On Brain Growth in the Teen Age Years ....worried still no language topic

[Guest guest]

This was on Chelating Kids years ago, as you can see by the date below.

A mother on that list had saved it and later posted it. I too have saved it and

thought it may be helpful to those discussing the Speech after age seven topic.

Sherry

May 18, 2000

On Growing Brains: Infant Years, Teen Aged Years

Doomed Before Kindergarten?

[A scientist rebuts the claim that a child's brainpower is determined

by age three. " The Myth of the First Three Years " , book. From the National

Education Association website.]

http://www.nea.org/neatoday/0005/fyi.html

In recent years, the media -- and marketers -- have emphasized

" brain-based research " to advance the notion that children's minds must be

especially stimulated in the first three years or their future learning

capacity is in peril. But have children's most critical learning years

truly passed before they even start school? A new book says: No.

Are some kids doomed before kindergarten?

There's never been any evidence that experiences before kindergarten

mold a person's brain for life, says Bruer, author of the recently

released " The Myth of the First Three Years " . " There's no magic cutoff, " says

Bruer, who heads the S. McDonnell Foundation in St. Louis, which funds

research in neuroscience, developmental psychology, and education.

Early experiences and stimuli may benefit a child, but children who

lack early intellectual stimulation can still do very well.

" Good teachers can have profound effects at any age, " Bruer says,

" from pre-school to university to the people you work for in adult life. "

What about " critical periods " of learning?

A " critical period " is a window of opportunity, a limited time during

which experiences have a permanent, irreversible effect. Bruer says

research shows there are critical periods in a child's development, but only for

a few very basic abilities. These time-sensitive abilities include seeing,

hearing, acquiring a first language, and possibly some areas of social and

emotional development.

The stimulation that people need in these areas is present in any

normal human environment, and there's no value in adding more, Bruer notes.

For example, in those rare cases where children have been completely

unexposed to language in their early years, they were not able to learn

later. Clearly, small children do need people to talk to them. But there's

no evidence that extra talk at an early age automatically leads to superior

language skills as an adult.

In most areas of learning, the effects of deprivation are reversible. " It might

take some effort, " says Bruer, " but the child's life isn't forever ruined. Later

experiences can have a huge effect. "

" Everybody's favorite example of critical periods is Henry Kissinger, "

Bruer adds. " He arrived in the United States around age 12 and speaks

English with a German accent. His brother, two years younger, has no accent. "

Henry Kissinger may have missed the critical period for learning to

speak English without an accent, but his English grammar and vocabulary are

rich and learned.

Doesn't brain research tell us pre-school is all-important?

No. There is evidence--from outside of brain research--that young children from

disadvantaged backgrounds can benefit from good, early school-like experiences:

These students do better in school afterward. " But this is not a 'critical

period' phenomenon, " says Bruer. " We all benefit from experiences throughout our

lifetimes. "

Haven't studies shown that nerve dendrites proliferate between birth and three

years?

Dendrites, which form connections among nerve cells, do grow rapidly during the

first few years. But the proliferation of dendrites, Bruer notes,

seems to be controlled by genes--dendrites proliferate regardless of whether

a child is in a rich environment. What's more, Bruer adds, skills seem to

develop later, when excess dendrites are pruned. It's the pruning, not the

growth, that's affected by environment.

What about research showing that rats raised in enriched environments are

smarter?

" Putting rats in an enriched environment has good effects no matter what their

age, " reports Bruer, citing work by Bill Greenough at the University of

Illinois. " Greenough's work shows we can and should think about providing

experiences at any age. "

What should educators know about current brain research?

Caveat emptor--be a wary and wise consumer whenever the popular press reports on

the " latest brain research. " " I hope educators gain some understanding of what

science does and doesn't say, " Bruer muses. " They need to critically appraise

the claims they read about brain-based research. " Research in developmental and

cognitive psychology, says Bruer, can help teachers do their work better.

For example, research shows children don't come to class with mental blank

slates. Children may come with misconceptions that are hard to change.

So, to help students learn, teachers need to start by finding out what

students already know, or think they know, about the subject at hand.

But brain-based research, at least where it stands now, won't offer

any fact-based insights.

" One real danger of over-emphasizing the early years is that this can cause

parents and teachers to give up, " says Bruer. " A teacher may say, 'Development

is done by age three. There's nothing I can do.' " Says Bruer: " That's not true. "

It's Never Too Late To Learn

Language skills can be continually acquired and developed well beyond the early

childhood years. The exception: Those rare children who aren't exposed to

language at all in their early years can't catch up.

###

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On Brain Growth in the Teen Age Years

[These observations come from FEAT Newsletter associated editor

. The Newsweek article she references is reproduced in the next

Newsletter posting.]

I heard Mesibov speak on adolescence yesterday. It was a terrific

talk -- (I'll try to write up the details) -- but he made one comment that

was revolutionary: he alluded to new research showing that there may be a

second " intensive intervention " window in the lives of children with

disabilities.

The classic notion of early intervention, he said, may be seriously

incomplete since children undergo a second burst of brain cell growth as

they enter puberty; in terms of brain development puberty is a re-play of

the first years of life. Mesibov said, " We don't know what this will mean

for autism, but with autism we do know it will be interesting. "

I went straight home and found the Newsweek article covering this

research (it was still sitting in my to-read stack) and there it was:

" Maturation does not stop at age 10, but continues into the teen years

and even the 20s, " says Jay Giedd of the National Institute of Mental

Health. " What is most surprising is that you get a second wave of

overproduction of gray matter, something that was thought to happen only in

the first 18 months of life. "

" The teen years are, then, a second chance to consolidate circuits

that are used and prune back [eliminate] those that are not-too hard-wired

an ability to hit a curve ball, juggle numbers mentally or turn musical

notation into finger movements almost unconsciously. " [i'm thinking maybe

Jimmy can consolidate his I-can-read circuits and prune back the

viciously-bite-my-wrist-when-I'm-angry circuits.]

" Think of it as nature's way of giving us a second chance. "

A couple of other observations on brain development: Martha Denckla,

who is the Chair of NAAR's Scientific Advisory Board and an authority on

neurological development, told me that in fact brain development does not

end until age 35 when myelination is finally complete. Martha said people

know this intuitively; that's why the Constitution forbids anyone under the

age of 35 from running for President. By the same token, it is at age 35

that criminals released from prison can and do become rehabilitated. Before

35, released prisoners almost always commit more crimes.

A related observation, in terms of autism: both Ed Ritvo, who

diagnosed Jimmy, and Mesibov said that people with autism have a much

steeper learning curve in early adulthood than do non-autistic people.

Where our learning curve flattens, theirs continues to rise. This reminds me of

a story my friend told me about the 22-year-old daughter of friends of

hers in New York City. The girl acquired no academic skills at all

throughout her years of schooling, but now, at 22, had suddenly decided to

learn to read.

Her mother was trekking out to and Noble every day to buy

elementary school reading workbooks for her. She'd bring them home to her

daughter, and the girl would sit on her own with them and work her way

through. She had also decided to talk. I don't know whether she had been

considered nonverbal before, but now she was talking all the time. Of course her

pronunciation was dreadful since she'd had so little practice over the

years, but her goal was to talk to people, and she was working on it.

It's important we not give up--and that we not allow educators,

therapists and clinicians to give up--after the " miracle years " of early

childhood. A good book on these issues as they relate to typical children

is T. Bruer's " The Myth Of The First Three Years: A New Understanding Of

Early Brain Development And Lifelong Learning " .

Not to sound sentimental, but every year in our children's lives - autistic or

not - is a miracle year.

It ain't over 'til it's over.