Durable Human (2 book series)

Travel with Baby: To Screen or Not to Screen?

Shannon at car door and Cooper in carseat get ready for a trip

Successful travel with a baby is possible without using a device for distraction. Child development experts explain why tech-free travel is a boost to a baby’s brain, psyche, and relationship with you.   

My daughter Shannon, her 5-month-old son, and I had just finished a successful 8-hour car trip south and back. It wasn’t always easy, but we cajoled Cooper with chatter, songs, books and toys—none of which had a cord or battery.

The best moment was on our ride back home.

It was pitch dark when Cooper began to howl. We’d been driving for hours and I thought we were out of ideas, but Shannon had one more. She began to “read” The Very Hungry Caterpillar—completely from memory. Softly and gently, like so many times before, she recited every page.

Coop soon quieted down and was asleep before the caterpillar became a butterfly.

A few days later, Shannon clicked on a YouTube video claiming to have the inside scoop on how to travel with a baby. As she recalls:  

“First, the mom-fluencer, who was sitting in the back seat, showed her husband up front behind the wheel. Then the mom panned a little bit further to reveal an iPad, already playing a video, secured by a plastic case fastened to the back seat about a foot in front of the baby’s face. I had to laugh. Ohhh. That’s the big secret?”

Why Parents Turn to Tablets

Although our trip was sans tech, Shannon considered the alternative. Continue reading →

Video Feedback Shown to Parents May Help Preempt Autism in Their Babies

Photo of hands on a video camera trained at a child and mother playing on the floor. Photo courtesy Australia Infant Communication and Engagement Study

Can autism be stopped once it appears to be started? Yes, according to an Australian study, it may be possible to preempt autism if parents are taught through video feedback how to best engage with their babies. 

“We are helping parents fine-tune their parenting to the unique abilities of their baby,” says the study’s lead researcher, Andrew Whitehouse.  

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control defines Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) as “a developmental disability that can cause significant social, communication and behavioral challenges.” 

Autism rates have jumped dramatically in recent years. According to CDC data, 1 in 54 American children are now identified with ASD, while the number in 1975 was 1 in 5,000.

Typically, a child receives an autism diagnosis at about age 3 or 4. Until that time, babies are monitored for changes in behavior and receive usual care.  

Researchers at the University of Western Australia wanted to try a different approach: to preempt the condition. Continue reading →

Kids Can Have Better Eyesight if Parents Know What To Do

Mom and child in park look at plants

Just like teaching them to brush their teeth, parents can help their children take better care of their eyes. That is, if the parents themselves know good vision habits. A new study shows that when parents are taught eyecare basics, they pass them on to their kids. A new parenting course helps them to learn. 

Myopia Rising

The eye condition Myopia has become rampant worldwide among school-aged children.

Myopia is the technical term for being near-sighted or short-sighted. The condition changes the shape of the eye and causes things in the distance to look blurry.

Covid has made the worldwide trend worse by leading to much more screen viewing and an indoor-based lifestyle. At this rate, the Brian Holden Vision Institute predicts, by 2050 every other person will be nearsighted.

The fact that half of all humans will wear glasses may not seem like a big deal until you consider Myopia makes it easier to develop vision-destroying diseases. In the words of JAMA Ophthalmology, “One in 3 persons with high myopia will eventually become visually impaired or even blind.”

The journal authors point out another fact parents may not know: “Many ophthalmic diseases are caused by unhealthy behavior.”

In other words, eye problems can be PREVENTED.

Thankfully, a study in JAMA Network Opthalmology shows Myopia rates drop among kids if parents teach them healthy eyecare habits.

In the study, teachers in China sent some of the parents of their students weekly eyecare tips via WeChat. Other parents received no special instruction. The result: “the 2-year cumulative incidence rate of myopia in the intervention group was significantly lower than that in the control group.”

Toward Better Children’s Eye Care

Exactly how do kids maintain good vision? Science is learning more.

“Both electronic screen use and outdoor activity have recently been reported as key factors influencing the onset and progression of Myopia in school-aged children,” say the JAMA journal authors.

Messages from the Chinese teachers boiled down to 3 simple habits (which The Durable Human previously detailed here): Continue reading →

Durable is the New Resilient

To explain concept of a durable human being, image is of woman in business attire standing in front of a shadow of a superwoman

As the pandemic drags on, you need to be a durable human. Simply being resilient doesn’t cut it anymore. New findings point to why.  

White House chief medical adviser Anthony Fauci wants our response to the COVID vaccine to be as durable as possible.

Arizona Senator Krysten Sinema says only laws with bipartisan backing will be durable.  

On Joe Rogan’s podcast, New York University social psychologist Jonathan Haidt spoke of how “parents and teachers should be helping kids develop their innate abilities to grow and learn.” He used “antifragile.”

Lebanese-American essayist Nassim Nicholas says he coined that term because “there is no word for the exact opposite of fragile.”

But, actually—there is. Continue reading →

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