Rising, Down Under

I just spent several days talking with scientists and lecturing in Australia.  The summer months (our winter months) are a wonderful time to travel Down Under.  The cities are lively, the sun is out, and people are in cheerful mood—which is amplified just a little more in Australia than I most places in the world. I’ve been trying to help an Australian team operating in Queensland and New South Wales develop a new model for a treatment center designed to address the neurological distortions that impact children that just happen to have had very difficult childhoods.  Such efforts there and in the US, are, alternatively, very encouraging and very discouraging.  On the encouraging side, I met with individuals in every place that we visited who recognize the problem and understand the great need for better solutions. On the other hand, there are a lot of impediments in the way of intelligently restructuring how we deal with these kids.  Many professionals in many venues have a vested interest in caring for or minding or training or controlling these children; many see themselves as owners of the help and treatment landscapes; many naturally view any new approach as being just a little bit insulting, and threatening.  Perhaps the biggest problem in establishing better practices stems from the incredibly clumsy and messy apparatus that has already been put in place to help the millions of life-long card-carrying members of our Outcast Society.  There is a swamp of ‘tr...
Source: On the Brain by Dr. Michael Merzenich, Ph.D. - Category: Neuroscience Authors: Tags: Brain Plasticity Brain Trauma, Injury BrainHQ Childhood Learning Cognitive Impairment in Children Cognitive impairments Source Type: blogs