Teaching Special Needs Kids Appropriate Online Social Skills

Teaching kids appropriate social skills isn't easy, particularly for special needs kids. Emotional or cognitive impairment, autism, Asperger syndrome, ADD and ADHD pose additional communication problems. Social networks like Facebook and Twitter complicate still further. Here are parenting tips for online social navigation from a 25-year special needs teacher.  Read more

Coping with Night Work, Third Shift Exhaustion

In 25 years of marriage, my husband has worked nights half that time. That's him on the left. Can you see the tiredness in his eyes? They don't call it the "graveyard shift" for nothing. Not only do you feel like a zombie when you're on that schedule, working nights for long periods will put you in the graveyard faster than many more-recognized health concerns. Third shift workers face added stress, depression an danxiety compared to those who work during the day. In 2011, the American Psychological Association listed concerns: "restlessness, sleepiness on the job, fatigue, decreased attention and disruption of the body's metabolic process." These affect safety, physical and emotional health and even relationships. Here are tips for third shifters to prevent burnout.   Coping with Night Work, Third Shift Exhaustion

Facebook, Social Media Impairs Real-Life Communication

Facebook and social networking are bubbles. They occupy a lot of time and airspace for a significant number of people. A spectrum of users interact instantly and globally. We don't yet know what all the impacts will be. From my own experiences, I see that digital interaction impairs face-to-face communication. Here's how. Distorted reality. We talk about having Facebook "friends" but that's a misnomer. Unless I know them in real life, for me, they aren't real. It's the easiest thing in the world to set up a fake profile. Kids can do it and I've known several who have. Unfortunately, adults do too. We go by aliases. We change names and pictures. We hide behind tiny thumbnail avatars. Our profile information is only as true as we choose to make it. I'm not saying people I know only online aren't real. They're just not real for me, nor am I real to them.  Facebook, Social Media Impairs Real-Life Communication