Monday, July 12, 2010

Reliving the 2010 Sotos Syndrome Conference

I'm seriously trying hard to keep up the illusion that the conference I attended this weekend was just as cool as, say, Blogher. Yeah, it's not really working.

BUT, the conference was really cool for a couple of reasons. I met some lovely people, heard some great lectures, and got some terrific information.

The keynote lecture was on brain plasticity, "the changing of neurons, the organization of their networks, and their function via new experiences." The short version is that everyone's brain -- including the brains of kids with Sotos -- changes over time. But if the brain's clock is set incorrectly, it will do things later than expected.

A typical child has a brain that is wired to learn to walk at, let's say, 14 months. A Sotos child has a brain that is wired to learn to walk at, say, 20 months. So when you're doing PT from birth through 20 months and the kid isn't walking, the tendency is to think that the therapy isn't helping. But it is. It's creating new synapses in the brain, and when the brain hits the magic moment when it's ready to turn on the walking switch -- the kid walks.

It was a much better talk than that -- I couldn't take notes because it was Shabbat, but trust me, it was awesome.

I met a woman who has an 18-year-old daughter with Sotos. She has a driver's license, just graduated from high school, and is going to live in the dorms at college in the fall. I love hearing things like that!

I also got great tips on handling IEP meetings and dealing with school.

So, while the Sotos conference may not have the cool factor of Blogher, it was still pretty rocking.

In totally unrelated news, Baby A. turned one yesterday. Seems like just a few moments ago I was hosting lunch a few hours after his birth. (I just reread that post, and I can't stop grinning. That was an awesome weekend.)

4 comments:

Janis @ Sneak Peek At Me said...

Speaking of BlogHer will you be going??

Also, I love hearing good news about other kids achieving things no thought possible too. Thanks!

sugar magnolia said...

Sounds like you learned a lot. So glad there are conferences like this!

moplans said...

Such great news about the 18 year old! I love hearing those stories

moplans said...

Such great news about the 18 year old! I love hearing those stories