Behavioral Health Clinic

  Navigating the complexities of developmental disorders in children requires not just a deep well of patience and love but also informed strategies tailored to their unique perspectives. This article, grounded in research demonstrating the importance of fostering strong and healthy attachment relationships, aims to guide caregivers in cultivating an environment that nurtures both the emotional and developmental growth of their child. As you read through the article, we hope that our examples will inspire you to find some unique ways to build healthy relationships with your children to help promote their emotional wellbeing. Understanding and Validation Embrace Emotional Awareness: Understanding and recognizing emotions are critical for all children, especially for those with developmental disorders who may find their own emotions confusing or overwhelming. Embracing emotional awareness lays the groundwork for effective navigation through these feelings, fostering resilience and se...

  If you recall from our  previous discussions , infants and mothers are uniquely predisposed to interact. A mother’s pattern of talking to her baby and the child’s response patterns reflect a unique developmental predisposition that is designed to initiate the process of acquiring the amazing gift of speech and language. We will now continue our exploration of how children learn to communicate, and in doing so let’s now turn our attention to the “conversational” side of communication. I think you would agree that turn-taking is an integral part of having a conversation. As adults, when we engage in conversational interactions, we have learned to employ the social rules for conversational exchanges. These rules simply imply that one partner listens as the other speaks. When one is done speaking, it is then the turn of the other partner to interact. Thus, a conversation is largely comprised of language-based turn-taking consisting of back and forth exchanges on a single topic. ...

  If you recall,  last week  we described several behaviors that are present in newborn infants and their mothers from the earliest of their shared experiences. For example, newborn infants and their mothers are driven to initiate and sustain face to face contact. A mothers’ request to “see the baby” is concurrent with the infants’ primary interest in gazing at faces above than anything else. It is only later that the infant’s principle interest transitions from gazing at faces to gazing at objects. With those considerations in mind, let’s take a look at several additional developmental activities that mothers and infants engage in, from the earliest of their interactions. Prior to 4-7 months of age, the infant is the primary initiator of face to face contact. If you doubt that, simply try to get an infant to gaze at you if he does not want to. However, although the baby is the primary initiator of face to face contact, the adult can prolong it by responding to and encour...