It’s normal for students and parents to feel nervous at the start of the new school year. Kids may wonder, ‘Will I like my teacher? Will I make friends? Will I keep up with my studies?’ Parents, too, may echo their kids’ academic and social concerns, as well as feel …

The news of tragic deaths of children and adults at Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas, on Tuesday, May 24, is harrowing and heartbreaking. The deaths of innocent young people is indeed horrific and incomprehensible, even as we are still crawling out of a massive global pandemic and reeling from …

Many kids love Easter egg hunts. But for 6-year-old Bradley Snyder, this year’s egg hunts also have a special purpose. Bradley was inspired to create an “Egg My Yard” for Alzheimer’s campaign to raise money for the Alzheimer’s Association. “Bradley sees me creating events and working to fight Alzheimer’s all …

  During Maya’s* first birthday celebration, her mother knew something was different. “We were singing ‘Happy Birthday,’ and she had such a blank stare. In that moment, I knew something was off,” recalls Elizabeth Chaillou, who perhaps had special insight into typical childhood milestones given that Maya is the youngest …

  As the chilly winds of winter blow through the mid-Atlantic region, many of us long for the sunny days of summer. For our kids, it’s not only the warmer weather that boosts summer’s appeal. They look forward to swapping school days for pool days at summer camp. Attending summer …

First, the good news: Mental illness in children and adolescents is often treatable and preventable. Unfortunately, the mental health of our country’s youth is in crisis, according to a recently released advisory from U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. The advisory states that this youth mental health crisis occurred long before …

    The noise, lights, smells, people and activity of holiday gatherings can be overwhelming for neurotypical children and even many adults. It is little wonder, then, that children with special needs may struggle in these environments. If you are hosting a celebration or are a parent of a child …

  It’s a question we parents ask ourselves all the time: “Is my child OK?” As parents, we know there are times when our children do not seem emotionally OK. For example, perhaps a toddler seems to be throwing tantrums more often and at decibel levels that surely can’t be …

For the Withers family of Abingdon, the house rule is if you want to live here, you have to learn to play a musical instrument. “We said, ‘We don’t care which instrument. Just pick one you like!’” says Cheri Withers, a mother of two school-aged children. Like many musically inclined …

When my son was a toddler, he couldn’t pronounce the letter “R.” Words like “river” were “wivuh” and “crab” became “cwab.” At the time, I thought these speech errors only made his chubby-cheeked baby-talk ramblings all the more endearing. As he entered kindergarten, he learned to read and write, but …