Receptive language delay, or explaining Lu

Receptive Language Delay

A receptive language delay/disorder may be an underlying factor in why a child is not picking up words as easily as other children around him.

Late talkers often have a receptive language disorder that is overlooked. It makes sense that a child can't use words that he doesn't understand. Words don't make sense to a child who is not understanding fully the meaning behind the words.

Children who have difficulty understanding language or processing language have difficulty following directions. This can easily be mis-diagnosed as a behavior problem both at home and at preschool or day care. You might think that your child understands just fine because he understands many words. The breakdown typically occurs, however, when it's all put together in longer utterances and when simple nouns that your child may know individually are combined with adjectives and verbs and prepositional phrases.

Some characteristics of children with comprehension or processing problems include the following:

• repeating the last couple words of a question instead of answering it
• ignoring questions
• not following more than a single step direction
• giving off target (unrelated) responses to questions
• shaking head for yes or no instead of answering
• may understand the individual words and vocabulary, but not when it's all put together in a longer direction or question

Ways to succesfully talk with a child with RLD:

• teach your child how to use words and what they mean - instead of just teaching them to say words
• teach words in context and generalize across many contexts (if you're talking about the word "shoe", use the word when you are tying his shoes and when you are putting your shoes on and when you go to a shoe store and see shoes or when you look at a book with your child and come across shoes, etc.)
• exaggerate words and actions while teaching meaning
• exaggerate vowels instead of consonants (b-a-a-a-l instead of b-b-bal)
• when giving a direction, break it way down if necessary
• shorten your sentences when giving directions and asking questions
• model the answer to help them learn how to respond and what you're expecting
• tell your child to do something - if he doesn't do it or doesn't understand, show him and then if necessary physically assist him
• don't just teach your child nouns, also teach verbs (action words), adjectives (descriptive words) and prepositions (location words)

This article is from Tamis' website she is an awesome speech therapist in Colorado and has many more tips for working with children with speech delays.

Raising awareness

10 Little and Big Things You Can Do

from the story of stuff

1. Power down! A great deal of the resources we use and the waste we create is in the energy we consume. Look for opportunities in your life to significantly reduce energy use: drive less, fly less, turn off lights, buy local seasonal food (food takes energy to grow, package, store and transport), wear a sweater instead of turning up the heat, use a clothesline instead of a dryer, vacation closer to home, buy used or borrow things before buying new, recycle. All these things save energy and save you money. And, if you can switch to alternative energy by supporting a company that sells green energy to the grid or by installing solar panels on your home, bravo!
2. Waste less. Per capita waste production in the U.S. just keeps growing. There are hundreds of opportunities each day to nurture a Zero Waste culture in your home, school, workplace, church, community. This takes developing new habits which soon become second nature. Use both sides of the paper, carry your own mugs and shopping bags, get printer cartridges refilled instead of replaced, compost food scraps, avoid bottled water and other over packaged products, upgrade computers rather than buying new ones, repair and mend rather than replace….the list is endless! The more we visibly engage in re-use over wasting, the more we cultivate a new cultural norm, or actually, reclaim an old one!
3. Talk to everyone about these issues. At school, your neighbors, in line at the supermarket, on the bus…A student once asked Cesar Chavez how he organized. He said, “First, I talk to one person. Then I talk to another person.” “No,” said the student, “how do you organize?” Chavez answered, “First I talk to one person. Then I talk to another person.” You get the point. Talking about these issues raises awareness, builds community and can inspire others to action.
4. Make Your Voice Heard. Write letters to the editor and submit articles to local press. In the last two years, and especially with Al Gore winning the Nobel Peace Prize, the media has been forced to write about Climate Change. As individuals, we can influence the media to better represent other important issues as well. Letters to the editor are a great way to help newspaper readers make connections they might not make without your help. Also local papers are often willing to print book and film reviews, interviews and articles by community members. Let’s get the issues we care about in the news.
5. DeTox your body, DeTox your home, and DeTox the Economy. Many of today’s consumer products – from children’s pajamas to lipstick – contain toxic chemical additives that simply aren’t necessary. Research online (for example, http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/) before you buy to be sure you’re not inadvertently introducing toxics into your home and body. Then tell your friends about toxics in consumer products. Together, ask the businesses why they’re using toxic chemicals without any warning labels. And ask your elected officials why they are permitting this practice. The European Union has adopted strong policies that require toxics to be removed from many products. So, while our electronic gadgets and cosmetics have toxics in them, people in Europe can buy the same things toxics-free. Let’s demand the same thing here. Getting the toxics out of production at the source is the best way to ensure they don’t get into any home and body.
6. Unplug (the TV and internet) and Plug In (the community). The average person in the U.S. watches T.V. over 4 hours a day. Four hours per day filled with messages about stuff we should buy. That is four hours a day that could be spent with family, friends and in our community. On-line activism is a good start, but spending time in face-to-face civic or community activities strengthens the community and many studies show that a stronger community is a source of social and logistical support, greater security and happiness. A strong community is also critical to having a strong, active democracy.
7. Park your car and walk…and when necessary MARCH! Car-centric land use policies and life styles lead to more greenhouse gas emissions, fossil fuel extraction, conversion of agricultural and wildlands to roads and parking lots. Driving less and walking more is good for the climate, the planet, your health, and your wallet. But sometimes we don’t have an option to leave the car home because of inadequate bike lanes or public transportation options. Then, we may need to march, to join with others to demand sustainable transportation options. Throughout U.S. history, peaceful non-violent marches have played a powerful role in raising awareness about issues, mobilizing people, and sending messages to decision makers.
8. Change your lightbulbs…and then, change your paradigm. Changing lightbulbs is quick and easy. Energy efficient lightbulbs use 75% less energy and last 10 times longer than conventional ones. That's a no-brainer. But changing lightbulbs is just tinkering at the margins of a fundamentally flawed system unless we also change our paradigm. A paradigm is a collection of assumptions, concepts, beliefs, and values that together make up a community’s way of viewing reality. Our current paradigm dictates that more stuff is better, that infinite economic growth is desirable and possible, and that pollution is the price of progress. To really turn things around, we need to nurture a different paradigm based on the values of sustainability, justice, health, and community.
9. Recycle your trash…and, recycle your elected officials. Recycling saves energy and reduces both waste and the pressure to harvest and mine new stuff. Unfortunately, many cities still don’t have adequate recycling systems in place. In that case you can usually find some recycling options in the phone book to start recycling while you’re pressuring your local government to support recycling city-wide. Also, many products – for example, most electronics - are designed not to be recycled or contain toxics so recycling is hazardous. In these cases, we need to lobby government to prohibit toxics in consumer products and to enact Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) laws, as is happening in Europe. EPR is a policy which holds producers responsible for the entire lifecycle of their products, so that electronics company who use toxics in their products, have to take them back. That is a great incentive for them to get the toxics out!
10. Buy Green, Buy Fair, Buy Local, Buy Used, and most importantly, Buy Less. Shopping is not the solution to the environmental problems we currently face because the real changes we need just aren’t for sale in even the greenest shop. But, when we do shop, we should ensure our dollars support businesses that protect the environment and worker rights. Look beyond vague claims on packages like “all natural” to find hard facts. Is it organic? Is it free of super-toxic PVC plastic? When you can, buy local products from local stores, which keeps more of our hard earned money in the community. Buying used items keeps them out of the trash and avoids the upstream waste created during extraction and production. But, buying less may be the best option of all. Less pollution. Less Waste. Less time working to pay for the stuff. Sometimes, less really is more.

poverty breeds invention (or something like that)

Dishwasher Powder
1 cup Borax
1 cup bi-carb soda (baking soda)
1/4 cup salt
1/4 cup citric acid
30 drops citrus essential oil (I used lemon)

Mix thoroughly and store in an airtight plastic container. Use 1 tablespoon at a time.

Dishwashing Liquid
3 tbs lavender organic liquid castile soap
2 cups warm water
2 tsp vegetable glycerine
2 tbs white vinegar
10 drops lavender essential oil

Mix thoroughly in a jar, shaking well. Use 1 tablespoon at a time.

Hot Cocoa mix (sorry I'm no Swiss Miss)

We recently ran out of our usual (organic, Fair Trade) hot chocolate mix which I had stocked up when it was on sale some time ago. Since I recently bought (organic, Fair Trade) cocoa in bulk, I figured it couldn't be too hard to just make it myself! We don't drink it often, but as far as treats go, I'd rather offer my kids an instant hot chocolate on a cold day or a little sprinkled over ice cream on a hot day, than a myriad of other commercial concoctions.

Unfortunately, finding a recipe that didn't require coffee whitener (yuck, yuck, yuck!) was a bit of a challenge, although I did find one eventually and adapted it. Amongst other things, the original recipe called for ¾ cup sugar and 3-4 tablespoons of mix per cup but this was way too sweet for our tastes, so if you find the recipe too bland, mix in more sugar and/or use more mix. It's also fine with regular sugar too of course, but I found the vanilla gives it extra 'body'.




Ingredients

½ cup cocoa
½ cup vanilla-infused caster (superfine) sugar
3 cups powdered milk
pinch salt


Method

Sift all ingredients together well, and store in an airtight container.

Use 1-2 tbs per 1 cup of boiling water, stirring in well.

Natural furniture cleaner/protectant

It’s a little early for Halloween, but I wanted to show you what’s happened to my furniture. The rain finally quit, but the extreme humidity left a moldy, green haze on everything. Pretty gross.

It got me thinking about furniture cleaners/polish, and how I hate the petroleum smell of store-bought. It lingers and doesn’t do anything good for indoor air quality.

Reading about how museums clean their prized possessions provides some good ideas. Most of the advice–regular dry dusting in combination with maintaining optimal humidity and protecting from weather extremes of heat and light, comes too late for me in view of the picture above.

Looking over homemade cleaner recipes, I searched for a cleaner/polish with a minimum of water-based ingredients like lemon juice or vinegar, but with some of their cleaning power.

Homemade Furniture Cleaner/Polish

1/2 cup olive oil

2 T. lemon juice or vinegar

several drops essential oil(s) of choice (totally optional)

Combine in a jar or bottle with a tight-fitting lid. Shake well before each use. Pour a little on a dry, soft, cotton rag and rub into wood. Buff gently with a clean, dry cloth to remove excess polish (too much left on the finish will attract dust).

A small dowel sharpened in a pencil sharpener and wrapped in a cleaning cloth can help get the grunge out of intricate carvings. All the experts seem to agree that dry dusting is the best, safest way to do your regular cleaning, but a dry rag wasn’t going to faze the green mold

If you look at the before and after pics you will agree this is way better than pledge :)

Interesting article on Kombucha

This is an article taken from the food renegade website. One of our daughters has a form of liver disease and we are constantly on the lookout for new ideas for liver detoxification. This is an unexpectedly easy and affordable way.

Have you heard of Kombucha, the beverage the ancient Chinese called the “Immortal Health Elixir?” It’s been around for more than 2,000 years and has a rich anecdotal history of preventing and fighting cancer, arthritis, and other degenerative diseases.

Made from sweetened tea that’s been fermented by a symbiotic colony of bacteria and yeast (a SCOBY, a.k.a. “mother” because of its ability to reproduce, or “mushroom” because of its appearance), Kombucha didn’t gain prominence in the West until recently.

In the first half of the 20th century, extensive scientific research was done on Kombucha in Russia and Germany, mostly because of a push to find a cure for rising cancer rates. Russian scientists discovered that entire regions of their vast country were seemingly immune to cancer and hypothesized that the kombucha, called “tea kvass” there, was the cause. So, they began a series of experiments which not only verified the hypothesis, but began to pinpoint exactly what it is within kombucha which was so beneficial.

German scientists picked up on this research and continued it in their own direction. Then, with the onset of the Cold War, research and development started being diverted into other fields. It was only in the 1990s, when Kombucha first came to the U.S., that the West has done any studies on the effects of Kombucha, and those are quite few in number. As is typically the case in the U.S., no major medical studies are being done on Kombucha because no one in the drug industry stands to profit from researching a beverage that the average consumer can make for as little as 50 cents a gallon.

Thanks to it’s rising commercial popularity in the last decade, the older Russian and German research has been made available in English to Westerners, and a few wide-spread anecdotal surveys have been sponsored by Kombucha manufacturers, but that’s about it. While there are limited amounts of research done on the beverage, there has been lots of research done on many of the nutrients and acids it contains in large quantities (such as B-vitamins, antioxidants, and glucaric acids).

Regardless of the “lack” of scientific evidence, the fact remains that this beverage has 2,000 plus years of tradition behind it and an ardent and addicted following.

About the health benefits of Kombucha:

First, there’s all the benefits of detoxification, such as healthy livers and cancer prevention. One of kombucha’s greatest health benefits is its ability to detox the body. It is rich in many of the enzymes and bacterial acids your body produces and/or uses to detox your system, thus reducing your pancreatic load and easing the burden on your liver. Kombucha is very high in Glucaric acid, and recent studies have shown that glucaric acid helps prevent cancer. I know 2 people in my immediate circle of friends who have had cancer (pancreatic and breast) and fought it into remission without any chemo or radiation therapy. Instead, they warded it off by detoxing their lives (going 100% organic, removing chemical cleaners and agents in their home, changing their diet to be at least 80% raw or fermented, etc.) Central to the detoxification process was drinking Kombucha regularly. Even Alexander Solzhenitsyn, the recently deceased Russian author and nobel-prize winner, in his autobiography, claimed that kombucha tea cured his stomach cancer during his internment in soviet labor camps. (And because of this testimony, President Reagan used Kombucha to halt the spread of his cancer in 1987. You’ll note he didn’t die until 2004, and that was from old age, NOT cancer.)

Next, there’s all the benefits of the glucosamines it contains, such as preventing or treating all forms of arthritis. Glucosamines increase synovial hyaluronic acid production. Hyaluronic acid functions physiologically to aid preservation of cartilage structure and prevent arthritic pain, with relief comparable to NSAIDs and advantage over glucocorticoids. Hyaluronic acid enables connective tissue to bind moisture thousands of times its weight and maintains tissue structure, moisture, lubrication and flexibility and lessens free radical damage, while associated collagen retards and reduces wrinkles.

Then, there’s all the benefits of the fact that it’s a probiotic beverage, such as improved digestion, fighting candida (harmful yeast) overgrowth, and the general health and well-being associated with this. As such, it’s noted for reducing or eliminating the symptoms of fibromyalgia, depression, anxiety, etc.

Plus, it’s extraordinarily anti-oxidant rich, and you all know the benefits of anti-oxidants for boosting your immune system and energy levels.

Here are some articles about the health benefits:

http://www.kombu.de/val-gwf.htm
http://www.gaiaresearch.co.za/kombucha.html
http://www.acupuncture.com/herbs/kombucha1.htm
http://www.gokombucha.com/health_benefits.html

Do you drink bottled water?

Water Disaster

from Lost arts kitchen