06/11/2022
The Smartponosaurus Rex
More and more kids are referred to Occupational Therapy due to poor handwriting and behavioural challenges (not sitting still, not listening, not focusing, poor concentration, etc). The teacher discusses medication with the parents. Parents are concernd.
World Health Organisation recommends zero screentime for children under 2 years due to the damage caused in the white matter in their brains acc. to their research. From 2 to 6 they recommend only 1 hour with parental supervision.
Main concern is not the addiction caused by too much screen, but the change of brain plasticity leading to serious damage in brain function.
Children need to work with their hands to improve their abilities and skills. That's why we just expierience a change in paradigna from academic preschool to play based preschools following the advanced approach implemented in countries like Finnland.
Play, particularly outdoor play, is vital to set up the brain of a child in a developmentally correct order. We only have a small window of opportunity. As soon as kids are in grade R and a lack in proper brain development becomes obvious, we need much more time to change and adjust their brains for success.
For now restrict their daily intake of screentime and let them participate in house chores like peeling patatos, sweeping the floor, laying the table, filling the dishwasher, folding the laundry, etc.
And be aware that all activities that are only happening inside the head, particularly gaming without bodily input, are not helpful to set up their brains properly. With too much screentime the wrong areas in the brain are addressed, mainly the visual motor cortex and maybe 2 thumbs.
And then we have a "Smartphonosaurus Rex" as a perfect equivilance of a poor connectivity in the sensomotor cortex areas for the hands. Hence the child is not able to write properly due to his short arms with only 2 fingers. The sensomotor humunculus (this is how we would look acc. to the size of bodily structures represented in the brain) has huge hands.
We are created to use our hands and if these areas are not used accordingly, the neurons just prune away. (If a body builder does't go to gym any more, same happens to his muscles).
Result is poor handwriting and poor executive functioning skills (part of the diagnostic critiria for ADHD).
And the medication is recommended due to poor scholastic performance.
In my practice I see the change in self perception within 4 weeks with a strict screen time fast. Kids who drew themselves without hands and huge eyes (perception of the visual input), then draw beautiful hands with 5 fingers.
Neurons need 4 weeks to spread and Occupational Therapy is perfectly suitable to improve scholastic performance by offering targeted activities to build up brain plasticity in these ares of the brain. (Occupational Therapists are highly skilled people. They even help people after stroke to regain handfunction).
Therapy aims to set up the abilities to equipp a child to the be able to aquire the skills. The branches must be there first before the apples can grow.
Help your child's garden burst into life by making small changes. Let them play, let them do house chores. There is time enough to train them academically once their brain is developmentally ready.
