeth, eating and feeding themselves, writing neatly and dressing. Problems doing the Some of these tend to be indicative of fine motor weakness. But the good news is that there are some many very easy ways that you can help develop your child's fine motor skills. Number one is puzzles. Do a puzzle together with your child and encourage them as a guide the pieces to the right place. Another is a board game. Any game that involves rolling the dice is helpful. It takes more control than you realize to roll and have the dice land on the board correctly. If you have any other questions always feel free to reach out to us and our website is www.jasonmillerhealth.com