by Sara Zryl, M.A. Pre-Doctoral Psychology Intern

Let her sleep-For when she wakes- She will move mountains-― Napoléon Bonaparte

Feeling overtired? You can improve sleep patterns just by adding some Zen into your life. It is not uncommon, every so often, to feel run down, overtired, less motivated or fatigued. If this occurs on a day to day basis, you may experience difficulty sleeping throughout the night. Sleep health is a relatively new field of study that examines how we sleep and what factors impact sleep. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention  provides sleep guidelines from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (2013). The amount of sleep recommended changes as we age; however, individual sleep needs vary.

The speech-language, occupational and developmental therapists and social workers at the Integrated Pediatric Therapies program at JCFS Chicago work with infants, toddlers and children who are experiencing developmental delays.

These early childhood experts are passionate about working with the entire family—child, parents, siblings and family as a whole—not only to ensure the therapies are consistently worked into daily family life, but to address related issues that arise from raising or living with a child with a delay or disability. We love to share how their passion translates into real life stories of success and hope. Here is one mother’s experience, in her own words…

In August of 2014, Angelo Militello of the JCFS Skokie Office was asked to co-chair the DCFS Cook County Permanency Enhancement Project Steering Committee. This committee meets The Illinois Permanency Enhancement Project (PEP) began in 2007 as a partnership between IDCFS, the African American Family Commission, the IDCFS African American Advisory Council and Illinois State University, School of Social Work/Center for Adoption Studies. The goal of the initiative is to improve permanency outcomes and reduce racial disproportionality within the child welfare system, through local, community-driven solutions. Community “Action Teams” made up of child welfare service consumers, human service professionals, educators, judicial officers, and concerned citizens, meet on a monthly basis to develop programs, policies, and collaborative initiatives aimed at improving permanency outcomes for children.

The Integrated Pediatric Therapies at JCFS Chicago is offering Yoga for Kids for children (preK-3rd grade). Come join our Occupational Therapist in a fun, child-centered environment that merges age-appropriate yoga practices including breathing techniques and animal poses with other play, art and social game experiences. This class encourages exploration of early yoga practices while building your child’s gross motor skills, coordination and body awareness.

A study from the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) in Seattle said that babies as young as seven months old are mentally working out the mechanics of how to form words with their mouths; the New York Times ran an article emphasizing the importance of the quality of words spoken to children , beyond just the quantity of words.  And, NPR’s Science Friday  interviewed Fred Genesee of McGill University in Montreal, about his study that suggested that “early impressions of language are much more durable than scientists predicted.”

Connections: A Relationship-Based Phase Model is a just-published manual for early childhood professionals—those who run preschools, Head Start programs and other activities for pre-schoolers  aged 2‒6 years old—promoting social and emotional health in young children.

The book is a product of the Virginia Frank Child Development Center (VFCDC) , a program of JCFS Chicago that operates a therapeutic preschool, trains early childhood professionals and consults with schools and organizations that engage pre-schoolers. All of its authors—Joni Crounse, MA, M.Ed, Kathy Ham, LCSW, Joanne Kestenbaum, LCSW, Wendy Guyer, MA, LCSW, Linnet Mendez, LCPC and Laura Sheridan, MA, LCSW—work at the Center and helped to develop the “relationship based phase model.”

According to a recent study by the University of Washington’s Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) in Seattle, babies as young as seven months old are mentally working out the mechanics of how to form words with their mouths — well before they’re able to utter their first recognizable syllable. And, as ABC News reports,  that means speaking “parentese” to your baby can help with brain development.

Summer is here.  We finally feel the warm sun and look forward to long weekend afternoons at the pool.  It is an excellent time of year to go over the basics of child safety and how to prevent abuse. 

Communicating with your child is a key strategy in preventing abuse. Here are some key messages that you can give your children:

By Ann Luban, Community Services Program Specialist

Body image isn’t the shape of our bodies; it’s how we view our bodies.  And negative body image can affect kids as young as four or five years old.  Parents and other adults play a central role in how kids of all ages view their bodies and view themselves overall.   It is critical that we act intentionally to support them in their development.

By Lindsay Hardy, M. A.

Life in general presents us with ongoing challenges, many of which we feel unprepared to handle- parenting, divorce, interpersonal issues, etc.. At times, we need outside support to help us make sense of the challenges we face.  And so do children.  Pursuing counseling for a child, either as a primary service or an addition to current services, can foster positive change on a number of levels. It probably looks much different than you think.  However, knowing when a child might need this type of help can be challenging.