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Many clinicians find it easier to tell parents their child has a brain-based disorder than suggest parenting changes. Jennifer Harris (psychiatrist)

The challenge of adolescence is to balance the right of the parents to feel they are in charge with the need of the adolescent to gain independence.

Whining and crying are employed by kids for the purpose of getting something. If it works, then it was worth the effort and will be repeated.

Removing a child from a traumatic environment does not remove the trauma from the child's memory.

There has been an explosion in the prescribing of medication for very young children, particularly preschool and kindergarten boys (Juli Zito , Univ. of Maryland)

"Parents aren't the cause of ADHD, but they are part of the solution." (Kenny Handleman, M.D.)

"Cutting" is a visible sign to the world that you are hurting.

"To be a man, a boy must see a man."  (J.R. Moehringer)

Don't wait for him to turn 10 before you reveal that you are not in fact the hired help whose job it is to clean up after him.

Children today are under enormous pressures rarely experienced by their parents or grandparents. Many of today's children are being enticed to grow up too quickly and are encountering challenges for which they are totally unprepared.

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Did You Know ? # 12

People who have spoken 2 languages actively for their entire lives experience the onset of dementia 4 years later on average than their peers who spoke only 1 language The brain cannot concentrate well on more than one thing at once.

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Schizophrenia

  What Is Schizophrenia ? – it is a cruel brain disease – it constricts experiences – it destroys opportunities – it attacks all socioeconomic levels and nationalities – it attacks about 6 people out of every 1000 in Canada – rate in North America appears to be increasing – MRI studies show structural abnormalities in some brains affected by schizophrenia – it usually strikes in late adolescence / early adult years  – just as […]

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Brain Fact # 12

Staying Fit Improves Cognition Physical exercise triggers increased brain growth and translates into measurable improvements in cognitive function. Studies proving this initially were conducted on participants aged 50+. Two studies conducted by Dr. Arthur Kramer in 2010 on higher-fit and lower-fit 10 year old children confirmed that physical fitness in children is also  associated with better cognitive performance and larger brain structures responsible for cognitive performance. These studies, although they do not show a causal […]

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Did You Know ? # 11

Growing up in a weight obsessed culture is particularly difficult for girls. Healthy puberty requires the addition of body fat in the form of breasts and hips, at just the age when girls are particularly sensitive to body image. Girls talk with each other during play more than boys do.

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Brain Fact # 11

Physical Exercise and the Brain   Physical exercise seems to slow and perhaps even halt or reverse the brain atrophy (shrinkage) that typically starts in a person’s forties, especially in the frontal regions of the brain responsible for executive function. In other words, exercise (aerobic exercise) can increase the brain’s volume of neurons (grey matter) and connections between neurones (white matter). This is possible according to neuroscientists because physical exercise triggers biochemical changes that spur […]

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Workshops

+ Behaviour Management (now available online)

This full day or 2 evening workshop will introduce you […]

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+ A Parent’s Guide to the Teenage Brain

  A teenager’s brain is not just an adult brain […]

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+ Reading Rescue

A program for children with reading problems

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+ A Guided Tour of ADHD (now available online)

This workshop will present the facts, myths, misconceptions, controversy and […]

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Contact

2720 Rath Street, Putnam, Ontario
NOL 2BO

Phone: (519) 485-4678
Fax: (519) 485-0281

Email: info@rickharper.ca

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Parents' Comments

“Our daughter was the joy of our life until she turned 13, then all hell broke loose. Rick helped us understand what was happening to her and we made some adjustments that helped us get through it. She’s now in University and doing well.”

(D.A. – St. Thomas)