Cleo Li was born healthy. Then, one night when she was just three months old, she stopped breathing. CPR brought her back to life, but Cleo had suffered a massive brain injury due to lack of oxygen.

Just like that, the Li family had a daughter with special needs, and their world was turned upside down.

Watch this Learning for Life as the Li family gives us a look at what it's like to have a child with special needs - whether that child is born with special needs or, like Cleo, suffers a traumatic event to her body. They talk about the emotional ups and downs as well as the challenges of finding information and support and the amazing difference early intervention makes for a child and a family.

This is the third segment in a month-long series Learning for Life - and Birth to Thrive Online (Thrive's daily blog) - is doing on children with special needs. Next week, we look at Autism - what it is, how it's diagnosed and the signs parents should look for. We also explore the issue of whether there are enough resources available to support the increasing numbers of children being diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder and their families.

Learning for Life airs every Wednesday on KING 5 Morning News on KONG 6/16 TV between 8:15 and 8:30 a.m.

Learn more and watch past Learning for Life series and specials here.

The University of Washington Institute for Learning & Brain Sciences (I-LABS) kicked off a multi-million dollar effort today to unlock how children learn, unveiling a cutting edge brain-imaging machine that can map what happens inside the brains of babies and toddlers as they react to their world.

The magnetoencephalography (or MEG) brain imaging machine – the first of its kind in the world to focus on the study of infants and young children – is a “stethoscope” for the mind that shows how a child’s brain changes as they listen and react in other ways. The technological breakthrough is similar to jumping from a static photo to color motion video, one researcher said.

The machine is housed in a new brain imaging center at the UW and part of I-LABS’ broader Developing Mind Project that will encourage new research on the brain and how children learn and share findings to improve the real world of early learning. World-renowned scientists Drs. Patricia Kuhl and Andrew Meltzoff are co-directors of I-LABS.

To help get research into the hands of child care providers, parents, policymakers and business and community leaders around the state to improve learning in the first years of life, I-LABS is partnering with Thrive by Five Washington, the state’s public-private partnership for early learning.

“We need more people need to know that 85 percent of the brain is formed in the first three years of life and to see the powerful side-by-side pictures of healthy developing brains and those trying desperately to grow in toxic environments,” said Nina Auerbach, Thrive by Five Washington’s president and CEO. “With I-LABS’ knowledge and expertise and our connections throughout the state, I know our partnership will take our state's commitment to early learning to a whole new level.”

Not only will the initiative help students learn, Thrive and researchers hope it will convince more of the public that it’s critical to invest in effective early learning efforts.

“By enabling new scientific discoveries in early learning and brain development, crafting actionable recommendations based on those results, and helping to educate policymakers, teachers and parents, I-LABS will accelerate the cycle from discovery to practice in early learning.” – Summary statement of the Developing Mind Project.

The MEG brain imaging machine holds tremendous promise beyond early learning. For example, it could help unlock mysteries surrounding autism and other disorders and in diagnosing children at earlier ages. Both researchers and doctors can use the scanning technology to help patients struggling with various disorders.

“I-LABS research is critical both for new discoveries about human learning and for improving the early diagnosis of children with medical syndromes such as autism,” Lee Huntsman, executive director of the Washington State Life Sciences Discovery Fund, which provided $4 million of the $7 million needed for the machine and brain imaging center, said in a statement.

The Developing Mind Project is yet another major early learning effort to come out of Washington state. Early learning champion Gov. Chris Gregoire was on hand to help kick off the new project and open the center.

“The potential for the MEG center is incredible. It will help us look inside the minds of our youngest learners and better understand just what happens during those earliest years, so we can best support kids in growing up ready to learn and succeed,” she said in a statement.

Check out video of the new brain imaging technology here. Watch KCTS’ interview with Dr. Meltzoff. Dr. Kuhl will appear on Learning for Life this Wednesday at 8:20 a.m. on KING 5 Morning News on KONG 6/16.

The potential for brain research to improve early learning appears to grow by the month. This morning I stumbled upon a mountain of new thinking and research about attention that may alter the way students are taught.

A University of Virginia professor, for example, suggests the thinking that children fall into distinct categories of learning styles is misguided.

“There’s not much to this notion of learning styles,” University of Virginia psychology professor and author Daniel Willingham said at a conference on attention and learning this month,” and no evidence that categorizing children by such terms as “visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learners,” for example, helps them learn.” – Busting Some of the Myths of Attention.

Now Willingham wasn’t focusing on early learning, but his ideas seem relevant to the worlds of preschool and pre-kindergarten.

He suggested matching the mode of delivery (teaching) not to the learner, but to the content. “Apply the idea of styles not to students—there’s no evidence for that—but to content, and what you want them to learn from the content.”

This report highlights a lot of interesting research – it’s a summary of a summit on “Attention and Engagement in Learning” – including the idea that attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder is not a deficit but an issue of how children allocate their time.

Essentially, children diagnosed with ADHD can struggle to focus on boring tasks and are drawn to more interesting developments, said Martha Bridge Denckla, director of the developmental cognitive neurology department at the Kennedy Krieger Institute.

“This form of inhibition, called effortful control or self-regulation, is a network of brain functions that develop at different speeds in different children. As the network wires up, such regulation becomes easier; until then, it takes a lot of mental effort. Some children with ADHD are slower to develop motor control than other children; it appears they are slower to develop effortful control as well.

…

“ADHD kids are using more brain power to sit still,” Denckla said; holding their movements in check while performing a school assignment is for them doubly difficult.

The summit is one element of the Neuro Development Initiative, which explores how cognitive and neuroscience findings can help teaching and learning. I am sure we will hear more from this group about early learning.
               

In the parenting world how to get a baby to sleep is one of the more hotly debated and arguably important topics. Now one of the leading voices in child care has waded into the debate by suggesting that allowing babies to cry themselves to sleep may hurt their brain development, the BBC reports.

United Kingdom-based author Penelope Leach, a widely respected researcher who has spent more than three decades studying and writing about parenting and child care, says prolonged crying of 30 minutes or more can be stressful and dangerous, according to the BBC.

"We are talking about the release of stress chemicals. The best known of them is cortisol, which is produced under extreme stress," Leach, who discusses the idea in her new book The Essential First Year (coming May 3), told the BBC "When that happens, and particularly if it happens over a long period, the brain chemical system releases cortisol and that is very bad for brain development.”

But is Leach even talking about the most well-known “cry-it-out” idea in the United States, the Ferber method? In the story, Leach refers to babies who are allowed to cry for 30 minutes, 45 minutes and an hour.

Nothing I have read suggests The Ferber method supports such an unresponsive style and prolonged crying.

“In a nutshell, Ferber says you can teach your baby to soothe himself to sleep when he's physically and emotionally ready, usually sometime between 4 and 6 months of age. He recommends following a warm, loving bedtime routine and then putting your baby in bed awake and leaving him (even if he cries) for gradually longer periods of time. Putting a child to bed awake, says Ferber, is crucial to successfully teaching him to go to sleep on his own.” – The Ferber method demystified, BabyCenter, 8/06.

Parents also should respond to crying at times, “but not to pick up or feed their baby.”

This seems like a far cry from what Penelope Leach is describing, and I am not saying Leach is necessarily referring to The Ferber method. (I think BBC writers put “crying-it-out” in the headline to garner interest and readers). But, I would not be surprised to see her thoughts used as fodder.

As a journalist and a parent I have heard from both sides in this debate and I am not suggesting either one is right. In the end, parents hopefully will make informed decisions based on what works for their child and family.

This spring one of the giants of family research will launch a campaign to connect parents and teachers with all of the research on benefits of quality early learning, and help them use it.

Next month, Family and Work Institute head Ellen Galinsky will kick off “A Mind in the Making,” an ambitious and multifaceted effort that will be the culmination of eight years of work on early childhood learning research, why kids lose interest in learning and what can be done to keep them engaged.

“Too many kids were dropping out of high school, too many are not prepared for college, and there is a disturbing lack of engagement in learning – the fire that burns brightly in babies’ eyes is dimmed in school,” Galinsky wrote in explaining her ideas and goals. “We have focused on content that young children need to learn, but we have paid much less attention to the learning – ultimately the life skills - they need to have.”

The core of the campaign is Galinsky’s soon-to-be released book “Mind in the Making: The Seven Essential Skills Every Child Needs,” which outlines modern skills parents should encourage their children to develop: Focus on control; perspective taking, communicating; making connections; critical thinking; taking on challenges; and pursuing ongoing learning. (April 6, HarperStudio.)

But, the campaign extends far beyond that 352-page book.  The effort includes a congressional launch event, learning modules for early childhood teachers and families, web-based videos for families, a DVD on great experiments in child development research and other efforts.

But, perhaps the most important tool will be lessons Galinsky will offer parents. Instead of telling them they should do something, she will show them steps and exercises they can take to instill those life skills that help children become productive contributing adults.

For example, parents should focus on praising their children’s efforts, not their talents.

“Studies have found that this kind of praise encourages children to challenge themselves,” The Seven Essential Life Skills Every Child Needs. “Life is full of stresses and challenges. Children who are willing to take on challenges (instead of avoiding them) do better in school and life.”

As one of the leading voices in the field of family research, Galinsky is more than qualified to lead this effort. She has written more than 40 books and reports, and currently is president of the Families and Work Institute in New York City. We will check back on this campaign as it unfolds.

Vaccine fears are back in the news today. Many parents are concerned about negative reactions to vaccines and one-quarter think these shots can cause autism, a new study found.

Overall, 54 percent of surveyed parents said they were concerned about “serious adverse effects of vaccines,” according to a story on the new research published today in Pediatrics, the journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics.  In addition, 25 percent agreed with the statement that “some vaccines cause autism in healthy children.”

That is the bad news. The good news is that the vast majority of parents (90 percent) agreed that vaccines are a good way to protect against disease, and 88 percent said they follow their doctor’s advice on shots, researchers said.

These findings come with a caveat. The work was done before a key study suggesting a link between autism and vaccines was retracted last month. But, widespread worry about vaccines shown in this new report suggests there is a bigger problem than one discounted study.

“Although information is available to address many vaccine safety concerns, such information is not reaching many parents in an effective or convincing manner,” researchers wrote in Parental Vaccine Safety Concerns in 2009. “Continued high childhood immunization rates will be at risk if current safety concerns are not addressed effectively and increase in the future, resulting in more parents’ refusing vaccines.”

Further reading: “1 in 4 Parents Thinks Shots Cause Autism.” Associated Press, via MSNBC.com, 3/1/10.

Research News: A expectant mother’s stress can affect a baby’s cognitive development, but a mom’s nurturing can offset the impact, “Good Parenting Triumphs Over Prenatal Stress.” Thanks to Early Childhood Brain Insights for highlighting the story.   

Noted psychology researcher Carol Dweck spent more than 30 years developing the idea that people can stretch their minds – in a sense, improve their brains – with the right perspective. She calls it a growth mindset, which is found among students who believe they can grow their minds, as opposed to those with fixed mindsets who often see talent as innate.

You can “stretch to learn something new. Your brain makes new connections, and over time you get smarter,” Dweck told me in an interview yesterday in advance of her presentation tonight at the Seattle Public Library. Dweck, author of “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success,” is in Seattle thanks to the League of Education Voters, whose leaders say that we need to foster a growth mindset not only for our children but also our state when it comes to education – we need to provide rich learning environments that foster lifelong learning.

Dweck’s ideas hold plenty of lessons for parents and teachers. That’s because she suggests students with growth mindsets tap their potential because they are willing to take risks and “each mistake becomes a chance to learn,” according to Stanford Magazine. Children with fixed mindsets, on the other hand, can become so concerned about performance, and worried about failure and its impact on their self-image, that they sometimes don’t take risks or learn much, the story added.

“People who believe in the power of talent tend not to fulfill their potential because they’re so concerned with looking smart and not making mistakes,” Dweck, a Stanford professor, told The New York Times last year.

It sounds easy. But, in an era when so many parents are obsessed with their kids’ test scores, how can they change tactics and encourage growing minds? It all starts with praise; something Dweck has spent much of her career studying.

The next time you are sitting around the dinner table and your daughter tells you she got an A or B on a math test, don’t praise the grade. Ask her what she learned today that she didn’t know yesterday, Dweck suggests. Overall, we need to help our kids see their classroom struggles in a positive way, she adds.

“To start to think that hard things are the fun things,” said Dweck during our interview.

Dweck’s work also has powerful if still emerging lessons for those trying to close the achievement gap in schools. For example, students with a growth mindset are less likely to buy into a stereotype, whether it’s tied to poverty or race, she says.

While Dweck has focused on older students, her ideas may apply to preschoolers and pre-kindergarteners. They may even help us understand how the benefits of quality early education are sustained.

“One question I would love to look at is can early gains be sustained by a growth mindset,” Dweck said.

It is impossible to do justice to Dweck’s work in this short forum. To get a better idea about her strategies, check out the following articles:

• “The Effort Effect: According to a Stanford psychologist, you’ll reach new heights if you learn to embrace the occasional tumble.” Stanford Magazine, March/April 2007.
• “The Many Errors in Thinking About Mistakes.” The New York Times, 11/24/07.
• “If You’re Open to Growth, You Tend to Grow.” The New York Times, 7/6/08.          

Play is an increasingly popular tool in early education, but we may need to dramatically redefine how we view it and use it in classrooms to help children succeed in school and life, a New York Times Magazine article suggests.

This Sunday, the magazine explored the Tools of the Mind teaching method that relies on structured and directed play to help students learn cognitive control - a big part of how to think - which holds the promise of better math and literacy scores that are in demand today. Without getting too simplistic, with Tools of the Mind kids can learn self regulation through long periods of complex scenario-based play, according to the in-depth story. Essentially, play is hard work.

Especially these days, they contend, when children spend more time in front of screens and less time in unsupervised play, kids need careful adult guidance and instruction before they are able to play in a productive way.

…

For (Lev) Vygotsky (whose work Tools of the Mind is based on), the real purpose of early-childhood education was not to learn content, like the letters of the alphabet or the names of shapes and colors and animals. The point was to learn how to think. – “Can the Right Kinds of Play Teach Self-Control?,” New York Times Magazine, 9/27/09.

The story raises fundamental questions about education, early, elementary and even secondary. Is education supposed to emphasize development of skills, whether it’s reading or writing software code, or how to think? Of course, education develops both, but it’s a question of emphasis.

While The New York Times story reports it’s too early to determine how effective Tools of the Mind is there are encouraging signs.

After a year in the program, students did significantly better than a similar group on basic measures of literacy ability. And more recent studies, including one overseen by Adele Diamond, a professor at the University of British Columbia who is one of the most prominent researchers in the field of cognitive self-control, have shown that Tools students consistently score higher on tests requiring executive function. – New York Times Magazine.

It is unlikely that Tools is a magic key, or at least the only magic key, that unlocks the power of play. But, the story left me thinking it could be a dramatic and important step in that direction.

Still, helping early learners boost their executive function – basically the ability to think clearly and in a directed way - isn’t easy, says University of Pennsylvania psychologist Angela Duckworth, according to the story.

“It’s not impossible,” she concludes, “but it’s damn hard.”