Social Little Things

03/10/2019

In a word....yes!

Since 2009 the recommendations for speech and language therapy (SALT) staffing levels on neonatal units specified an ‘access to’ model, leading to a w…

06/09/2019

Love this. There should be more kissing in the world 💗

This is the world’s first ever magnetic resonance image showing a mother and child’s bond.
The image is of neuroscientist Rebecca Saxe kissing her two month old son.

The child’s brain appears to be smoother and darker. This is because it has significantly less white matter. White matter is comprised of myelin, which is fatty tissue that acts as insulation for the wires that communicate messages inside your brain.

The activations in the image do not refer to the act of kissing but to the organisation of functional activity in infant brains when viewing meaningful images.

Kissing causes a chemical reaction in your brain, including a burst of the hormone oxytocin. Oxytocin is often referred to as the ‘love hormone’ because it stirs up feelings of affection and attachment.

Kissing activates the brain’s reward system; releasing dopamine which makes us feel good. It also releases vasopressin which bonds mothers with babies and romantic partners to each other. It also releases serotonin which helps to regulate our mood.

23/05/2019

Communicating with premature babies and supporting neurodevelopment 💜

Presented by Kangaroo Care Day - Educational Series. We are proud to feature Cherry Bond, a renowned nurse and developmental care expert from the UK that takes us through a magical 5-step journey that parents, staff, and volunteers can share now with any baby, even the tiniest and sickest – it is ...

04/05/2019

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/05/190503100758.htm

All the surface of the human body is represented in the cerebral cortex in a transversal band localized at the external part of the cerebral hemispheres: the somatosensory cortex. Each body region occupies in that band a distinct extension depending on its use and sensitivity. For instance, the hand...

22/04/2019

“A mother’s voice... enables emotional development and social communication in childhood and throughout life”:

It is no surprise that a child prefers its mother’s voice to those of strangers. Beginning in the womb, a fetus’s developing auditory pathways sense the sounds and vibrations of its mother. Soon after birth, a child can identify its mother’s voice and will work to hear her voice better over un...

20/03/2019

For my speechie friends who do videofluoroscopy!

09/03/2019

A poem all about SLTS!

Michael Palin, Nina Conti, Lost Voice Guy give voice to poem about Speech and Language Therapy

06/03/2019

Today is European Day of Speech & Language Therapy. This is my motivation for today....

21/03/2018

"The report shows poor understanding of and insufficient resourcing for speech, language and communication needs. This means too many children and young people receive inadequate, ineffective and inequitable support, potentially impacting on their educational outcomes, their employability and their mental health."

An independent review of provision for children and young people with speech, language and communication needs in England

11/03/2018

Happy Mother's Day! We are none of us perfect, but in the words of Donald Winnicott; "building our children’s resilience is the gift of the good enough mother". His theories were ahead of their time and incredibly relevant today. The following post is good to read when you are feeling like a terrible parent.

"Children need their mothers (or primary caretakers, whoever they may be) to fail them in tolerable ways on a regular basis so they can learn to live in an imperfect world."

"Even if it were somehow possible to be the perfect mother, the end result would a delicate, fragile child who couldn’t tolerate even the slightest disappointment."

“I am not OK with being with a good enough mother. I work too hard to settle for that.” One of my closest friends (and one of the most devoted mothers I know) said those words to me a couple of years ago, and I’ve never forgotten them. On a...