Includes the following article: A Cognitive Development
Primer for Parents
Questions may be submitted online to the 'contact us'
section of this website or sent directly to: DigiCare
Hearing Research & Rehabilitation, P.O. Box 706, Rye, CO
81069, or faxed to (719) 676-6882. Your name, address,
and telephone number along with your request are
required in order to receive a reply from the Digicare
team.
A Cognitive Development Primer for Parents
By Max Stanley Chartrand, Research in Communicative
Disorders
& Glenys Anne Chartrand, AdDipOT, Occupational
Rehabilitation
Today, there exist several critical misconceptions
relative to the development and potential of children.
We call these misconceptions the 'elephants in the
living room'. They’re so obvious that they tend to be
invisible to a vast army of practitioners and parents in
search of answers to perplexing problems. This brief
treatise will attempt to expose and clarify the
'elephants' that lie in plain view of all, and in the
process, provide the reader with solid and time-proven
solutions that are available to everyone to resolve what
up to now have seemed to be insurmountable challenges.
One of those misconceptions is that children vary
significantly in intelligence potential. Another is that
once they do exhibit signs of learning or cognitive
disability that they will always remain so. Both
assumptions are wrong on their face. For instance,
studies show that from individual to individual, race to
race, and other genetic factors there is no more than a
+/- 10 point spread in the range of IQ normality. In
fact, performance is so disengaged to actual IQ scores
that they are almost irrelevant to how far a child can
go in life. Furthermore, all children can increase their
Intelligence Quotient (IQ) throughout their entire lives
simply by doing the things that foster good mental and
cognitive health.
The other assumption, that '='once cognitively disabled
always cognitively disabled' does not hold true against
the reality of the dynamic and plastic neurological
system of the human body. Indeed, children can and often
do overcome almost every cognitive developmental
obstacle in their path. Most so-called 'learning
disabilities' are simply delays in development that seem
magically to disappear later when no one is paying
attention. A good example of this is the statistics in
stuttering, which is comprised of about 92% boys. But,
looking at that same population later, we finds that
<10% of that group are still stuttering into adulthood.
In fact, statistics repeatedly show that 85-90% of all
children who suffer from learning, cognitive, and
communicative disabilities are boys. Girls, as a rule,
make up about 10-15% of that population. Why is that?
First of all, females are born with corpus collosums---the
connective tissue between the two
hemispheres---approximately 30% larger and more
developed than males. So, during about a 7-10 year
maturation period---without any extraneous causes for
delay---males are already playing 'catch-up'. On a level
playing field, males usually catch up cognitively with
females by the teen years. On that same level playing
field in later school years, the two sexes split off
into parallel areas of cognitive superiority, such as
spatial vs fine motor performance, and cognitive
reasoning vs linguistic bias.
This explains why more than 90% of cases identified with
ADD and ADHD are boys. Taking the straight line of
correlation (in cognitive development vs behavior
patterns) from the U.S. public school system into the
U.S. penal system, where the vast majority of inmates
are illiterate, we find that 96% of those imprisoned are
males. Hence, although boys and girls are about equally
exposed to injury, disease, allergy, and plugged
Eustachian tubes (causing chronic ear infections), boys
end up exhibiting the lion's share of developmental
setbacks. Girls, with superior auditory, communicative,
vocabulary and cognitive head starts, rarely exhibit the
same developmental, behavioral setbacks as do boys.
'This expose is not intended to point fingers or stir
resentment, but to call all thinking persons to action,
today. Our goal is to help every child avoid the sad
results of mainstream ignorance and unintended neglect.'
As these children grow older, and are expected to
perform at the same level, the boys most behind tend to
mask their lack of grade-level performance with
behavioral distractions. Unchecked, this trend escalates
into early school expulsions and dropouts, illegal
driving, lower-echelon work and eventually standing on
the outside of society itself. The data on these trends
should garner the attention of every thinking parent and
professional, rather than to be swept under the rug as
so much 'sexist' data.
In the beginning: Chronic infant ear infections
A prevalent trend in pediatrics that has caught almost
the entire medical community unawares is the continual
increase in allergies among pre-school and school-age
children. In the 0-3 age range this manifests itself
most readily in the continual rise in cases of middle
ear infection (OME). But the truth is that the vast
majority of these cases began as allergy cases. This
explains why several recent studies show treatment
regimens without antibiotics about as effective (or,
rather, ineffective) as the treatment with antibiotics.
Streptococus and/or nuemococus areus, the most common
bacterial causes of children’s ear infections, are
actually secondary conditions. The primary condition is
unrelenting, unresolved inhalant allergy as a result of:
Dust mites and mold spores at home
Seasonal plant pollens
Common foods (i.e., yeast, dairy and wheat products)
High-sugar, high-salt diets
Caffeinated drinks
Second-hand smoke
Silicate dust in high winds
Iron-additives in infant formulae (boys)
For infant males, commercial formulae with added iron
can dramatically increase allergy response as it later
shortens their lives. Yet every federal
government-sponsored infant program requires high iron
supplementation in covered formulas! Popular caffeinated
drinks exacerbate the problem further by adding
hyperactivity and anxiety. High-sugar and over-processed
foods, along with a host of nutritional deficiencies,
keep the child in a perpetual allergic state, hampering
behavioral self-control as it slows cognitive
development.
We need to keep in mind that most childhood ear
infection episodes are not accompanied with pain; hence,
most go undetected. The child, in most cases, can go
months, or even years, with a 20-30dB loss of hearing
sensitivity without complaint. We estimate that only
about 10% of OME cases are even reported, because those
that involve pain, swelling, and crying tend to be the
only ones to receive adult attention. Furthermore,
studies have proven that a mild, long-term 16dB loss of
hearing acuity can put a child as much as one grade
level behind their peers. So, the longer and greater the
hearing loss, the further they may fall behind their
peers in:
Speech/language development
Development of central auditory functions
Attentional/squelch abilities
Vocabulary size
Cognitive skills (reasoning, logic)
Reading skills (aka 'dyslexia')
Spatial skills
Fine motor skills
• Limbic system (aka anxiety, depression, ADD/H)
Socialization, bonding and participation
Sense of security, confidence
Moreover, even the child who suffered OME during ages
0-3, but later recovered by the time they reached
school, can be significantly setback in their
developmental track. Since males start with a
disadvantage, they tend to stand above the 'norm' in
learning disabilities, and hence, comprise almost all of
those held back a year at the first grade level.
Following those same children into later grades, we too
often find them still behind even their new peer-group.
The worse cases find males in 8th grade that read at 3rd
grade level.
In an youth (ages 16-21) education/penal system project
in which one of the authors participated during the
1980s, this was exactly the case: More than 95% of
court-ordered enrollees were male, their average dropout
grade was the 8th grade, and their average reading level
was 3rd grade. The goal of the program was simply to
help them pass the GED examination, an ominous task for
young men who could barely write their names legibly. In
every case that could be documented, they suffered from
repeated episodes of OME during infancy. Most received
no treatment at all, other than for pain.
For this reason, the authors stress the importance of
documentation in school records and regular hearing
tests throughout childhood years. Yet only 15% of the
16,500 school districts have an audiologist on staff. Of
those that do, the audiologists are kept busy with a
tiny portion of the children needing their attention.
Most school kids go from elementary through high school
without one single properly administered test in a
sound-treated environment.
At the same time, billions of taxpayer dollars are spent
annually on special education, as enrollments and the
categories that define eligibility expand at an
exponential rate!
(Note: Of course, there are other trends that increase
the incidence of bonafide learning disabilities:
increases in drug abuse and use of tobacco by mothers,
declining infant mortality rates due to medical
advances, and progress in earlier intervention of
childhood problems. But the authors contend that the
vast majority of those identified with learning
disabilities are simply developmental delays due to OME,
allergy, nutritional imbalances, and un-/under-treated
hearing loss).
Call to Action: Solutions at our fingertips
The following section will discuss some of the action
items that can be implemented everywhere at very low
cost to help the largest number of children. It is
interesting that a ponderous body of data supporting
these recommendations has been with us for some time,
but has been virtually ignored by mainstream practice,
and by public educators in general. Hence, when parents
find out about these “elephants in the living room” they
are often quite upset with their medical care,
educational staff, and themselves for not doing
something sooner.
This expose is not intended to point fingers or stir
resentment, but to call all thinking persons to action,
today. For every day of delay causes thousands of
children to graduate from their childhood years with the
yoke of unrealized potential and a lessened outlook on
life and happiness. Our goal is to help every child
avoid the sad result of mainstream ignorance and
unintended neglect.
'(To improve math and science performance and to outgrow
a host of learning disabilities) we encourage mandatory
music instruction as part of the core curriculum for
K-8.'
With the above in mind, we will now enumerate some of
the solutions in order of their importance, and hope
that every person who has it in their power to implement
them will have the courage to do so.
I. Hearing health equates with cognitive health
The first step in every child's case, before any other
kind of testing, should be a complete hearing
evaluation, including detailed hearing health history.
The hearing history should show whether and how
extensively the child suffered from repeated middle ear
infections during the critical years of 0-3, and beyond.
If the hearing test shows a loss of 16dB PTA or more,
remedial action should be considered. In most cases,
there may be an ongoing inhalant allergy. The milder
cases may be treated with a mild decongestant (such as
Children's Sudafed) or non-narcotic antihistamine (such
as Allegra or Clairton appropriate to body weight) taken
daily in the morning only as prophylaxis. Retesting of
hearing thresholds can ascertain if the desired result
is being achieved.
More serious cases may require the insertion of Pressure
Equalization (PE) tubes by an otolaryngologist. These
will usually stay in place up to about 2-3 years, and
maintain hearing levels in spite of allergic
interference. In some stubborn cases, both of the above
approaches may be necessary.
In cases where thresholds exceed 25dB PTA, hearing aids
should be considered when medical treatment would not
improve hearing thresholds any further. A mild hearing
loss can be devastating to the developing child,
especially in social, attentional and speech
development.
Scarring of eardrum tissue or adhesive otitis residue on
the tympanic membrane (eardrum) as viewed through video
otoscopy can cause a loss of up to 20-25dB in a child.
Technically, such losses are not cause for hearing aid
recommendation, but yet we know there can be significant
developmental delay if not addressed. In such cases, FM
Classroom Soundfield is a definite answer.
The school’s health history records should identify
those students who fit the above profile, and alert
appropriate staff to support the
educational/developmental needs of each student. Staff
that should generally be alerted as to at-risk children
are:
Audiologists
Special educators
Speech/language pathologists
Educational Audiologists
School Counselors
School Nursing Staff
Home Room Teachers
From what we now know as a result of extensive and
conclusive research, FM Classroom Soundfield should be
utilized in every classroom for grades 1-8 in all
schools. Data from the landmark 1978 MARRS Project is
quite supportive of this recommendation. The cost of
equipment can be expensive (>$2,000 per room) or
inexpensive (>$130 per classroom), depending upon
equipment utilized and who installs it. But the results
in increased student performance, behavioral control,
and teacher effectiveness is undeniable. School
districts that are serious about raising student
performance will install these systems. The FM Classroom
Soundfield System consists of:
(1) A wireless FM mic and transmitter worn by the
teacher
(2) An FM receiver connected to
(3) 2 or more small speakers located in the back or
sides of the classroom.
The object is to 'equalize' the teacher's voice
throughout the room, so that those sitting in the back
have the same acoustic advantage as those sitting in the
front. Participation and academic performance gains
among ALL students also rise, while those who've 'fallen
between the cracks' are helped, too. Following is a list
of those who are especially helped by FM Classroom
Soundfield:
Students with hearing impairment at all levels
(about 14% according to one recent study)
Students with attentional problems (about 35% of
boys and 5% of girls on average)
Mainstreamed students with learning disabilities
(especially dyslexia)
Students with behavioral/socialization problems
Teachers who must raise their voice often to keep
class attention and control
Schools that are serious about raising test scores
of their general student body
II. Closed Caption: 'Reading while watching TV'
Since 1993, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
has required that all televisions sold in the U.S. are
equipped with closed caption (CC). CC places the text
visually onto the screen. The ADA has also mandated that
all videos and television broadcasts feature closed
caption. It seems the public schools in the U.S. have
been the slowest segment of society to follow the spirit
and letter of the ADA in cases of hearing impairment. In
effect, every videotape or film production shown in the
school should have CC turned on, since so many of the
children with impairments have fallen between the cracks
of the system.
We urge parents to request that closed captioning be
utilized in all such school presentations. Furthermore,
we urge all parents to require that their children who
have any degree of reading problems to watch TV at home
with the closed caption. This may take some talking to
get the non-impaired members of the family to agree. But
the rewards in improved reading skills can be
phenomenal. Also, children who come from homes where
English is a second language benefit from regular use of
closed caption.
Furthermore, please be aware that not everyone complies
with the ADA. There are still numerous programs (mostly
older reruns) that fail to provide closed caption. And
movie theatres have almost universally ignored the
auditory implications of ADA (and OSHA, too, as they
often exceed safe sound levels to impress their teen-age
audiences. At typical 90-95dB SPL sound levels, theaters
should be passing out earmuffs at the door!).
III. The universal antidote: Music
One correlation in education that stands out as a HUGE
'elephant in the living room' is that as U.S. schools
have all but eliminated or dumbed-down music programs as
core curriculum over the past 30 years that U.S. math
and science scores have plummeted simultaneously. The
schools can give math and science 'til the students are
blue in the face, and they will never approach, the
aggregate level of performance of their Japanese and
Taiwanese counterparts. The reason is that development
of musical skills provides the neurological building
blocks so necessary for cognitive skill development.
Music is also the antidote for a host of disabilities,
including central auditory procession disorder (CAPD),
dyslexia, socialization problems, ADD/H,
interhemispheric discontinuity, and a host of other
'learning disabilities'. Studies on this are conclusive,
piled high for all to see---if they will only look. Tons
of impeccable research has been laid at the doorstep of
the U.S. Department of Education, only to be discarded
before it can reach the local school districts and
parents who need it the most.
For that reason, we strongly encourage mandatory music
instruction as part of the core curriculum for K-8. From
grades 9-12, it may be elective, as that is the age for
specialization. But for younger ages, keyboarding, band
or string instruments, or vocal music should be the
experience of every school child. As a result:
A host of learning disabilities and behavioral
problems will dramatically improve
Overall student performance in tests of cognitive
ability will rise
Funds for myriad remedial courses and ineffective
special education programs can go to something that
actually produces solid results
(Note: Most special education programs are badly
needed, but have expanded to include many, many children
who simply need tasks and counseling to 'catch up in
their development').
Juvenile delinquency and dropout rates will plummet
Students will go on to more technical careers in far
greater numbers
Until your school institutes music as core curriculum,
however, we suggest that you start every child by the
time they are 8 or 9 years old with weekly music
lessons. Piano is the best instrument for cognitive
development, and can even accommodate children down to
age 5 or 6. Practicing daily at home for at least 25
minutes per day will yield unbelievable dividends!
IV. Soccer as the universal sport
Regardless of your favorite sport, soccer has been shown
to extend the greatest opportunity to the largest number
of children for superior spatial and cognitive
development. It is the school sport of choice in every
nation that outstrips our youth in math and science. It
has the least limitation on physical size, and
participants can start as young as 4 and go all the way
through college.
We mention this here, because we see a huge groundswell
of parents promoting soccer in the U.S., while the
public schools exert an enormous amount of effort
keeping soccer out of the schools. Of course, the
primary reason for the opposition is that it competes
with other more 'popular' sports. But if our goal is
really to give the largest number of children the
greatest opportunity to grow and develop, we will pursue
the steadily increasing trend of bringing soccer into
our public schools.
V. Good health: Foundation for good development
No treatise on the subject of development would be
complete without bringing in the foundation for good
health: proper diet, appropriate exercise and restful
sleep. American children, as a rule, are culturally
lacking in all three of these areas! They go to bed too
late, go to school malnourished, and rarely exercise,
causing alarming rates of obesity. The richest nation on
Earth resides among the most neglectful of good health
practices.
Under separate cover we will provide more insight into
the nutritional aspects. But suffice to say here that
we, as parents, need to:
(1) Eliminate or reduce those foods that cause allergies
in our children
(2) Remove or reduce caffeinated drinks from our
children’s diet
(3) Go all out to stop children from smoking and
drinking alcohol (we need be better examples!)
(4) Provide essential nutritional supplements (calcium
w/ vitamin D, for instance would go far in building
stronger bones and bodies)
(5) Increase water intake for better hydration of the
body, fewer allergies, and better kidney/urinary tract
function
Add to the above recommendations, to a set an
age-appropriate bedtime so that the child has a chance
to 'wind-down' before nodding off to sleep. Contrary to
popular belief, teenagers need MORE sleep than
pre-teens. A student that is well rested, and who has a
high-protein (NOT high carbohydrate) breakfast before
going to school will far outperform the students who
come tired, strung-out, and half-starved. Feeding the
body is feeding the brain, especially when Omega-3 oils
are included.
Proper Exercise is another area that must be covered in
another venue in more detail. If your school does not
mandate physical education, and your child leads a
sedentary lifestyle, it is recommended that they take
dance, swim, martial arts, or other forms of regular
weekly instruction. Furthermore, it is highly
recommended that students join the community soccer
league, since few public schools now offer soccer. In
other words, you can take charge of your child’s
physical program, instead of waiting for the school
system to do it for you. The benefits will last your
children into old age, with longer and healthier
lifespans, greater resistance to disease, and will lead
them much closer to reaching their optimum potential.
Dr. & Mrs. Chartrand work together at DigiCare Hearing
Research & Rehabilitation. Correspondence: P.O. Box 706,
Rye, CO 81069, fax to: 719-676-6882.
|
|
|
|
