Children, Allergies, Asthma

I decided to share a positive example of the effects of research on children and families. One real-life example of research which I believe benefits children is constantly finding ways to treat or support children with allergies and asthma. I began wonder about how this study began and decided to search for web resources on the subject. I came across some web resources I was unaware existed. One by the Allergy and Asthma Network for Mothers of Asthmatics http://www.aanma.org  I viewed the short video for the day called “Draw how you feel when you have an asthma attack” and the majority of the children describe what they drew and how they feel when they are better plus shared their experiences. I believe continued study on this benefits society in a big way. I think without research and constant study to treat asthma many lives including children would be lost.

The next few sites I came across lists different allergies http://www.acaai.org/allergist/Pages/default.aspx  and gives information on epipens http://www.epipen.com/about-epipen . I haven’t found the source of how epipens were discovered or research articles but I imagine the epipen to be a great discovery and benefits children and families with high cases of food allergies like nuts and shellfish. As a childcare provider I know this is an essential part to saving a child’s life in the event of having a severe reaction to a food allergy and needed immediate medical attention. The last website is The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology which provides articles and information on not just on allergies but asthma as well.

I believe continued research on both treating allergies and asthma are both real-life situations which impact the lives of many family members around the world. I think people with asthma or allergies are common. If I were to guess I would say everyone knows someone with an allergy or asthma condition. I think allergies evolve more rapidly as each generation develops so I appreciate each study and positive result to treat it.

Please take a minute to explore one site of interest.

Reference Links

http://www.aanma.org/?s=journal+articles

http://www.acaai.org/allergist/Pages/default.aspx

http://www.epipen.com/about-epipen

http://www.jacionline.org/article/S0091-6749(10)00657-3/abstract

Gifts and Talents

            Have you ever wondered about young children with special gifts or talents? Have you ever pondered ways to encourage their natural gifts individually as well as academically? Have you ever had an interesting conversation with a gifted and talented child or had opportunities to observe them? If you answered yes to any of the previous questions then our interest in gifted and talented children are similar. My topic of research involves gifted and talented children.  As I reflected on this general topic it was difficult for me to narrow down my focus into subtopics for gifted and talented children as I’m eager just to find out everything there is for these children. I believe their skills are important and should be nurtured. I want to research more about the assessment tools used to discover gifted and talented children and their process.  I noticed several factors like reading at a higher level or completing a complex mathematical equation in less than a minute may not always determine a child’s gifts or talents. I also want to find out about available educational opportunities or supportive programs for them and their families. I chose this topic because not only am I fascinated by young children and their creativity as they play and develop but I see gifted and talented children in a fascinating way also. I often wondered if their creativity developed because of early nurturing before birth for example playing classical music while the child still develops in the womb, playing simple games as an infant or introducing literature to a toddler.  

            I’m asking all of my colleagues to please contact me with any information, advice, or any experiences you would like to share with me that can be helpful as I begin my research journey throughout this course. Your opinions, comments, insights, experiences are greatly appreciated.