Kaitlyn was eleven years old when she stumbled upon a book I was reading. She brought it to me and, as if she had just discovered a brand new planet, she exclaimed with a sparkle in her voice, “Mom, these kids are like me!” My heart skipped a beat— she was obviously ready to learn…
April 8th, 2014 The National Association for Child Development and the NACD Foundation Announce the Appointment of Kaitlyn and Lisa Law as NACD’s Ambassadors for Down Syndrome. We are happy to announce that Kaitlyn Law, a 23-year old young lady with Down syndrome, and her mother, advocate, and cheerleader, Lisa, have been appointed as the…
My friend, Isabel, one of our many great NACD moms, who comes to us all the way from Guatemala, has been doing a fantastic job with her son Eddy. In the process of determining what is best for Eddy, Isabel has turned herself into an expert on nutrition and environmental toxins. She has written a…
by Ellen Doman Here we are again approaching the holiday season. Many parents express confusion as to what to tell family members to get for the children or even what they, themselves, might get them. We have often spent quite a bit of time telling parents what not to allow the child to have in…
by Gena Daunhauer “Do you have a hobby you wish you could indulge in all day? An obsession that keeps you up at night? Now is the perfect time to take that passion and make a living doing what you love.” These are the words of Gary Vaynerchuk in his book Why Now is the…
by Lyn Waldeck When I first started training with Bob back in the early to mid 1990s, I was fortunate to be able to sit through hundreds of evaluations with him. Hundreds of times I heard him ask the question, “So Johnny, what do you do for fun?” One evening over a working dinner meeting…
by Carol Estrada Bruce Haslam, PhD, Director of Research for The NACD Foundation, along with Tamara Knapp-Grosz, PhD, Director of Counseling and Support Services at Savannah College of Art & Design, presented “Brain Change: Simple Interventions to Dramatically Improve Student Functioning” at the 45th Southeast Conference of College Counseling Center Personnel held on November 5-7th…
by Nick Smith This report outlines common side effects of drugs prescribed for ADHD, many of which are extremely serious even if they are considered “rare.” If parents do not tolerate a child running across a neighborhood street without looking for cars because there is a “rare” chance they will be hit, then why should…
by Vidya Guhan, NACD Developmentalist and Coach As a coach, this tends to be the number one concern that I address with parents. As a parent, I always come home from an evaluation feeling good, feeling like I have a plan and can make some real progress. Then I receive my program, and I feel…
by Louise M., NACD Mom For as long as I can remember, I have never liked running. I have always been poor at it. So since there was so much room for improvement, it seemed to be the perfect sport for me. I took up running in February 2011 at the old age of 33….