Posted by: drmolly in only children, development on
Sep 01, 2010
We can all see the pros and cons of siblings. I can tell you first hand, my brothers are both a blessing and a curse. I can also tell you that when I would tell my parents that I wished I was an only child, one of their arguments in response is that siblings help you learn how to negotiate the world socially. Apparently that widely held belief is just wrong.
A study published recently looked at teenagers who are only children and found that they
Posted by: drmolly in development, autism on
Aug 31, 2010
Every day I talk to parents about their infant's development. We talk about walking, eating, sleeping and most of all social interaction and speech and language skills. Every parent worries about autism and so does every doctor.
For now, we still don't have a definitive answer as to the cause of autism and that makes the condition even more frightening for parents and doctors alike.
I suspect there isn't a single root cause for autism but instead
Around the time girls are starting to get their earliest breast tissue I start talking to those patients about puberty and all it brings. For some girls this could be as young as 8 or 9 years old; for others it isn't until they are 12 or 13. Talking about puberty is important and here's what I say:
What an exciting time this is for you! Your body is starting to change from a girl's body to a woman's body. This process of your body changing is
A colleague recently shared a story with me. She was in the exam room with a mother and her 13-year-old daughter. She was an only child and the mother and daughter seemed to have a close relationship. My colleague asked if the girl had started her period and simultaneously the mom said "no" and the daughter said "yes." Yikes. That the girl hadn't shared the important information with her mom despite a good relationship gave me pause.
I have a
Did you know that by the age of 3 children show huge differences in how many words they speak an hour depending on how much verbal interaction they have had with their parents and caregivers? Amazingly enough, long before preschool or Head Start Programs are even a possibility, children have such huge differences that the 20 percent of children who are uttering the fewest words per hour can't make up the difference even with intense
How short is too short? Does a child really even notice? Most kids are aware of where they fall in the great scheme of things but whether they are tall, short or average doesn't have much effect on self-esteem, according to a recent study.
In this study, 712 sixth-graders answered questions about self-esteem, behavioral issues, depression, popularity and teasing and bullying. The 28 students who fell below the 10th percentile for height
Recently I walked into a room and found not only the 18- month-old boy I was scheduled to see but both parents and a grandmother, too. I knew something was up. The little boy was walking all around the room, stooping to pick up things, handing toys to his parents and talking two-word phrases to them. I couldn't imagine what the concern was because this child was so clearly normal in every way.
I proceeded with my interview, asking questions
It is mid-summer and by now I have given the puberty talk to my patients about 100 times. I have it down pat and have gotten enough positive feedback that I thought I would share it with you.
I give this talk to boys entering 5th or 6th grade because even if they aren't in puberty yet, some of their peers will be and this opens the lines of communication between the boy and his parents. I always give this talk with the parent(s) in the room but
Posted by: drmolly in teenager, development on
Sep 01, 2009
Some teens will be spending the summer working, others taking classes, while others will be going to camp and on vacation. In the summer, the challenge for parents of teenagers is to ensure their safety while they have a lot more free time on their hands. The good news is that by offering the opportunity to explore interests more fully, parents can actually encourage healthy brain growth and minimize the chance their teen will make seriously bad
Posted by: drmolly in speech, development on
May 18, 2009
Recently I was asked a question by a reader about her child's speech. In summary:
Q: My son turned 2 yrs.old in February and still does not talk in sentences, not even close to that. He will mostly repeat words we say to him but his vocabulary consists of a maximum of 7-8 words that he will say spontaneously and he won't say most of the consonants in some words. He is exposed to 2 other languages other than English ... but most of his
