Posts Tagged ‘kids’
Wednesday, April 6th, 2011
Dr. Andrew Wakefield, who published a study in 1998 about the possible link between autism and vaccines which was subsequently questioned and discredited by the medical community, has defended his work in an interview on CNN.
Dr. Wakefield’s work has been discredited over the past several years, and ten of the eleven doctors who were involved in the study have removed their names from it. The Sunday Times reports that Dr. Wakefield “changed and misreported results” in his research, according to “confidential” medical documents and interviews with witnesses.
Dr. Wakefield’s study was published in February 1998 in The Lancet medical journal, causing widespread concern among parents that the MMR vaccine—for measles, mumps, and rubella—was linked to autism. According to The Sunday Times, the impact of the article was “extraordinary,” with vaccination rates decreasing from 92% to less than 80%, while “herd immunity” from measles occurs when 95% of the population has been vaccinated.
After a British journalist, Brian Deer, published the results of his investigation calling Wakefield’s study an “elaborate fraud,” Wakefield denied these allegations as false in an interview on CNN with Anderson Cooper. Wakefield continues to stand by his findings, saying that the results have been replicated in studies in five other countries and that Deer has received financial support from a pharmaceutical company. Check out the link below to see the interview yourself.
CNN Video Clip
Tina Turbin
www.DannyTheDragon.com
b.a.
Tags: Advice, celiac, celiac disease, Children, diet, Family, gluten, gluten allergies, Gluten-Free, gluten-free diet, Health, helpful tips, kids, moms, Motherhood, nutrition, parenting, Parents, quality of life, tina turbin, women, Women's Health
Posted in Being a Mom, Children, Family, Health, Natural Alternatives, Parents, Press and Media, References, Women's Health | No Comments »
Thursday, January 20th, 2011
Congratulations to Tina Turbin!
Some people accomplish extraordinary things. When they do, it’s nice to recognize them and applaud them for their accomplishments. Tina Turbin is one of those people. She’s well known by many of you because of her involvement in the celiac community.
Who is Tina Turbin?
Tina is an activist in two main fields: 1) She actively works to make improvements in children’s literacy and education, and 2) She works diligently to raise awareness about celiac disease. She speaks regularly on these topics on national radio shows and writes articles and columns for a wide variety of publications and websites. You can learn more about Tina at http://TinaTurbin.com.
Why the “Congratulations!”?
Tina wrote the award-winning children’s picture book Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy. iSTORYTIME (the iPhone App Developer for Dreamworks) has recently signed to turn the DVD of this book into a children’s book app. This production is unique because its the first of its kind to have sign-language interpretation added for the deaf to assist this under-served population.
Imagination Publishing Group President Alan Wayne said, “I’m pleased to say that this is the first of many apps to be created through iStorytime for the Danny the Dragon series.” Profits from the sales of the Danny the Dragon DVD are donated to the Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf. Learn more about her books, DVD, and what she does to help celiacs at her website.
Congratulations Tina!
Connie Sarros
www.gfbooks.homestead.com
Tags: celiac, celiac disease, Children, children's author, children's books, Connie Sarros, danny the dragon, danny the dragon meets jimmy, gluten allergies, Gluten-Free, gluten-free diet, Health, kids, moms, tina turbin, tina turbin author, Tina Turbin researcher
Posted in Author, Children, Family, Gluten-Free, Press and Media, Tina's Book | 15 Comments »
Thursday, September 23rd, 2010
Children’s literacy is one of the most important issues facing us today. Fortunately, many groups, organizations, and individuals are dedicated to reversing the staggering statistics. However, as hard as people are working to get kids reading, there are some kids—such as the visually- impaired ones—who get left out. Thanks to Stevie Wonder, though, visually-impaired literacy is getting some of the attention it deserves.
Stevie Wonder recently appeared before the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) of the United Nations urging for global copyright laws to be changed to the benefit of the 300 million print-reading-disabled global citizens, to whom millions of books are inaccessible to them as audiobooks due to the current copyright system.
According to the Huffington Post, the way the system is currently set up requires that many audiobook versions of the same work be produced, which carries a higher cost, the burden of which falls on the visually-impaired public. What’s more, some poor countries can’t even afford to make their own versions of works, so that they’re not available at all to their blind citizens.
Here is part of Wonder’s address, courtesy of The New Yorker:
“While I know that it is critical not to act to the detriment of the authors who labor to create the great works that enlighten and nourish our minds, hearts and souls, we must develop a protocol that allows the easy import and export of copyright materials so that people with print disabilities can join the mainstream of the literate world.”
“According to the AFP,” reports The New Yorker, “aides to Wonder said that just ‘five percent of printed materials and books are available in a readable form for the blind or visually impaired in industrialized nations, and just one percent in developing countries.’” You may wonder, as I certainly did, how come such a small amount of books get translated into formats accessible to the visually-impaired, such as Braille and audiobooks. Ian Crouch of The New Yorker interviewed Paul Schroeder, the Vice President of Programs and Policy at the American Foundation for the Blind to find out more about this issue.
According to Shroeder, while several developed countries have different copyright laws allowing books to be reproduced in Braille, audio, and electronic or large print, the materials must fulfill two limitations, first that the books only go to those who are unable to read print books due to a disability, and secondly that the books are made by “specialized format producers who work with people with print-reading disabilities.”
In the U.S. the copyright provisions, also known as the Chafee provisions after former Senator Lincoln Chafee, allow these specialized producers to reproduce books in formats that are accessible to people with print-reading disabilities. A problem arises, however, with the fact that the provisions don’t allow for export outside the U.S., a law that other counties have in common with us.
According to Shroeder, “We definitely want to see a treaty or other mechanism that allows books to be shared across borders for use by people with print disabilities.” Stevie Wonder’s advocacy work is in alignment with this goal.
It’s an inspiration to see other artists working on behalf of children who aren’t typically represented in the children’s literacy issue. After visiting with the bright children of Blossom Montessori School for the Deaf on my East Coast book tour, I released Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy, the first book of my children’s book series, on DVD with a sign interpretation, and the profits are going to the causes of literacy and education. Now the DVD has been released by iStorytime, of Dreamworks and Shrek Forever After, as an app for the iPhone, iTouch, and iPad. I hope to see other artists and individuals follow in Stevie Wonder’s example by championing causes that are special to them, and I look forward to seeing progress in developing a global system whereby the millions of visually-impaired are able to enjoy the books we ourselves are lucky to have access to.
Tina Turbin
www.TinaTurbin.com
Resources:
New Yorker: Stevie Wonder and Books for the Blind http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/books/2010/09/stevie-wonder-and-books-for-the-blind.html#ixzz10K3xYhi1
Huffington Post: Stevie Wonder To UN: Ease Copyrights For The Blind http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/09/20/stevie-wonder-to-un-ease-_n_732281.html
Tags: american sign language, asl, asl books, asl literature, asl story, Authors, beginning readers, book, books, caregivers, child, Children, children books, children books publisher, children contests, children pages, children picture books, children sites, children stories, children websites, children's books, children's literature, childrens, childrens stories, danny the dragon, danny the dragon meets jimmy, deaf, deaf dvd, deaf literature, deaf story, deaf storybooks, deaf video, deaf videos, dragon, dragons, dvd, early childhood education, education, handicapped, home school, Home Schooling, homeschooling, Illustrated Books, illustrators, kid's asl, kids, kids books, kids contests, kids pages, kids sites, Kids Stories, kids websites, kindergarten, multimedia, parenting, parents choice, picture books, Pro-Visually Impaired Global Copyright Laws, read, Read to children, reading aloud, reading to children, sign, sign book, sign books, sign dvd, sign language, sign literature, sign video, steve wonder, Storybooks, tina turbin, tina turbin humanitarian, video, videos, Writers
Posted in Artists, Author, Children, Parents, Press and Media, Tina's Book | 28 Comments »
Monday, August 9th, 2010
As a children’s author, researcher, and humanitarian, I have been growing increasingly alarmed at the growing rate of autism diagnosis. Whereas in the 1980s, a study shows that 4 in every 10,000 children exhibited signs of autism, a study conducted recently by Cambridge University’s Autism Research Center showed that approximately 1 in 60 children have autism. Several years ago, I myself was diagnosed with celiac disease, caused by a reaction to gluten, a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye, after many years without proper diagnosis for my painful symptoms. I am now happily gluten-free and pain-free. Lucky to have been correctly diagnosed and had my symptoms handled with the natural treatment of a gluten-free diet, I am passionate about helping children to avoid the same pain of misdiagnosis and to find natural remedies for their health problems. According to a recent article on NaturalNews.com, one such natural remedy for autism is calcium Bentonite clay. I had to share this information!
The use of Bentonite clay has been rising in popularity in autism treatment centers. Calcium Bentonite clay, also known as “Living Clay” and one of the most sought-after for its healing properties, has a particularly strong negative ionic charge which magnetically attracts positively-charged substances such as bacteria and metals, for example, and absorbs them, eliminating toxins from the body. It is used both internally and externally and is a rather simple procedure. In autism treatment centers, Bentonite clay baths are used to safely remove metals and toxins from the body to increase the chances of success when used in conjunction with other therapies.
As autism diagnosis increases, so does the controversy over its causes. Most researchers seem to be searching for a genetic factor, but others are showing evidence of environmental causes. “There`s really the role for something in the environment that could be triggering someone who is genetically susceptible,” says Dr. Gary Goldstein, a child neurologist and director of the Kennedy Krieger Institute, located in Maryland.
The research supporting the impact of environmental toxins has spurred the search for detoxification therapies that can remove them from our systems. Already large numbers of doctors are recommending chelation and detoxification programs in conjunction with behavioral therapy for autistic children, noting that with these toxins removed, other therapies are more effective. Chelators are substances that fix themselves to heavy metals. Chelation therapies are typically effective, but they’re expensive and carry a higher risk of side effects such as headache, diarrhea, fatigue, fever, and cramps, particularly for children. Calcium Bentonite clay is considered more effective and safer for children.
While many autism clinics are citing successful results with clay therapy, its use isn’t being promoted to doctors due to the fact that clay can’t be patented by the pharmaceutical companies. Similarly, celiac disease affects 1 out of 100 Americans, and since its treatment is simply a gluten-free diet—requiring no pharmaceutical products, doctors are failing to recognize the symptoms of the disease and diagnosis it correctly, leaving only three percent of celiacs properly diagnosed. However, just as in the cause to increase celiac and gluten-free awareness, by taking it upon ourselves to promote natural therapies for children’s autism, we will surely bring about increased awareness on the effectiveness of calcium Bentonite clay treatment, just as I’ve witnessed awareness of celiac disease and gluten-free grow a great deal over the years.
Tina Turbin
www.GlutenFreeHelp.info
Tags: autism, autism diagnosis, autism treatment, autistic children, autistic kids, bentonite clay, calcium bentonite clay, celiac, celiac disease, celiacs, Children, effective autism treatment, gluten, Gluten-Free, gluten-free awareness, gluten-free diet, kids, living clay, Natural Alternatives, natural remedies, tina turbin humanitarian, Tina Turbin researcher, treating autism naturally
Posted in Advice, Being a Mom, Children, Gluten-Free, Health, High Quality of Life, Managing Life, Motherhood, Natural Alternatives, Parents, References | 15 Comments »
Wednesday, July 7th, 2010
Just when you think it can’t get any worse, it does—television, that is. One of the best decisions I made years ago for myself and for my family was to cut down on television drastically. At first this may seem like a daunting task, but with a few simple tips, parents find it’s much easier than they suspected it would be.
First of all, there is the matter of reducing the amount of TV your family watches to just a few shows a week. In order to do this, I recommend a family meeting to discuss your goals as a family and as individuals. Then take an honest look at what everyone is getting out of television. Everyone will agree that they should watch less TV and spend more time pursuing their own goals. With a meeting like this, your kids and spouse will be much more likely to go along with their new lifestyle of less TV because they’ll understand the reason behind it.
I highly recommend implementing a service such as TiVo ® to help keep TV watching to a minimum. After deciding on the reasons for watching less TV, each family member can decide on a handful of shows to watch together as a family, plus a personal favorite or two, to watch only during designated watching times—Friday nights or Sunday afternoons, for example.
Finally, come up with stimulating alternatives. Take the kids to the library or play board games. Have larger, longer family dinners at the table. Keeping everyone busy will get their minds off this missing element in their lives. I highly recommend using this time to get the kids to strengthen their reading skills and develop a strong interest in reading. Soon you might find that your family—gasp!—may prefer reading over watching TV.
Tina Turbin
Tags: Children, families, Family, family time, family tips, family togetherness, kids, Motherhood, Parents, television, tina turbin, tips
Posted in Advice, Author, Being a Mom, Children, Family, Health, High Quality of Life, Motherhood, Parents | 14 Comments »
Friday, June 18th, 2010
The renowned and distinguished School Library Journal LOVES my Danny the Dragon children’s book series just as much as the kids do.
A terrific review of the Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy DVD was published in the June 2010 issue. I’m very pleased to share it with you below.
Tina Turbin
Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy. DVD. 21 min. Imagination Publishing Group.2009, 2010 release.
PreS-Gr 3–When Jimmy and Sally visit the beach, they find a beautiful shell and take it home with them. They soon discover that it houses a dragon named Danny, wearing red tennis shoes and carrying a yellow backpack, and his navigator friend, Skipper. Danny and Skipper have dinner with Jimmy’s family and stay the night. The picture book by Tina Turbin (Imagination Pub. Group, 2008) closes with a promise that the friendly dragon will guide the children through a series of upcoming adventures. The DVD opens with a message from the author. Interpreter Carol Downing signs the entire story, standing on the right side of the screen as the pages turn. The fun cartoon illustrations by Aija Jasuna are scanned. Sound effects add to the narration, underscoring word meaning and helping children with some hearing identify sounds. Recommended especially for schools and libraries seeking to offer a greater variety of material to hearing-impaired children.
–Mary Landrum, Lexington Public Library, KY
Tags: american sign language, asl, asl literature, asl story, Authors, beginning readers, book, books, caregivers, child, Children, children books, children books publisher, children contests, children pages, children picture books, children sites, children stories, children websites, children's books, children's literature, childrens, childrens stories, danny the dragon, danny the dragon meets jimmy, danny the dragon meets jimmy dvd, danny the dragon review, deaf, deaf dvd, deaf literature, deaf story, deaf storybooks, deaf video, deaf videos, dragon, dragons, dvd, early childhood education, education, handicapped, home school, Home Schooling, homeschooling, Illustrated Books, illustrators, kid's asl, kids, kids books, kids contests, kids pages, kids sites, Kids Stories, kids websites, kindergarten, librarian review of danny the dragon, librarian reviews, library reviews, multimedia, parenting, parents choice, picture books, rave review of danny the dragon, read, Read to children, reading aloud, reading to children, school library journal, sign, sign book, sign books, sign dvd, sign language, sign literature, sign video, Storybooks, tina turbin, video, videos
Posted in Author, Children, Parents, Press and Media, Tina's Book | 7 Comments »
Friday, June 11th, 2010
I am really thrilled to share this good news. My children’s book on DVD with sign interpretation, Danny the Dragon has made a PR headliner on the ever popular and important, Deafness Research Foundation site:
http://www.drf.org/news/133/Widely-Acclaimed,+Award-Winning+Children’s+Author+Produces+DVD+for+the+Deaf+
Tina Turbin www.glutenfreehelp.info
Tags: children's books, danny the dragon, danny the dragon meets jimmy, humanitarian, kids, tina turbin, tina turbin author, Tina Turbin writer
Posted in Author, Children, Press and Media, Tina's Book | 3 Comments »
Monday, May 3rd, 2010
I’m really pleased and happy to share a review of my Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy DVD in the well-known and highly-regarded publication: Booklist.
Tina Turbin
Booklist, Issue: April 15th 2010
Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy.
Apr 2010. Victory, DVD
In this presentation of author Tina Turbin’s picture book, Carol Downing interprets the story in sign language while Janis Welch reads the text. Jimmy finds a large green shell at the beach. When the youngster lifts the shell, he hears voices coming from inside the vessel. After Jimmy takes the shell home, two creatures, Danny the Dragon and Skipper, emerge. The brightly colored illustrations depict Jimmy and his family as they serve dinner, play catch in the yard with friends, and finally settle down for the night.
Instead of utilizing animation, the film merely displays the book pages. But what sets the program apart is Downing’s signing, making the charming story accessible to both hearing and deaf children. See also ASL Tales: The Princess and the Pea (2009), featuring performance artist Pinky Aiello telling a nontraditional version of the familiar tale in American Sign Language.
— Candace Smith
Tags: ALA, american library association, american sign language, asl, asl books, asl literature, asl story, Authors, beginning readers, book, booklist, booklist online, books, caregivers, child, Children, children books, children books publisher, children contests, children pages, children picture books, children sites, children stories, children websites, children’s, children’s books, childrens stories, Childrens’ Literature, danny the dragon, danny the dragon meets jimmy, danny the dragon meets jimmy dvd, deaf, deaf dvd, deaf literature, deaf story, deaf storybooks, deaf video, deaf videos, dragon, dragons, dvd, early childhood education, education, handicapped, home school, Home Schooling, homeschooling, Illustrated Books, illustrators, kid’s asl, kids, kids books, kids contests, kids pages, kids sites, Kids Stories, kids websites, kindergarten, multimedia, parenting, parents choice, picture books, read, Read to children, reading aloud, reading to children, sign, sign book, sign books, sign dvd, sign language, sign literature, sign video, Storybooks, tina turbin, tina turbin author, video, videos, Writers
Posted in Author, Children, Tina's Book | No Comments »
Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010
My children’s book Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy was entered in the 17th Annual International Self-Published Book Awards. Below I am sharing with you a wonderful, professional judge’s commentary on the book:
“What a terrific cover illustration! Danny the Dragon is wonderfully drawn and is sure to appeal to kid readers; Skipper and Jimmy are wonderfully drawn, too. The interior illustrations are as wonderful: bold, bright, comical, full of amazing detail, quirkily fun – wonderful for the story and wonderful on their own. The story itself is delightful. What child wouldn’t be intrigued by a talking shell – that turns out to house a talking dragon? Kids will love that the mother very calmly and casually invites Danny and Skipper to stay for dinner and even agrees to let the dragon spend the night. (They’ll wish their own moms would be so accommodating.) Danny is loveable and polite (a nice, subtle lesson in manners for the kids reading this book); Jimmy and Sally’s reactions to his appearance in their household ring true (it’s also nice that they’re shown, without comment, cleaning up after themselves – a nice lesson for kid readers that is done subtly enough to not seem like a lesson). The story sets up itself for a series of future adventures. Children will enjoy reading about Danny again and again.”
Tags: book, books, Children, children books, children's book review, children's books, children's literature, childrens, danny the dragon, danny the dragon commentary, danny the dragon meets jimmy, danny the dragon review, dragon, dragons, good children's books, kids, kids books, read, Read to children, reading aloud, reading to children, tina turbin, tina turbin author
Posted in Children, Tina's Book | No Comments »
Sunday, February 28th, 2010
Times have been slowly but surely changing and it is stories like this that really can hit home as to the NEED for teachers and school officials to have some of their control taken into account. As a mother of three, and America citizen and a humanitarian I can not believe acts like this can not only occur but that they are.
When a simple call to a police official can get your pre-school or elementary school child handcuffed and placed in a mental institution, you know something is VERY wrong. What gives them the right to by-pass the parent’s authority of the child and by-pass the parent’s right of guardianship. Not that I agree with my 94 year old grandmother when she commented on this,What happened to the good old days with the simple spanking or slap on the back of the hands with a ruler” -but tell me, what has happened to our society? Can’t we expect and demand simple discipline to child where we can be confident it is safely applied? Isn’t this our right? My advice to you is “get involved”.
I deal a lot with teachers, children and moms as a children’s author and I can tell you the number of times I speak about kids and the school system is often. I welcome any radio station to have me on when it comes ot topics like this. I have a lot to share about actions like this. Please read this:
On FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2010 a young girl was sent to an adult mental institution for being unruly. This seems to be the way Port St. Lucie’s ( FL) school system has in dealing with disruptive students. This same school district allowed an autistic boy to be voted out of kindergarten class for unruly behavior.
Also, a Parkway Elementary School( FL) student was cuffed and sent to an adult mental institution earlier this month after she through a temper tantrum in the middle of class, reports TCPalm.com. The police report stated the cuffs were "for her safety and the safety of others”.The handcuffs calmed the little girl down after an hour in the tight silver handcuffs yet little did her and her family know what was ahead.
A few days later, this same girl had another “fit” and the school called the same deputy, who tossed the little girl in the back of his patrol car and transported her to the local adult mental institution. “The girl’s mother said “These people are going to the extreme”.
5-year-old Alex Barton was voted out of class two years ago for being disruptive in class. Alex Barton had a form of autism and his mother is now suing the school board. The School Board official will most likely be looking into this one!
http://www.momlogic.com/2010/02/6-year-old_student_handcuffed.php#ixzz0fkdVvS0w
As American citizens we can not let things like this happen. I welcome your feedback and any involvement or situations you have witnessed like this. We can find many groups to help violations like this. See My Favorites as a start. Contact me
Tina Turbin
Tags: Advice, Author, Children, children's books, humanitarian, kids, tina turbin, writer
Posted in Advice, Author, Children, Legislation, Managing Life, Parents, Schooling, True Stories Shared by Others | No Comments »
Danny the Dragon – A Judge’s Commentary
My children’s book Danny the Dragon Meets Jimmy was entered in the 17th Annual International Self-Published Book Awards. Below I am sharing with you a wonderful, professional judge’s commentary on the book:
“What a terrific cover illustration! Danny the Dragon is wonderfully drawn and is sure to appeal to kid readers; Skipper and Jimmy are wonderfully drawn, too. The interior illustrations are as wonderful: bold, bright, comical, full of amazing detail, quirkily fun – wonderful for the story and wonderful on their own. The story itself is delightful. What child wouldn’t be intrigued by a talking shell – that turns out to house a talking dragon? Kids will love that the mother very calmly and casually invites Danny and Skipper to stay for dinner and even agrees to let the dragon spend the night. (They’ll wish their own moms would be so accommodating.) Danny is loveable and polite (a nice, subtle lesson in manners for the kids reading this book); Jimmy and Sally’s reactions to his appearance in their household ring true (it’s also nice that they’re shown, without comment, cleaning up after themselves – a nice lesson for kid readers that is done subtly enough to not seem like a lesson). The story sets up itself for a series of future adventures. Children will enjoy reading about Danny again and again.”
Tags: book, books, Children, children books, children's book review, children's books, children's literature, childrens, danny the dragon, danny the dragon commentary, danny the dragon meets jimmy, danny the dragon review, dragon, dragons, good children's books, kids, kids books, read, Read to children, reading aloud, reading to children, tina turbin, tina turbin author
Posted in Children, Tina's Book | No Comments »