Infant Stimulation - Does It Work?

Host: We are really concerned in doing some of these things that we are trained to look at and that doing - they are concerned, so we can put them in a environmental problem, what does that mean environmental problem?

Henry Joseph Hasson: Well, the first thing we do is -- especially in the younger kids below three years of age, we start something called early intervention which is a - the city helps out and they find these programs where we can have physical therapy or occupational therapy, speech therapy, all different programs to help children catch up as early as possible, because again I think I have mentioned before, the earlier you can diagnose the problem, the earlier you can start intervening and helping the child.

Host: Well, there is a thing in the newspaper, a first born seems to have slight a high acute in say the second or third born and some people think it's because the first one gets all the nurturing and all the attention and if you are the third born which I happen to be, I don't think I ever saw my parents but -- so that could be some of the idea about stimulation. Obviously there is a limit, too much is bad too, is that right?

Henry Joseph Hasson: Well for sure, but again the more you reach to your child and I don't think there is a limit on how much you reach to child and talk to you child, especially when they are very young and the more you do that the more could the children learn by repeating, the infant brain, the developing brain basically takes in from the environment and he just repeats it and sent it back. Almost the same way as you would actually train a pet. With the child's brain, it actually works that way and the more you read them the more they will be able to mimic and have their language that they will respond back.

Host: Well, we learned it, I think I told you are doing a good job, so positive reinforcement is the way you go not negative.

Henry Joseph Hasson: Sure, as the children start getting older and you are starting to teach them to be right and wrong in different things and what to do, again positive reinforcement works a lot better than negative reinforcement and usually what a lot people recommend is when they do the right thing they get positive reinforcement, do the wrong thing, even just lack of any attention, you don't even mean to give negative -- any negative stimulus by just ignoring them. It sometimes enough that you teach them not to do that.