Early Identification of Developmental Disabilities

Robert Fettgather, Ph.D. is a psychology instructor who has served as a developmental disabilities consultant. He has written several publications and papers in the field. Dr. Robert Fettgather serves as an associate faculty member at Mission College in Santa Clara, where he instructs students in different areas of psychology and human development. 

The term "devleopmental disabilities" is used but not always understood. Developmental disabilities are typically life-long disabilities that begin during the developmental period and affect appearance, learning, behavior, and language. Developmental monitoring is a form of continuous assessment for developmental disabilities. Parents who suspect that their children are suffering from developmental disabilities can employ developmental monitoring, which factors in the age and skills of a child with matching benchmarks called developmental milestones. Developmental milestones encompass expected playing skills, learning skills, locomotive skills, speaking skills, and behavior for a child's age. Parents, childhood education providers, and other caregivers can leverage the CDC's Milestone Tracker app to vet a child's developmental progress. A caregiver who prefers to use the checklist instead of the app can fill it out and share it with their child's health provider, who can use the information to determine the risk of developmental disability and whether developmental monitoring is necessary.

Early identification of developmental delays can improve access to interventions and support services. Regular monitoring allows caregivers and healthcare professionals to recognize concerns before they become more significant challenges. When developmental issues are identified promptly, children may benefit from targeted strategies that promote growth, learning, and overall well-being.

AI Wonderland

 

Robert Fettgather, Ph.D. is a counselor, educator, writer and activist residing in Grass Valley, California.  He holds a doctorate in psychology and master degrees in both psychology and education. 

Some recent thoughts on artificial intelligence in education

The Influence of Perceptual Sets

An associate faculty at Mission College in Santa Clara, California, Robert Fettgather Ph.D. teaches general psychology, abnormal psychology, developmental psychology, and psychiatric interviewing. Dr. Robert Fettgather has co-authored several papers on social issues. He is interested in research on sensation and perception.

Perception considers the interpretation of sensation and seems to follow some basic guiding principles. It should be noted that individual and cultural differences in perception have been reported. It is process by which people take all the sensations they experience at any given moment and interpret them in some meaningful fashion.

The principle of figure-ground relationships can be illustrated by looking at reversible figures, which are visual illusions in which the figure and ground seem to switch back and forth. Closure refers to the brain's tendency to complete figures that are incomplete.

Visual perception of depth, referred to as depth perception, seems to be present in childhood at a very early age. Visual cues for depth that necessitate the use of just one eye are called monocular cues. Visual cues that use both eyes are referred to as binocular cues and include both convergence as well as binocular disparity.

In addition to cultural and individual differences, perceptions can be influenced by perceptual sets or expectancies as noted in the introduction. One example of perceptual expectancy is top-down processing. This happens  when an individual utilizes pre-existing knowledge to place certain features into an organized whole. If there is no expectancy to help organize information, a person might use bottom-up processing to build a complete perception by making sense of the smaller features piece by piece. With a friend, try this experiment from Martin Bolt: print on a piece of paper the words below. Then read aloud these three words as your friend looks at the words and reads along with you:

FOLK CROAK SOAK

Next, immediately ask, what do you call the white of an egg? That expectation tricks the friend into a wrong answer, yolk! 

Stress Reduction Strategies.

A resident of Grass Valley, California, Robert Fettgather is an associate faculty member at Mission College in Santa Clara. Robert Fettgather has also served as a stress management trainer, certified by the Institute for Personality and Ability Testing. In his spare time, Robert Fettgather enjoys meditation and exercise routines.

We should all employ the practice of gratitude and counting one's blessings daily. And always strive to find new experiences that impart meaning to life. At the same time, have a forgiving attitude, even when someone does something mean-spirited or harmful. For example, if someone cuts you off on the highway, let go, take a few deep breaths, and repeat an affirmation such as “It’s fine, I am safe and uninjured, let’s move on.”

To reduce the stress of daily life, you can try reframing or examining a stressful or negative facet of life and describing it in a neutral or positive way. This act may help you distance yourself from the emotions invested in the negative experience and gain a new vantage point. Another effective way to reduce stress is to avoid “negative escapes” such as substance abuse, excessive eating, or uncontrolled spending. Instead, emphasize healthy mental processes such as mindfulness as a foundation for working through life challenges. 

Exercise helps. Elliptical machines are fitness machines used by standing on two rimmed platforms that move forward and back in an elliptical pattern. They are popular in both households and health clubs. The machines allow low-impact workouts that benefit both the upper and lower body. Elliptical machines also enable high-intensity interval training (a combination of an interval that requires maximum effort during the first segment) and steady-state cardio workouts (doing one exercise for a longer period of time) that help strengthen the heart, lungs, and muscles. They also improve stamina.