Today I’m interviewing another colleague of mine from Brain and Body Rehabilitation Specialists (BBRS). This week’s episode features occupational therapist Kendra Noel. Kendra always wanted to work in healthcare and her passion for seeing patients reach their maximum potential is evident. Early on in her career, Kendra realized the limitations of a traditional healthcare system and felt frustrated with seeing patients max out without reaching their fullest recovery. When healthcare providers just focus on their own piece of the puzzle and don’t take time to collaborate with others and view the patient’s whole body and brain, patients just aren’t getting better and their treatment is disjointed and ineffective. Kendra’s goal in working at BBRS is to help patients continue to get better and better and not just maintain their initial progress. Show Notes: https://www.connectmybrain.com/collaborative-health-with-occupational-therapist-kendra-noel/

The human gut takes approximately two years to fully mature and the human immune system takes about three years. That means the foods and germs a child is exposed to in their first few years of life will have a strong impact on your child’s overall health and development. It is essential that we take a look at what your are feeding your children. As parents and caregivers, your need to be hyper-aware of the ingredients used in foods and the effect of these ingredients on your children. Each ingredient a child consumes will either support or oppose their gut health and immune system. Additionally, the way we serve and prepare food also matters. Heating up leftovers in the microwave or drinking water out of a plastic bottle can actually be damaging to your child’s health. The way we eat absolutely contributes to the way our brains develop. Show Notes: https://www.connectmybrain.com/the-link-between-gut-health-and-brain-development/

ADHD is a condition has become more and more common and unfortunately there is a lot of misinformation out there about it. My goal in these two episodes is to really give you an overview of what ADHD actually is, the history surrounding it, and what the medications used to treat it are doing to a person’s brain. I recently listened to a podcast focused on medications for kids with ADHD and how these medications were generally okay for kids to take. However, when kids are taking this type of medication during open windows of development, this will impact their cardiovascular, digestive, and immune systems, as well as their brains! In part one we dive into the history of the ADHD diagnosis – when it first came to attention, how it’s classified, and how the perception of it has changed. We’ll also take a look at ritalin, one of the most common ADHD medications out there, and some of the incredibly dangerous effects of ritalin withdrawal. If you or your child are being treated for ADD or ADHD, please take the time to listen to this podcast. Education is power and in order to really make the best decisions about your care it is essential that you understand how the medical system is designed to work and what some of the issues are with how ADD and ADHD are handled today. Show Notes: https://www.connectmybrain.com/the-truth-about-adhd-part-1/

In this episode I talk about paying attention to developmental milestones and what these milestones can tell us about our kids. I also dive into the use of screen time, the way it physically changes kids’ brains, and how those changes affect our kids in the long term. I also talk about movement patterns and why things like learning to crawl and learning to walk are not just physical milestones – they’re also important for a healthy brain – and if your child is doing these things atypically, it can actually lead to faulty wiring in their brains. But don’t worry – the earlier we catch these things, the easier they are to fix. Show Notes: https://www.connectmybrain.com/the-importance-of-developmental-milestones/