“It’s all so hard to believe. I couldn’t see the light at the end of the tunnel at all and now we are there.” ~Stacey Abenstein At the Cherab support group, all of us were thrilled to see the inspirational update from Stacey Abenstein, our former secretary for the 501(c)3 nonprofit Cherab Foundation, about her…
Education
Why Early Intervention
Why Early Intervention when he’s just a late talker? “We now know the earlier the intervention, the better the brain can reorganize.” Today, parents are generally told to look for signs of delay early, even in a baby’s first year, and seek help. No one should assume that a silent 2-year-old is a budding genius;…
Please Save The Silent Children
Canaries In The Coal Mine By Lisa Geng 9/11/03 Almost 15 years ago now I was first concerned with environmental links to the rise we are seeing in autism and apraxia and wrote this Speech disorders and learning disabilities did not run in either my mom or dad’s family. Genius runs in my mom’s side…
Circle Of Friends
“I then let them know that Scooby Doo doesn’t talk like everyone else -“but he’s lots of fun and a cool dude to hang out with right?” Description of a “Circle of Friends“ If your child has or is being teased, the following is an effective evidence-based technique that I first learned about from an…
Summer IEP Extended School Year
Extended School Year (ESY) The start of the school year can be the time to schedule those meetings with your schools to discuss ESY. Do not let the schools jump past the ESY portion in your IEP meeting and merely tell you your child doesn’t qualify (no regression), so no need for ESY. Regression is…
Honey And Yogurt, Or Prebiotics And Probiotics
Probiotics or prebiotics have been studied and used to improve various functions including healthy development of the immune system, prevention of infection from pathogenic or opportunistic microbes and maintenance of intestinal barrier function ~ International Scientific Association for Probiotics and Prebiotics Probiotics and Prebiotics A huge and diverse range of bacterial species colonize the human body. The…
Stuffed Animal Sleepovers Promote Reading
“Sending stuffed animals for a sleepover at the library encourages children to read with them, even long after the sleepover took place, say, researchers.” When I was little I was convinced that my stuffed animals came to life at night. Perhaps it was a movie I saw, or a book I read, or just my…
School At The Museum Improves Confidence, Communication, Social Skills
What if there was a way to fix this through co-location? Instead of day or night at the museum, what about school at the museum? How many of you recall how fun it was when you were in school to have a field trip? And what an amazing experience when students have the opportunity to…
Happy Halloween IEP Meme
LISA GENG Author and Executive Director at The Cherab Foundation Lisa Geng got her start as a designer, patented inventor,and creator in the fashion, toy, and film industries, but after the early diagnosis of her young children she entered the world of nonprofit, pilot studies, and advocacy. As the mother of two “late talkers,”…
Class Size Matters, And It Matters A Lot
“The evidence suggests that increasing class size will harm not only children’s test scores in the short run, but also their long-run human capital formation. Money saved today by increasing class sizes will result in more substantial social and educational costs in the future.” ~ Diane Whitmore Schanzenbach PhD When we have a special needs children…
