Thank you to the Parkinson's Association of Santa Barbara!

Thank you to the Parkinson's Association of Santa Barbara for Having Me Present Last Week on How Parkinson's Affects Cognition

It was a pleasure to provide a zoom lecture for the Santa Barbara Parkinson’s Association last week. The Parkinson’s Association of Santa Barbara (PASB) was founded in 1978 and was the first Parkinson’s group in California. They provide information monthly meetings on topics related to Parkinson’s and also offer symposia for medical providers, making them a wonderful resource for the Santa Barbara community.

I spoke for about an hour on the topic of Parkinson’s disease. However, although we usually focus on the movement difficulties associated with Parkinson’s, in this talk the focus was on the thinking difficulties that can accompany this illness, including what about Parkinson’s causes problems with memory and concentration, but more importantly what steps we can take to protect our brains as we age.

INTERESTED IN WATCHING THE TALK?

It is available for free on our online classes site, insightneuropsych.teachable.com. The site will require you to register, but the class is free. While you are there, feel free to check out the other classes we offer on the aging brain and caregiving.

The video class is broken up into 5 digestible video chunks, including:

• Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson’s Disease: Causes and Prevalence

• Cognitive Impairment in Parkinson’s Disease: How It Presents

• Dementia in Parkinson’s Disease

• How to Age Well

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Know the Risk Factors of Dementia?

It can be difficult to know when something is wrong. There are normal changes associated with aging, and many other issues can masquerade as dementia. For this reason, I created a book on how to understand the aging brain, recognize signs of dementia, and how to understand the treatment, work effectively with doctors, and remain an effective caregiver. My book is now in its second edition, and I have added a workbook to help families.

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Does My Mom Have Dementia?: How to Recognize and Deal with Dementia in Your Loved Ones Buy on Amazon

A Roadmap for Dementia: A Workbook for Families by the Author of Does My Mom Have Dementia? Buy on Amazon

Everyone deserves to understand their brain, how it ages, and is it healthy. Our books provide a roadmap to help you determine if you should be concerned and how you can help yourself and your loved ones. This includes learning about the types of dementia, conditions that can be mistaken for dementia, how to interact with doctors, and what treatments and care is out here.

Our new workbook helps to provide worksheets and tools to support you and your loved one with that the stresses that can arise with dementia, be it due to Alzheimer’s disease, vascular disease or Lewy body disease.

In particular, “A Roadmap for Dementia“ provides tools to help:

• Create a memory book to support your loved one and assist caregivers

•  Develop a strategy to understand behaviors seen in dementia

•  Learn to cope with agitation and psychosis

•  and for communicating effectively with your loved ones with dementia

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Perhaps you are more of a watcher than a reader

We have also created a series of online video classes focused on understanding the brain and dementia, caregiving strategies, how to keep our brains strong, and even a video course on how to make the holidays a little easier for your loved one with dementia.

CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW TO CHECK OUT OUR COURSES

Want to talk about these issues in person? Please feel free to reach out to us.

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Interested in booking a talk or training for your group?

click below

Thank you to the California Association of PA/PG/PCs!

Thank you to the California State Assoc of Public Administrators, Public Guardians and Public Conservators for having me speak at your convention this week!

I really had the opportunity to learn a lot about the work of the Public Guardian’s office and how best to support them over these last few days here in Palm Springs. I also had the opportunity to hear experts in their field discuss topics such as suicide prevention and crisis intervention, as presented by Sergeant Kevin Briggs, known as the guardian of the Golden Gate for his work preventing suicides while in the California Highway Patrol, and Dr. LaVonna Lewis from USC, who helped us explore awareness of our own bias and its effects on our interactions with others.

My presentations at the conference included

Excessive Persuasion: From Undue Influence to Scam Victimization

and

Interviewing the Cognitively Impaired

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Know the Risk Factors That Make Older Adults Susceptible to Financial Abuse?

It can be difficult to know when something is wrong. Much financial abuse occurs in secret. In many cases the bad actors themselves train their victims not to tell anyone about what is going on. There are signs that you can watch for and things you can do to protect your loved ones though. The issues related to older adults falling victim to scams or undue influence are so significant that when I created the second edition of my book, I added a whole chapter on the topic.

Have You Heard of Undue Influence?

Another type of financial exploitation to mention is somewhat harder to detect. It is the concept of undue influence, which people with dementia can be particularly vulnerable to due to their cognitive impairment. Undue influence is often used to manipulate an older adult into changing estate plans or giving large gifts to the influencer, even when it is not in the older adult’s best interest. Whereas scams use advertising techniques, undue influence uses the development of a strong relationship. Essentially the bad actor develops a special and trusted relationship with the older adult. This is sometimes seen with caregivers, where a caregiver who was hired to care for an older adult with dementia develops a strong bond with the person and then purposely starts to manipulate the older adult with dementia. Often the issue does not become obvious until some financial cost has occurred, or family or friends begin to recognize the influence that the bad actor has developed.

  Besides cognitive impairment, risk factors for undue influence include dependence and isolation. The victim may become dependent on the bad actor for things like food, transportation, and even financial management. Isolation contributes as the victim feels that they have no one else to turn to and so instead they focus on the bad actor. The bad actor will themselves usually encourage isolation and dependency.

Resources to Report Scams and Fraud

 National Elder Fraud Hotline

Provides case managers for support and resources

1-833-FRAUD-11 (1-833-372-8311)

www.justice.gov/stopelderfraud

Federal Trade Commission

Helps government identify victims and track these crimes

www.FTC.gov

FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center

Helps government identify victims and track these crimes

www.IC3.gov

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Does My Mom Have Dementia?: How to Recognize and Deal with Dementia in Your Loved Ones Buy on Amazon

A Roadmap for Dementia: A Workbook for Families by the Author of Does My Mom Have Dementia? Buy on Amazon

Everyone deserves to understand their brain, how it ages, and is it healthy. Our books provide a roadmap to help you determine if you should be concerned and how you can help yourself and your loved ones. This includes learning about the types of dementia, conditions that can be mistaken for dementia, how to interact with doctors, and what treatments and care is out here.

Our new workbook helps to provide worksheets and tools to support you and your loved one with that the stresses that can arise with dementia, be it due to Alzheimer’s disease, vascular disease or Lewy body disease.

In particular, “A Roadmap for Dementia“ provides tools to help:

• Create a memory book to support your loved one and assist caregivers

•  Develop a strategy to understand behaviors seen in dementia

•  Learn to cope with agitation and psychosis

•  and for communicating effectively with your loved ones with dementia

---

Perhaps you are more of a watcher than a reader

We have also created a series of online video classes focused on understanding the brain and dementia, caregiving strategies, how to keep our brains strong, and even a video course on how to make the holidays a little easier for your loved one with dementia.

CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW TO CHECK OUT OUR COURSES

Want to talk about these issues in person? Please feel free to reach out to us.

---

Interested in booking a talk or training for your group?

click below

Exciting News! A New Book And The 2nd Edition of Our First Book

Do You Recognize the Early Warning Signs of Dementia?

Need Straightforward Tools to Help a Loved One With Dementia?

Exciting news then! The second edition of our book, “Does My Mom Have Dementia?” is now out. In addition, I have written a workbook that can accompany the book or stand on its own. It offers tools and worksheets to help make your loved one more comfortable and to help you and your family cope better with the situation.

Sometimes we have concerns about loved ones or ourselves:

• Was that really just a senior moment?

• Are my memory lapses serious?

• Why can’t she think of the word she wants?

There are many normal changes in thinking abilities that occur as we age. Primarily we experience slowed speed of information processing. This means it may take longer for us to learn new information or figure things out.

We also start to struggle with more complex concentration. Think about driving. Do you drive a bit slower now then when you were young? That’s because your brain is automatically adjusting your behavior to match your abilities. Your brain is having a bit more trouble keeping track of what is happening around it, so you need to drive a bit slower.

These two issues, slowed processing and decreased complex attention, are actually the reason many of us think that we lose our memory as we age. We really don’t, but it is easier to be distracted or rushed. If we can’t pay adequate attention we are not going to remember something later, as we never learned it in the first place.

True memory loss is a serious issue. Our book, “Does My Mom Have Dementia” can help you recognize this when it is present and also help you consider other factors contributing to your brain’s current state of health. Being informed is one of best things you can do to keep your brain and your loved ones’ brain strong as we all age.

Does My Mom Have Dementia?: How to Recognize and Deal with Dementia in Your Loved Ones Buy on Amazon

A Roadmap for Dementia: A Workbook for Families by the Author of Does My Mom Have Dementia? Buy on Amazon

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Everyone deserves to understand their brain, how it ages, and is it healthy. Our books provide a roadmap to help you determine if you should be concerned and how you can help yourself and your loved ones. This includes learning about the types of dementia, conditions that can be mistaken for dementia, how to interact with doctors, and what treatments and care is out here.

Our new workbook helps to provide worksheets and tools to support you and your loved one with that the stresses that can arise with dementia, be it due to Alzheimer’s disease, vascular disease or Lewy body disease.

In particular, “A Roadmap for Dementia“ provides tools to help:

• Create a memory book to support your loved one and assist caregivers

•  Develop a strategy to understand behaviors seen in dementia

•  Learn to cope with agitation and psychosis

•  and for communicating effectively with your loved ones with dementia

---

Perhaps you are more of a watcher than a reader

We have also created a series of online video classes focused on understanding the brain and dementia, caregiving strategies, how to keep our brains strong, and even a video course on how to make the holidays a little easier for your loved one with dementia.

CLICK THE BUTTON BELOW TO CHECK OUT OUR COURSES

Want to talk about these issues in person? Please feel free to reach out to us.

---

Interested in booking a talk or training for your group?

click below

Difficulty Digesting Lecture? UDL (Universal Design Learning) Can Help!

Universal Design Learning (UDL) is an individualized style of classroom instruction where one teacher uses a variety of teaching techniques to best serve different learning styles

People often wonder whether the idea of classroom equality is possible, or desirable. After all, students develop differently, have different IQ’s, different learning styles, and even different support systems outside of the classroom. A concept called Universal Design Learning (UDL) is a teaching approach intended to help each student in a classroom get what he or she needs to succeed in order to establish equity in learning. That is, UDS is an individualized style of classroom instruction where one teacher uses a variety of teaching techniques to best serve different learning styles. This style of adaptable and personalized instruction helps each student get what her or she needs to meet classroom learning competencies.

How does UDL work in the classroom?

Teachers utilize UDL in their learning material in unique ways. The goal is to balance a variety of presentation and engagement activities to keep students excited and motivated. The three principles of UDL include 1) creative presentation of the material 2) dynamic and stimulating learning assignments 3) student engagement/ motivation.

Building a UDL program starts with school administration and teachers, but parents should discuss this modality when appropriate. A conversation about UDL might help inspire your child’s classrooms to present the material in more dynamic ways, allowing students to digest the information with engaging activities rather than an older, lecture-style of learning.

How the 3 Principles of UDL work in the brain.
References: The Teaching Commons at Georgetown University, adapted from CAST National UDL Center.

Example of UDL-style assignments:

What does UDL mean for my child?

Successful UDL classrooms present schoolwork in creative and multi-modal ways. Since each student has different strengths, it makes since to incorporate multiple strategies into teaching and homework to help children thrive. Children may benefit from an assessment of their learning style to determine the ideal structure for learning new information (e.g. auditory, movement, visual, etc.).

Feel like you need help with assessment and learning? — Remember, you can do this!

Interested in assessment, advocacy, or school-based services for your child?

Contact Dr. Skye Stifel.

For more information about how to best support your child’s schoolwork at home, please contact me, Dr. Skye Stifel, at Insight Neuropsychology.  As a former special education teacher, a Nationally and California Certified School Psychologist, and Licensed Educational Psychologist. I have the knowledge and experience to help you with your child.  

At Insight Neuropsychology we provide personalized assessment and treatment services to promote cognitive health and well-being. We help you learn about how your child’s brain is functioning and how their environment is affecting them, as INSIGHT is the first step in improving your mental functions.

Want information about Aging-well?

We have online courses available for people across the age range, including a course on mindfulness and the developing brain.

Click the INSIGHT SKILLS link above to see our courses!

Listen to Dr. Stifel discuss coping with COVID for parents and families on The Deciders radio show

THE DECIDERS 6-20-20 (SKYE STIFEL+PSA)

The Deciders radio show on 790KABC with Renee Fraser focuses on changing our communities by interviewing CEOs, people who are working to build their businesses, and/or people who are change agents working to create positive social change in their communities.

In this interview, Dr. Stifel discusses how you and your kids can cope with COVID, including trying to understand the situation and normalize our experiences. Some topics discussed include screen time issues right now and how to discuss coronavirus with your kids.

Need more help?

Interested in learning more, or want an assessment or advocacy services for your child?

For more information about how to best support your child’s schoolwork at home, please contact me, Dr. Skye Stifel, at Insight Neuropsychology.  As a former special education teacher, a Nationally and California Certified School Psychologist, and Licensed Educational Psychologist. I have the knowledge and experience to help you with your child.  

At Insight Neuropsychology we provide personalized assessment and treatment services to promote cognitive health and well-being. We help you learn about how your child’s brain is functioning and how their environment is affecting them, as INSIGHT is the first step in improving your mental functions.

Want to Learn More Now?

We have online courses available for people across the age range, including a course on mindfulness and the developing brain.

Click below to see our courses!

My Kid Won't Do Schoolwork with Me

During the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place order, parents are unexpectedly faced with educating their children at home. We are parents too, and it has been challenging.

Whether your child’s school provides intensive academic programming or leaves parents to create academic content on their own, most parents have been forced to afford educational support to their children that they never had to do before. All of which is happening while we parents are balancing our own lives (emotions, jobs, relationships, etc.). This has led a lot of us struggling to get our children to “do school” with us – and a lot of children refusing to “do school” at all.

As a parent myself, I know first-hand how hard this time has been. From my training and personal experience, here are three key things to help parents like you get schoolwork done with your child:  

 The Three Keys to Getting Schoolwork Done During COVID

1.   This is crisis schooling, not homeschooling. This is important to remember – and to give yourself some grace. It’s okay for you to have realistic expectations of what your child’s schooling looks like. You are not a full-time, credentialed teacher. There is a lot going on around you beyond your child’s schooling. So, recognize the stress and emotions of everyone involved.

2.   Structure and expectations about time. Having a consistent daily routine during the week helps create a sense of predictability we all are needing right now. Daily structure can look different for every family: some families have minute-by-minute calendars with everyone’s activities noted and some families focus on eating meals at the same time each day. Whatever brings you and your family comfort in consistency is the right structure for you. Pick the top three things that are critical in your day (meals, work, outside time, etc.) and build your family’s daily routine around those three things.

The amount of time devoted to schoolwork each day depends of the age and personality of your child. Pushing your child beyond their limit is not healthy or helpful. Here is a helpful chart about the appropriate amount of time a child should spend doing schoolwork each day and how long children should be able to maintain their attention according to their grade level (Illinois State Board of Education “Remote Learning Recommendations”):

3.  Independent work. I’m seeing a lot of parents struggling with time management and balancing everything partially because the work they are giving their children is at an instructional or higher level. Children can’t possibly do that level of work on their own because they need instruction (hence the term “instructional level”) in order to do it.

If you want your child to work on his or her own, you must give work he or she can do on their own. When you give your child schoolwork, it is critical that the work is at the child’s independent work level. “Independent work level” means schoolwork that your child already knows how to do and can do with ease. This level is typically below the actual grade level of your child because your child is still learning schoolwork at their grade level. Often, this is work that is reinforcing your child’s already mastered skills and supporting their development of more advanced skills.

For example, a child who is learning multiplication could do addition and subtraction problems as independent work. Addition and subtraction skills are precursor skills to multiplication that the child already learned and knows. Addition and subtraction are also important conceptual components to multiplication, so by working on addition and subtraction the child is building his skills for multiplication as well.

Lastly, it’s important for children to feel successful and independent, so create time each day that is “independent work time.”

Some great online educational programs

At the end of the day, be kind to yourself...and your children. Take each day at a time and focus on the larger picture of your child’s overall well-being and health.  

Need more help?

Interested in learning more, or want an assessment or advocacy services for your child?

For more information about how to best support your child’s schoolwork at home, please contact me, Dr. Skye Stifel, at Insight Neuropsychology.  As a former special education teacher, a Nationally and California Certified School Psychologist, and Licensed Educational Psychologist. I have the knowledge and experience to help you with your child.  

At Insight Neuropsychology we provide personalized assessment and treatment services to promote cognitive health and well-being. We help you learn about how your child’s brain is functioning and how their environment is affecting them, as INSIGHT is the first step in improving your mental functions.

Stop Senior Scams Event Tomorrow

Ventura County Adult Abuse Prevention Council is sponsoring an event tomorrow in Ventura for seniors focusing on scams and how to protect yourself. The Stop Seniors Scams Acting Program will be presenting a series of skits on scams. Adult Protective Services will also have speakers present to talk about what is being seen in the county right now.

If you are interested, the event is at Cypress Place in Ventura, 1200 Cypress Point Lane at 1:30PM tomorrow, February 20, 2020.

Want to talk about these issues in person? Please feel free to reach out to us.

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Interested in booking a talk or training for your group?

click below

Happy Valentine's Day from your Brain!

Sometimes we wonder how our brains relate to the bigger mysteries of life, like what is the soul, consciousness, or why we fall fall in love.

Luckily CNN just posted a nice illustrated article explaining a good part of how love occurs in our brain. Check it out, and don’t worry, it maintains a bit of mystery.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/02/14/health/brain-on-love-wellness/index.html

Want to talk about these issues in person? Please feel free to reach out to us.

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Interested in booking a talk or training for your group?

click below

The Difference Between Dementia and Alzheimer’s Disease

It is confusing for all of us. To learn a little more, see this article by Dr. Duff from our practice

https://www.recognizingdementia.com/blog/

Buy on Amazon