Is your toddler learning to talk?

Don’t forget to teach your toddler words about emotions too.

Researchers found that early discussion about emotion may help reduce behavior problems, by giving toddlers the words needed to express themselves. In their article here they provide useful tips on how to make these words meaningful for young minds such as:

“mothers not only labeling the emotion (e.g., sad) but also putting it into context (e.g., She’s sad because she lost her bird) and tying it back to the child’s life (e.g., Remember when you lost your bear and you were sad?).”

 

Ever notice how a happy person talking typically has a high pitch and fast speech,

while a sad person speaks more slowly and with lower tones?

Well these same language factors may influence why musical tones, pitches and rhythms correspond to certain emotions too, according to research! To read more, click here!

You may have guessed that babies love music due to all the nursery rhymes and lullabies that are geared towards babies, but research shows babies are especially tuned in to singing and music for emotional regulation (such as the calming and soothing effects). Find out more here and sing, sing, sing!

Click here for a recent study which found significant differences between blood flow in certain brain regions in autistic individuals versus typically developing individuals, using brain imaging technology. MRI and other imaging techniques will be critical in helping researchers solve the autism mystery.

Click here to read about research that found children recognized new words more easily when they already knew many other related words. Researchers employed categories familiar to children such as drinks, fruits, body parts, animals, clothing and vehicles. Read more to hear the full story and to help your toddler’s vocabulary expand.

Theatre involves many factors that could be important learning tools for autistic individuals, such as observing, perceiving, interpreting and expressing thoughts, feelings and ideas says researchers. Click here to read more about the effects these researchers found when autistic individuals participated in theatre programs.

 

There are several local sensory friendly theatre productions coming to Connecticut soon!

Click here to find out about sensory friendly performances at Hartford Stage

Click here to find out about sensory friendly performances at The Bushnell!

 

 

 

Anxiety can be due to an inborn temperament or due to life experience. Read more here about a study that looked at parents and children with anxiety, and how family therapy intervention can possibly curb that anxiety.

With the rise in autism rates, it is no wonder that autism research is a hot topic on campus these days, and our researchers are on the path to discovery. Click here to read about one of our undergrad researchers that made a big impact in the field!

At UConn, there are many researchers interested in the brain from many different perspectives and this new institute will help to connect these researchers at a whole new level to share information and discoveries. Click here to read more!

Did you know that spoken language and written language are supported by different parts of the brain? This research can help us understand why spoken language happens much faster and is achieved much easier than literacy skills.