Scottsdale, AZ (PRWEB) November 05, 2014 The Developmental Discovery Center is designed to be a resource for parents and children struggling with the challenges of learning, developmental, and behavioral disorders. The mission of the Developmental Discovery Center is to provide early identification and intervention for common conditions such as epilepsy, depression, anxiety, Autism Spectrum disorders, dyslexia, OCD, ODD, Tourette syndrome, AD(H)D, PANDAS, and many others. How to Identify Epilepsy? There is often a misconception about epilepsy and what we have seen on TV. Most of us assume that epilepsy consists of a person jerking and convulsing on the floor. This may be indicative of a seizure, but this is not the only indication for a seizure. According to the CDC Epilepsy affects more than 2 million people in the United States. Epilepsy is characterized by unprovoked seizures, literally causing an electrical storm in the brain. The National Institute of Health explains that epilepsy is commonly misdiagnosed for other disorders 20-30% of the time. If epilepsy goes undiagnosed or untreated, the risk for additional seizures, disability, a decreased quality of life, and even death in some instances increases substantially. Those with epilepsy can go on to live successful, productive lives with … Continue reading →

Unsolicited Testimonials "Dear Rachel, Thank you for your continuous information regarding autism. The information is extremely informative and helpful." M Miller "I wanted to write to you to say how happy I was getting a "to the point information" instead of all the techinal stuff I was trying to understand on different web sites that I had found." Carmen "Dear Rachel, I would like to thank you. Your newsletters are a great help and have given me alot of answers to alot of questions I have. " K Brazier "Oh Rachel, thank you so much with all of my heart. At last I can tell everyone that my beautiful little 5 year old grandson is NOT lazy, is NOT naughty, and above all is NOT stupid. I have known all along that he is a very troubled little boy.... . Thankyou and bless you. Beryl." Beryl Ballantyne "I wanted to thank you for the very useful information you have provided so far and look forward to your next news letter." Herdip "I would just like to thank you for all the information you have provided. They were very helpful and I have learned a great deal on autism. I look … Continue reading →

For the first time, toddlers with autism have demonstrated significant improvement after intensive intervention by parents rather than clinicians, according to a new Florida State University study published online in the journal Pediatrics. "We've come up with a treatment model that can teach parents to support their child's learning during everyday activities, and we've documented that the children improved their developmental level, social communication skills and autism symptoms," said Amy Wetherby, director of the Autism Institute at Florida State University's College of Medicine and lead author of the Pediatrics study. Social communication includes eye gaze, facial expressions, gestures, sounds, sharing of emotion, listening, learning to understand words, discovering how to use objects -- things that children with autism have difficulty learning. "The findings are important because this treatment is viable for any community," Wetherby said. "We have early intervention that's federally and state funded. Now we've tested a model that any early intervention system should be able to offer to all families of toddlers with autism. It's affordable, and it's efficient in terms of clinicians' time." Most children are not diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) until age 4 -- and even later in lower-income, rural and minority families. By … Continue reading →

The arrest in Oregon of Jillian McCabe, who police say threw her 6-year-old autistic son off a bridge to his death, raises questions about what can be done to better support the parents of children with severe autism, and to better protect children with disabilities from potential abuse. Ms. McCabe called 911 to report what shed done to her son, London Grey McCabe, and told police she heard voices in her head, The Oregonian reported. Earlier this year, she had reached out for funds and prayers on YouCaring.com, describing how she was caring for both her son and her husband, who was unable to work because of a serious medical condition. The case follows another in Michigan last year, in which Kelli Stapleton pleaded guilty to a felony charge of first-degree child abuse after shutting herself and her 14-year-old daughter Isabelle into a van with burning charcoal. The two were found unconscious from carbon monoxide poisoning. She was recently sentenced to 10 to 22 years in prison. Ms. Stapleton had blogged about the difficulties of caring for Issy and the violence her daughter had sometimes unleashed upon her. After both recovered, she spoke about how she had envisioned the two … Continue reading →