Dr. Mirisse on “Now You Know” – TVOKids
Baboo bumps his head and starts to cry, so Howie and Baboo visit Dr. Mirisse, who explains the parts of the eye, and the different types of tears that keep our eyes healthy.
What IS ADHD?
What does ADHD look like? When we think about ADD or ADHD, most of us picture a hyper young boy, standing on desks, poking a classmate, and full ofenergy! Otherwise, we picture a total space cadet—a kids with his head in the clouds, who never seems to focus. However, while some people with ADHD reflect these prototypes, most do not. And while ADHD is diagnosed as a single disorder, it’s actually more of a spectrum. ADHD symptoms are expressed very differently between and within people [...]
Yes, I am Young. And I really want to help.
As a child and family therapist, there is only one question I get asked by parents more frequently than, “How do I get my child away from screens?” The question is some variation of this one: “Do you work with kids (or families) like mine a lot?” They ask this question when I introduce myself as “Dr. Julia” and I see them looking at me and doing the math. They usually look at my business card, and then up at me, and then down at [...]
What is emotion avoidance? A case for leaning in when we want to run.
“You better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout I’m telling you why,” “Don’t worry, be happy,” “Keep calm and carry on”- a common thread among these song lyrics is emotion avoidance. Emotion avoidance is the tendency to avoid or control the experiencing or expression of emotions. Our association between emotional expression and weakness or misbehaviour is so pervasive that it’s interwoven with our cultural fabric, and even manifests in children’s holiday songs. We readily sing along warning children to not be [...]
It’s So Mental
Mental health has been receiving a lot of attention lately, thanks to campaigns such as Bell Let’s Talk, as well as Changing Minds of the Canadian Mental Health Association. But changing the stigma associated with mental health is a process that each of us can play a role in, right in our everyday lives. This process begins with the language that we use, and how we talk to each other. We know that mental health stigma exists, but how do people learn and unlearn it? [...]
Identifying Learning Disabilities in Children
Learning disorders (LDs) are a reality for many school-aged children. It is estimated that between 5 and 10% of Canadians have an LD, while approximately 20% of children in the school system are identified with some sort of exceptionality that impacts their learning. Although exceptionalities such as developmental disabilities and intellectual disabilities indicate that the individual’s potential to learn is lower than others the same age, LDs indicate that a person is just as capable of learning but that there are differences in how they [...]