I am an Awe Junky: Why this might be a good thing

  Awe for me is a spiritual event – sometimes surprising me with an intense emotional reaction. I’ve never really thought about it much. When I experience the deeply moving type of awe, it has always seemed like a super special bonus, and frankly it is generally unanticipated. Never before have I had an explicit …

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Figuring out Why Children Misbehave – SO you can actually do something about it.

Undesirable behaviors occur for many reasons.  In order to reduce problematic (negative) behaviors we first must come to an understanding of why they are occurring.  I can’t emphasize this enough – UNDERSTANDING WHY IS THE SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT THING.  The WHY guides WHAT WE DO.  As we always tell our staff “In order to reduce …

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Trouble Shooting Tele-Therapy

There are numerous barriers to the provision of tele-therapy for educational purposes.  Among the most challenging issues are Technological Problems and the level of Student Cooperation.   This Trouble Shooting Guide addresses these barriers.   Technological Problems There are many technological challenges that may be a product of the platform used (e.g., Zoom, Microsoft Teams, …

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Teaching Young Children through Video Conferencing: A New Challenge. Tips for Parents and other Caregivers

The use of Video Conferencing to teach young children is a new challenge for everyone involved.  In order for it to work, YOU and the teacher or therapist (instructor) MUST FIRST TEACH YOUR CHILD HOW TO LEARN IN THIS NEW WAY.  Teaching this new skill will likely be the first thing the instructor will want …

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Teaching Young Children through Video Conferencing: A New Challenge for Instructional Control. Tips for Teachers and Therapists

The use of Video Conferencing to teach young children, particularly those with disabilities, is fraught with many NEW challenges.  In order for it to work, the instructor MUST FIRST TEACH THE CHILD HOW TO PARTICIPATE ADAPTIVELY.   It is essential to prioritize gaining the instructional control of the student over implementing other IEP objectives.  Consider instructional …

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Can Memories be Inherited?

There is an Indigo Girls song called Galileo that references a fear of motion (00:01:19 into the song) and suggests that the source of this particular fear is from “some other fool across the ocean years ago [having] crashed his little airplane.”  In the song, the means of transmission of this fear is reincarnation, which …

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2013 – A Year in Review: How Do You Think?

Although I did not make a substantial number of posts in 2013, the traffic to my site remained relatively vigorous.  Throughout 2013 my blog had 24,007 hits from 21,042 unique visitors, accounting for nearly 30,000 page views.  I had visitors from every state in the US and 158 nations around the world.  Visitors from the …

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Partisan Belief Superiority and Dogmatism as a Source of Political Gridlock

Are you sick and tired of politicians and their antics throughout the United States? Regardless of your political orientation, this is likely the case.  Over the last 20 years there has been a rising tide of bitter partisanship, leaving a large contingent of US Citizens feeling frustrated and disenfranchised.  Meanwhile both parties point their fingers …

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Who Cheats More: The Rich or the Poor?

It is widely believed that as a society, we are heavily burdened by freeloaders who are content with living off the fruits of others’ labor. Inherent in this belief is the idea that the poor are more likely to be cheaters. This notion is core to the ideology that fuels the discontent of many on …

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Mind Pops: Memories From Out of the Blue

Out to dinner recently, a friend and I were discussing an organization whose name implies one thing, when in actuality, what they promote is entirely the opposite.  We both racked our brains to come up with the name of that organization with no success.   Days later, without any recent thought of the elusive name – …

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