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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.

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

Relationships matter:  change comes through forming trusting relationships. People, not programs change people.

Criticism is not a motivator.

Adolescence can be the cruelest place on earth. It can really be heartless.  ( Tori Amos)

Children fare better when expectations on them are clear and firm.

Children mimic well. They catch what they see better than they follow what they hear.

Simple rules adhered to when children are young can prevent more serious problems later.

"The thing that impresses me most about North America is the way parents obey their children"    (King Edward VII , 1841-1910)

If you are headed in the wrong direction as a parent - you are allowed to make a U-turn.

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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 neuroplasticity – the production of new connections between neurons and even of neurons themselves. Fred Gage’s research  at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies has shown that exercise helps generate new brain cells, even in an aging brain. At the same time, exercise helps protect these fledgling neurons by bathing them in nerve growth factors (called “neurotrophins”) which contribute to the survival, maintenance and growth of neurones. Finally, physical exercise triggers the formation of new blood vessels (angiogenesis) in the brain.

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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

“Rick’s approach is so logical. He helped us clearly define the problem, analyze what has happened and select the best strategy. We now feel empowered to do something positive for our kid”

(A.N. – Tillsonburg)