I offered "my take" on the reasons behind 40 NCAA athletes dying during practices/conditioning sessions. There have been no "on-field" deaths. The deaths have occurred across multiple sports, but football, of course, is where the greatest number of deaths have occurred.
An amazing article printed in the Washington Post written by Sally Jenkins called, "Prehistoric college football coaches are killing players. It's past time to stop them". If your kid is headed to college and will be playing football, this is a MUST READ! It's an easy read with many anecdotes.
With the recent footage from Project Veritas regarding the abuses of Urban Meyer who was a well-respected and highly sought-after coach, we need to take the same steps that the NFL took after the 2001 death of Korey Stringer, a Minnesota Vikings linebacker, in order to protect college players who certainly have less of a voice and power than do NCAA players.
Don't let college coaches abuse and kill your kids. It's happening. We can find ways to condition athletes without killing them. Learn as much as you can before you pack your high school athlete up and send them to college.
An amazing article printed in the Washington Post written by Sally Jenkins called, "Prehistoric college football coaches are killing players. It's past time to stop them". If your kid is headed to college and will be playing football, this is a MUST READ! It's an easy read with many anecdotes.
With the recent footage from Project Veritas regarding the abuses of Urban Meyer who was a well-respected and highly sought-after coach, we need to take the same steps that the NFL took after the 2001 death of Korey Stringer, a Minnesota Vikings linebacker, in order to protect college players who certainly have less of a voice and power than do NCAA players.
Don't let college coaches abuse and kill your kids. It's happening. We can find ways to condition athletes without killing them. Learn as much as you can before you pack your high school athlete up and send them to college.
image credit to Babble
We talked about the latest Gerber Spokesbaby Campaign. Now, those are two words we don't usually think about going together...spokes + baby!
The iconic original "Gerber baby" was created in 1928 by illustrator Dorothy Hope Smith. She created that first Gerber baby image seen above by using a picture of Ann Turner Cook, a neighbor's daughter. Ms. Cook, above, is now 91, a retired English teacher and an accomplished mystery novelist. When she was 3 years old, her mother told her that she was the first Gerber baby!
I think her face still has qualities of this original illustration!! She looks so darn sweet and cute!!
The iconic original "Gerber baby" was created in 1928 by illustrator Dorothy Hope Smith. She created that first Gerber baby image seen above by using a picture of Ann Turner Cook, a neighbor's daughter. Ms. Cook, above, is now 91, a retired English teacher and an accomplished mystery novelist. When she was 3 years old, her mother told her that she was the first Gerber baby!
I think her face still has qualities of this original illustration!! She looks so darn sweet and cute!!
image credit to Time.com
Here is the 2018 Gerber baby. Yes, Lucas Warren was one year old when he was chosen from 140,000 entries! He has Down syndrome and I, for one, applaud his parents for submitting him. Look at THAT FACE!!! The Gerber folks chose him to "represent the diversity and beauty of American children". Yes!!
Moms and Dads (yes, caps intended!) have until October 20 to submit your entry. Your little one can win $50,000!
Here's an article about the search.
And, here are the official rules!
Here's an article about the search.
And, here are the official rules!
CALLING ALL POTTERHEADS! Here are three new books coming out before Halloween! Want to add to the Halloween excitement? Get your own Potterhead 1, 2, or all 3 of these great books!
Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Guide to Hogwarts
Harry Potter: Creatures: A Paper Scene Book
Harry Potter: Imagining Hogwarts: A Beginner's Guide to Moviemaking
We all know that amazon.com owns us...if you buy all three at the same time, the total will be about $100.00, but hey, no shipping!! Whoo-hoo. Holiday gift-giving already underway!
Also, SO EXCITING! Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will be out in November starring the fabulous Eddie Redmayne and others you'll recognize (or maybe not, depending on the special effects!) such as Jude Law and Johnny Depp. It's scheduled to be released on November 16.
Harry Potter: A Pop-Up Guide to Hogwarts
Harry Potter: Creatures: A Paper Scene Book
Harry Potter: Imagining Hogwarts: A Beginner's Guide to Moviemaking
We all know that amazon.com owns us...if you buy all three at the same time, the total will be about $100.00, but hey, no shipping!! Whoo-hoo. Holiday gift-giving already underway!
Also, SO EXCITING! Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald will be out in November starring the fabulous Eddie Redmayne and others you'll recognize (or maybe not, depending on the special effects!) such as Jude Law and Johnny Depp. It's scheduled to be released on November 16.
A Momma sent a question over the "Ask Me" button about her highly verbal and "opinionated" 8-year old son.
I made a number of recommendations/comments/observations including:
- He needs to be evaluated to determine his level of giftedness as well as to determine if his behavior is, indeed, related to the giftedness or a compulsive need to persist beyond all reasonableness.
- He may also benefit from seeing a speech and language therapist to determine if he is experiencing a Social Communication Disorder that we used to call social pragmatics to assess his level of communication awareness such as turn taking, engaging others, using vocal inflections and gestures to enhance his communication and to use appropriate questioning to bring others into the conversation.
- He may also be experiencing Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder and his hyperverbalizations may be the presenting problem.
- If he is highly gifted, you might want to consider a school for gifted kids where he’ll meet other Poindexters, a place where he will not be seen as different and where his intellectual and social needs can be addressed.
- Look into out-of-school resources such as the Johns-Hopkins Center for Talented Youth that offers programs, especially summer programs where like minds can meet.
- They offer a wide array of programs for all ages, but he’ll need to undergo an admissions process, so get on it.
- Raising a gifted child is extremely challenging.
- You won’t get any sympathy from others because your kid is gifted, so keep it to yourself.
- Look at the resources page of DrClaudia.net to get you started.
- As for the arguing at home, I recommend that you start family meetings.
- When you have the meetings, make sure you have a “sand clock” also known as an hour glass. There are some really colorful ones..maybe I’ll post a picture of the one I used to use with our son. Ugh.
- He gets only so much time to make his case.
- This strategy also works for when he’s challenging you, too.
- Part of his "pressured speech" presentation might be related to anxiety that he won’t be given the time he needs or he won’t be heard at all because, let’s face it, he is a lot of work.
- Using this technique, he’ll begin to hone his skills so that he presents his case concisely.
- He’ll be frustrated at first and you’ll have to tell him that because it’s really hard to reign in kids who have pressured speech.
- Finally, he may benefit from social skills training with a therapist so that he learns strategies to consider other people’s feelings and their point of view.
- It’s called perspective taking.
- He may also be feeling some anxiety, so a therapeutic approach may serve him well since he’s so cognitively oriented and CBT works well with verbal clients.
- Oh, and avoid telling him he’s going to be a lawyer!
Here's the link to my blog post called "How to run the family business". Momma, you're really gonna need these skills as he gets older, more verbal, more knowledgeable and more powerful!
I used this very "sand clock" in my office for those kids who were highly verbal. They were "comforted" by the structure and predictability. This is a 3-minute sand clock and they come in a variety of colors and "amounts of time/sand".
I remember, clearly, "my kids" saying, "Get the yellow clock, I have to tell you something!" Oh, so adorable! They need this kind of clarity, structure and predictability.
Just do your best.
Claudia
Join me on Facebook at Dr. Claudia McCulloch.
At DrClaudia.net, click on the "Ask Me" button and send me a question.
Sign up for the Sunday newsletter. Don't miss a thing!
I remember, clearly, "my kids" saying, "Get the yellow clock, I have to tell you something!" Oh, so adorable! They need this kind of clarity, structure and predictability.
Just do your best.
Claudia
Join me on Facebook at Dr. Claudia McCulloch.
At DrClaudia.net, click on the "Ask Me" button and send me a question.
Sign up for the Sunday newsletter. Don't miss a thing!
