When: Wed. February 29th, 6:45pm to 8:15pm.

Where: 435 15th St. #1 between 8th Ave and Prospect Park West in Park Slope, Brooklyn. One block from the F and G subway- 15th St. stop. *Please note the Brooklyn bound F subway does not stop at 15th St. Please exit at the 7th Ave stop (when exiting the subway station, walk up the stairs to 8th Ave).

Cost: $15 per person. No refund, unless event is canceled. Spots limited to 12 people.

Interested?
Email Craig at craig@brooklynlearning.com to RSVP.

Once confirmed, please mail a check for $15, written out to Craig Selinger, and mail it to:

Craig Selinger
435 15th St. #1,
Brooklyn, NY 11215

Language/Communication Characteristics:

A person with ASD typically has an early history of language delay. Some children even have a regression in language skills, meaning that they start to develop language, but then stop speaking. This regression can be gradual or sudden. The good news, however, is that most people with autism spectrum disorders develop language, particularly with the help of intervention.

Individuals with ASDs also tend to use language in an idiosyncratic manner. These idiosyncrasies include using language in a repetitive manner (echolalia), speaking with an unusual tone of voice, using formal language, and speaking in an invented language/using invented words. Some children speak much like an adult would. Conversation is also difficult for people with ASD. Someone with ASD may talk a lot, but it is hard for them to engage in a reciprocal conversation, meaning that they might talk on and on about one topic or try to bring conversations about varying topics back to a topic of particular interest. Others might not respond at all to the social use of language. In children with ASD, there is also sometimes a difficulty with pretend, imaginary play. This is sometimes an area of play that children with ASD do not enjoy.

Social Characteristics:

Individuals with ASD vary in terms of their interest in engaging socially with others. Some people with ASD really want to have friends and interact with others, while some people with ASD prefer to spend time alone, not interacting with others. In both groups, peer relationships are difficult. Those who want to engage with friends often have difficulty with the reciprocal nature of social relationships, so skills such as turn-taking, sharing, and allowing for everyone to influence the progression of play can be a struggle.

Another often problematic area of social development for individuals with ASD is the use of nonverbal behaviors to regulate social interactions. This means that a person with ASD may have trouble using eye contact, so they may avoid making eye contact, or they may make too much eye contact such that it appears they are staring. Facial expression and gesture also may be implicated here, so that the person with ASD may have a limited range of facial expressions (e.g. always smiling) or do not use or inconsistently use gestures such as waving goodbye and pointing.

Individuals with ASD may also have trouble with a concept known as “socioemotional reciprocity.” This means that social skills such as comforting others who are hurt or sad, responding appropriately when someone approaches them, and initiating social contact in an appropriate manner may be difficult for them.

Finally, individuals with ASD have trouble in many cases with “shared enjoyment.” Shared enjoyment refers to behaviors such as smiling, making eye contact, and saying enthusiastic comments, such as, “This is great!” when happy and excited about something.

Interests and Behaviors:

People with ASD often have strong interests that captivate them. These interests can pervade play, conversation, leisure time, and academics, and in many cases, the individual is incredibly knowledgeable about their topic of interest. A person may have one interest that they maintain for years and years, or they may have an intense interest for a month or two, and then shift to a new intense interest.

Individuals with autism also are often interested in the parts of objects. For example, instead of playing with matchbox cars by setting up a racing scenario, they may prefer to turn the car over and watch the wheels spin. Individuals with ASD also may engage in repetitive motor behaviors, such as hand flapping or finger flicking. These mannerisms may be brief and subtle, or they may be very obvious.

Finally, people with ASD often adhere to routinized behavior. For instance, they may insist on taking the same route to school everyday, or keeping the same strict schedule day after day. Many parents don’t recognize these routines until an unexpected disruption occurs and their child becomes very upset.

ASDs can be diagnosed at a range of ages, from early childhood through adulthood. No matter what age, diagnosis can be a valuable way to secure the supports and services an individual might need to meet their potential.

Carolyn Kessler, Ph.D., is a child psychologist with more than 10 years of experience working with children, adolescents, and their families on issues related to behavior management and parenting, anxiety disorders, mood disorders, developmental disabilities, and ADHD. Family training is a key component of her therapy. Dr. Kessler specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of autism spectrum disorders. She is a Codirector of Psychology Services at the New York University Child Study Center’s Institute for Pediatric Neuroscience and is in private practice in Park Slope, Brooklyn, where she provides assessment, treatment, and consultation to families and schools. In addition to standardized testing of IQ, achievement, memory, and behavior, her assessment skills include the use of the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), an instrument on which Dr. Kessler trains other professionals, as well as the Autism Diagnostic Interview- Revised (ADI-R).

The small intimate supportive culture of the Sterling School, located in Brooklyn, helps support boys and girls with Dyslexia and ADD learn how to read, write, do math and science using the Orton-Gillingham method in combination with a ‘one student/ one tutor ‘ approach to education in a warm, friendly environment.

Ms. Arberman, founder of the Sterling School, will discuss what you need to know about the Individualized Education Program (IEP). An Individualized Education Program (IEP) is a legal document that describes your child’s needs, goals and mandated supportive services. In this lecture, you will gain knowledge of how to navigate and use the IEP school meeting to advocate for your child. You will obtain the skills to become an “insider”, advocate, and equal partner in the IEP planning and implementation process. Specifically, you will learn what opportunities the new SESIS system provides in terms of your child’s schooling as well as the differences between your child’s diagnosis (i.e., expressive versus receptive language difficulties, dyslexia, difficulties with math or written expression) and the formal Department of Education (DOE) classification (and the ramifications of these differences).

When: Wednesday February 22nd, 6:45pm-8:30pm.

Lecture starts promptly at 7:00pm and a question and answer will follow from 7:45-8:30pm.

Where: Brooklyn Society for Ethical Culture- 53 Prospect Park West.

By subway: 2 or 3 train to Grand Army Plaza, Q train to Seventh Avenue (and Flatbush Avenue), F train to Seventh Avenue (and Ninth Street)

Cost: $20 per person and no refund, unless event is canceled. Spots limited to 50 people.

Interested?
To reserve a seat, please email Craig at craig@brooklynlearning.com or Dr. Lindsay Whitman at lindsay@brooklynlearning.com.

Premature birth or delays intertwined with concerns about feeding and weight gain can mark the life of child and parent. Daily feeding problems disrupt family life. The idea that children will not starve themselves is hardly consoling. In extreme cases, this comment is not even true. In most cases, the most bedeviling feature is the busy child engaged with everything except food.

The mother of one my current patients missed that time as she watched her busy son have trouble eating and gaining weight. She called it “lost time.” It that made her feel distant from her child when it came to feeding. Her son was born about 1 month early and, one year later, mom still missed that time. Little children often experience the same disconnect as the parent, and this disconnect further decreases their interest in food. More bonding was needed to interest her son in more calories.

The child’s development also presented challenges. By this child’s sixth and seventh adjusted months, he did not meet the developmental milestones of cup use and finger feeding associated with that age, despite the absence of any fine motor problems. The speech therapist and I made some progress with the feeding and offered nutritional information and developmental guidance. The guidance consisted of ways to help mom, dad, and baby connect with games and modeling, to helping their son eat in an age appropriate way. Mom began to feel more connected, more food went in, and the rate of weight gain increased.

A crisis arose when an old ulcer acted up. Stomach pain dulled the child’s appetite. Medications quickly resolved the ulcer but two mild illnesses occurred, one right after the other. As expected, the illnesses kept his appetite depressed and months of gain vanished in 4 weeks. Mom knew she could not force feed but her sense of failure as a mother made her very sad and increased her sense of disconnection. Her grief was exacerbated by the advice of the pediatrician, speech therapist and me that she wait out the illness. At this point, mom verbalized her sense of alienation, which she dated to that “lost time.” We therapists were worried, because as parents become distressed, children often respond with a depressed appetite. They feel the loss of connection when the parent’s feelings turn inward instead of outward towards them. Meanwhile, her son was on the mend and began to return to bottle feeding, but it was unclear about mom’s response to the recuperation.

I suggested she place him on her lap against her belly while humming as he was bottle fed. She had already moved from using television to recorded music as a distraction. I felt that now, with humming, she and her son could begin to reconnect and gain back some of that lost time. The physical connection soothed mom and baby. Perhaps, redressing some of that lost time by helping him grow while enveloped in her lap, returned him to the muffled sounds heard inside the amniotic ocean. With that, the session ended. A few weeks later, mom was happy. Her son’s weight was up and I am looking forward to the next steps.

Richard is a Registered Dietitian offering nutritional services for children between 6 months and 5 years of age. His interests are feeding problems in typical and atypically developing children experiencing pickiness, refusals, failure to thrive or other weight gain concerns. His work is based using developmental, play and family strategies to address eating problems in families with young children and children with developmental delays. He is currently researching a method to help parents wean their children off the bottle. He can be reached at: richard@brooklynlearning.com and by phone at 917-232-5373. www.brooklynlearning.com

I feel compelled to address a very important issue with all of you. Over the past few years, a substance called K2 or Spice has emerged as synthetic, “legal” THC-like compound. It is a combination of unregulated synthetic chemicals often mixed with a very floral scented herbal concoction and sold as a “legal” form of marijuana (however it does not contain active THC).

Teens seem to be attracted to it because 1. it does not show up on drug tests, 2. is apparently easy to get and legal- kids do not have to feel like they are lying to their parents when asked if they are smoking weed (because technically they are not), and 3. people can get very high from smoking it and it is relatively inexpensive.

I have now seen three cases in my own practice of very serious psychiatric side effects that came from using this drug, including severe anxiety, agitated and aggressive behavior, and a general sense of mental instability. There have been reports all over the country of similar effects in users and there is concern that frequent users of the substance can develop physical addiction. It is still largely unstudied and unregulated. There is also concern that it is related to several sudden cardiac deaths.

I am highly concerned that teens think that K2 (or whatever the current name of the day is) is a safe “herbal” and benign drug and thus do not consider it “using drugs” or “smoking,” etc.

This is a relatively new problem and much overlooked. But, I now hear that it easy to buy in the city- even at local delis. I think we must really talk to the kids openly and directly about it.

Direct and honest communication about drug and alcohol use is difficult for many families (primarily because kids have a difficult time being honest about their use- they do not want their social activities or freedom to be limited). But continued efforts to keep the dialogue open is so important as substance use is incredibly prevalent in most of the social lives of the NYC teens that I see in my practice.

Thanks for reading this. Please educate your kids about this issue, as I will during our visits. More information can be found online.

As always, it is a pleasure and privilege to care for you and your children.

Best,
Kari Groff, MD

Kari Groff, MD is a child and adult psychiatrist practicing in Park Slope, Brooklyn. Kari is an expert in psychopharmacology, and offers a holistic and wellness-centered approach to treatment. Her practice includes pharmacologic management of post-partum and pregnancy mood issues, ADHD, anxiety disorders, depression and bipolar disorder. She completed her fellowship in Child and Adolescent psychiatry at the NYU Child Study Center. Prior to moving to New York, she trained at the esteemed Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Groff is also a violinist and children’s songwriter. Her experience with children inspired her to create an album dedicated to understanding feelings and emotions as well to celebrate the amazing courage that kids show despite many challenging times. For more information or to schedule an appointment, call 646-469-9209.