Category Archives: News

“The bro vote: Trump and Harris duel over what it means to be a man in America”. In the same month, a different publication went with, “The Crisis of Men and Boys”, while yet a third stated “Today’s Parents: Exhausted, Burned Out, and Perpetually Behind”. Indeed, it seems we needn’t look far to find media coverage informing us about the plight of the modern man. In a time when we’ve never been more inundated with on-brand messaging about what must be wrong, it can be helpful to reflect upon masculinity and fatherhood with an open mind and an even-keeled perspective.

Across cultures, differences between thresholds for emotional activation, social perception about emotional expression, language used to identify feelings, and valuations of varying emotions have all been found to significantly impact the male emotional experience. In other words, as men, a large contributor to our mental health is how the people around us feel about our feelings. Two explanations attempting to account for a majority of these difficulties have become popular, and have received more pointed attention in recent literature: men’s inability to understand their emotions, and a general inability to express those emotions honestly and effectively.

For many men, the life transition in becoming new fathers can be a uniquely challenging experience. With all the beauty and joy and excitement often come financial stressors, loss of sleep, decreased feelings of independence, and role uncertainty. Men in counseling often discuss struggling with wanting to feel closer to both wives and children, but feeling overburdened with job-related stress, and the negative feedback loop that leads to feeling unsuccessful across both job and family.

Despite open and authentic pushes in the right direction, the stigma against men admitting problems and seeking help is alive and well.  In general, compared to their wives, men are far more likely to deny, hide, or otherwise refuse to acknowledge persistent struggles with their mental health.  Expectations to develop and conform to traditional masculine values play a large role in maintaining this façade, and ultimately leads to men burying their problems down deeper, where they can wreak real havoc.  As a result, males are more likely than females to be diagnosed with “externalizing disorders”, like Conduct Disorder and Substance Abuse, than “internalizing disorders”, like Anxiety and Depression. They are also more likely to receive ADHD and Oppositional Defiance Disorder diagnoses, and as a whole, to score lower on standardized tests.  If you’ve ever experienced anxiousness or depressive feelings, you know how debilitating they can be.  But you’re not alone, and you don’t have to struggle with them in silence.

If you’ve never taken the time to sit with your spouse and talk about your priorities for each other and for your children, it’s quite possible you’re missing out on some vital information.  The state of your physical health, mental well-being, marriage, and family are all connected.  Keeping your diet clean, strength training, and being intentional about the time you spend working and the time you spend with your family can all go a long way to maintaining your day-to-day mood.  Pushing through uncomfortable barriers will help you continue to grow as a father, and discipline will be your best friend, supporting you every step of the way.  All men struggle with different things at different times, but denial and a lack of ownership from fathers only allows those struggles to be passed down to their children.  Solidarity with each other and commitment to healthy growth are some of the most worthwhile investments a man can make. 

Upholding your duties as a strong husband and a loving father go far beyond providing financial support for your family.  Nurturing independence in your children requires balancing patient support and guidance with firm limit-setting and accountability. Be honest with yourself, your significant other, and your children about how and when you experience disappointment, frustration, and anger.  What you do with those emotions matters.   How you teach your children to cope with these things matters.  And perhaps most importantly, having the hard conversations you don’t want to have matters.

Conflict is inevitable, especially when managing hectic schedules, work demands, and stressors such as financial strain, family dynamics, or caring for aging parents. While we can’t eliminate conflict, we can understand more about how we show up in moments of conflict, particularly with our partner. If we understand our defaults in habits, we can learn to implement antidotes and reduce or even eliminate harmful effects on our relationships.

It’s important to first identify whether a problem is solvable or perpetual. Dr. John and Dr. Julie Gottman from The Gottman Institute have conducted extensive research with couples over four decades and report that approximately 70% of relationship conflict is about perpetual problems. These perpetual problems are rooted in each person’s fundamental differences and perspectives; they feel like they will never be solved. When couples focus on perpetual problems, they enter gridlock and eventually engage in emotional disengagement. It can feel like we are constantly spinning our wheels!

One way to reduce the effects of perpetual problems is engage in dialogue about the underlying issues that hide beneath the perpetual problem. For example, a couple might repeatedly argue about how much money one partner spends on groceries and dining out every week. By engaging in open dialogue without trying to solve the problem or repeating the same arguments over and over, the couple might come to realize the food purchases are rooted in a childhood of neglect and a lack of resources. The Gottman Method encourages partners to develop skills for navigating conflict by enhancing a couples’ friendship to create shared meaning, which includes shared goals, symbols, and rituals.

According to The Gottman Institute, what matters is not solving perpetual problems, but rather the way in which they are discussed. The goal should be to establish a dialogue about the perpetual problem that communicates acceptance of your partner with humor, affection, and even amusement. This approach can help reduce gridlock and resentment. Stop spinning your wheels! Instead of insisting on solving perpetual problems, pause and engage in open, honest dialogue with your partner.

Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is often misunderstood as merely an issue of inattention or hyperactivity. In reality, ADHD is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder that affects individuals across the lifespan, influencing their ability to regulate attention, impulses, and behavior. While ADHD is frequently associated with hyperactivity, it can also manifest through inattentiveness, disorganization, or forgetfulness. Symptoms vary widely, with some individuals primarily struggling with focus and concentration rather than excessive activity. Raising ADHD awareness is crucial to dispelling stereotypes and fostering a deeper understanding of how the disorder truly impacts people.

ABA should be fun. Plain and simple. There are so many ways to teach, learn, and grow, while having fun. A motto of mine in the workplace is that if you’re not having fun with your clients, your clients probably aren’t having fun with you either. And if there’s not fun, then there’s not a productive learning environment.

There’s so many ways we can put the fun into ABA sessions- when we’re working on an early learner identifying colors, we can finger paint and have a creative, sensory immersion experience while we do it. While we’re learning what different textures mean, we can go outside and sit in the grass. We can feel rough sticks, smooth rocks, and cool water while grounding ourselves in nature.

Potty training? It’s a potty party. We can sing songs, read our favorite books, and learn imitation skills along the way by making silly faces in the mirror. Food tolerance therapy? We’re all dinosaurs, munching on broccoli trees and stomping grape boulders with our big, scary Dino-teeth. Learning opportunities are all around us- we are all learning and growing as humans each and every day.

A trademark of a high-quality teacher is the ability to identify and introduce these learning opportunities in the most naturalistic of ways- always meeting the learner where they’re at and following their guide and interests. Letters can be learned by writing our name in the sand, or by practicing reading the labels while picking out our favorite donut flavor.

But life isn’t fun all the time, shouldn’t kids learn that in therapy, like they would in school? Absolutely correct. As young as kindergarten, kids begin to learn that we can’t always have fun. We are required to work during certain times of the day and play during certain times of the day.

So how does “fun all day” therapy teach these skills? As in any environment, there are still rules; for safety and productivity. We focus on teaching tolerance of less preferred activities, as well as self-advocacy and problem-solving skills to make tough situations a little bit easier. This is a skill many of us are still learning in adulthood- even though something isn’t fun, we can find creative solutions to make it less not-fun.

Writing with our favorite pencil, listening to soft music to help us focus, choosing a book based on our interests for free reading time- there are so many resources all around us that we can utilize and contrive to make our days a little more fun. As a child (or adult) begins to recognize this, we develop self-advocacy and coping skills to take with us throughout our lives

In ABA, we should be using as many natural based consequences as possible. These are things that are indicative of the environment around us, not a rule that’s made by an adult. If we are being silly and dump a box of crayons, we have to pick them all back up  (and they never go back in the same way). If we climb on a wet playground, we may slip and fall.

Natural consequences hold such high value with learners (which is all of us humans) because they are a direct result of their behavior on the environment, as opposed to someone else’s requirements. There is a direct correlation between the action and the consequence. 

Fun is all around us. The ability to pull the fun into ordinary environments is what marks a phenomenal teacher. When we can make work feel like play, we can increase our learning ability, productivity, and enjoyments of our days. The roots of this can be taught through creativity, coping skills, and self-advocacy from a young age- and this is why it’s important to make ABA fun.

Enjoy!

Phrases like “Huh?” “What did you say?” “Can you say that again?” and “I’m sorry, I don’t understand—could you show me?” are all too familiar for parents. Engaging in conversations with your child can be challenging, especially when their speech is unclear or includes distorted sounds, leaving you struggling to catch what they’re trying to say.

No worries—you’re not alone! I’m here to help lighten your parenting load. Here’s a fun fact: most children typically don’t learn to pronounce the majority of their speech sounds until around ages 4 or 5. In fact, it can take until ages 7 or 8 for all speech sounds to be fully mastered. Different speech sounds develop and are mastered at various ages, and overall speech clarity gradually improves as they grow.

By age 2, children should be producing sounds like H, P, N, B, D, M, W. By age 3, they typically add T, F, Y, NG, K, G to their repertoire. By age 4, more complex sounds such as CH, L, S, Z, SH, V, DZ should emerge. By age 5, children are expected to produce sounds like TH (as in “the”) and ZH. Finally, by age 6, they should master TH (as in “thumb”) and R. Speech development delays may occur if these sounds aren’t acquired by the corresponding ages. Please note that children can develop these sounds earlier, and mastery often takes time.

Now, let’s take a moment to talk about speech intelligibility, which simply refers to the percentage of words a listener can understand from a speaker. This is especially important when the listener isn’t familiar with the speaker. Keep in mind that speech clarity should improve as children get older. By age 2, a child’s speech should be about 50% intelligible. By age 3, it should be 70-80% clear, and by age 4, around 90%. By age 5 and beyond, speech should be fully intelligible at 100%. So, hold on, clarity is on the way. I promise!

As a parent, you are the best advocate for your child and know them better than anyone. If you ever have concerns about your child’s speech development and/or speech intelligibility, it’s always a good idea to consult a speech-language pathologist. Scheduling a formal evaluation can provide valuable insights and support, ensuring your child gets the help they need.

I hope this message reaches you well and proves helpful in one way or another. Above all, I hope it offers some relief and guides you in the right direction. Until next time, we’ll continue the conversation in the next post.

As children grow, it’s natural to want to provide them every tool we can to help them feel confident and happy. From sports to schools to activities, we place priorities on our children having meaningful friendships, achieving academic success, and feeling fulfilled in their hobbies, talents, and interests. Across environments, for individuals of every age, screen-based technology has become a ubiquitous part of daily life. Smartphones, computers, laptops, video games, and televisions can be found in nearly every business, school, and home in the United States. With that in mind, we believe it is vital for families to utilize intentional structures and strategies to help children develop healthy and functional relationships with technology.

Access to screen-based technology provides children with opportunities that are undeniably positive, and properly deserving of merit. Never before have children had easier access to such a vast wealth of information, allowing them to enrich their lives by immersing themselves in connections to friends and boundless development of their interests. Screens offer our children new and exciting methods of learning, and their comfort with and responsible use of these technologies can increase their learning potential to a seemingly unlimited degree.

Like any tool, though, screens can be used in ways that may be antithetical to our children’s healthy development. Children who access hours of screentime every day are often reported to struggle with household cooperation, moodiness, difficulty in real-world social interaction, sleep difficulties/disturbances, increased time spent sedentary, and decreased motivation for other things. Additionally, in more extreme cases, negative body image/body dissatisfaction, pressured and/or difficult relationships with food, over sexualization, and exacerbation of pre-existing emotional and mental health issues, like ADHD, Anxiety, and Depression have been reported.

If you believe your child, or another family member, may be struggling with any of these issues, it may be worthwhile to consider the following strategies and ideas:

The need for caring and skilled nurses is higher than ever. For people with disabilities, getting into nursing might seem like a tough road with a lot of unknowns. Luckily, it isn’t just doable, people with different abilities can find the career extremely fulfilling. Plenty of opportunities and resources exist for those who want to make a mark in healthcare, no matter the challenges they might face.

As the air cools and the sunlight begins to change, the onset of Fall brings fresh excitement for many families. The novelty of a new school year may have worn off, but October brings classroom parties, haunted houses, hayrides, and enough candy to last an entire season. While there certainly is plenty to be excited about, it is important to manage your time well and not allow the fun of the holiday season to overwhelm you or your family. To help stay on top of things and keep Fall fun, here are some helpful hints to ensure your holiday season remains low-stress: