Little Bird Pediatric Mental Health Services

I can't love this enough.

Thanks for checking out Little Bird, a mobile Occupational Therapy service in Vancouver, BC focusing on body based healing, regulation and learning! Feel free to follow us for strategies, resources and little tidbits of information on childhood mental health and wellness. I'm up and running but currently just evenings and weekends as I build up clients, though if a daytime appointment is necessary, I'm sure we could figure something out. Hours will change and grow as the business does. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

Today is International #FASD Awareness Day - recognized the ninth day of the ninth month to encourage people to go alcohol free during their full nine months of... pregnancy. FASD, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, impacts 4% of Canadians, which translates to roughly 1.5 million people or 1 in 25 Canadians. To put that in context, FASD impacts more people than autism, cerebral palsy, and Down syndrome combined. There is a lot of misinformation and stigma surrounding FASD. International FASD Awareness Day seeks to remove the stigma facing persons with FASD and raise awareness regarding prevention. Visit https://canfasd.ca/ to learn more about how you can help.

I found this article super helpful. It rates different organic and non organic foods and their pesticide levels, and gives a more comprehensive look at which foods we should buy organic than the dirty dozen list does, though most of the fruits and veggies coincide. The more science has been showing the amazing connection between our gut and our mental health, it is important to pay attention to what we are putting into our bodies! It’s expensive to buy organic foods, so following lists like this or the dirty dozen and clean 15 allow us to feel good about buying certain nonorganic foods, while being safe with certain others. https://www.consumerreports.org/pe/stop-eating-pesticides/

One of my first attempts at a meme, four years ago. People still seem to like it today. -Chris

I've been thinking a lot about food... Yes, I love to snack, but not in that way: Did you know that the gut uses more than 30 neurotransmitters, most which are similar to those used in the brain and central nervous system? That 50% of the body's dopamine and 90% of it's seratonin lies in the gut? That there is biochemical communication between the bacteria in our gut, and our central nervous system, which is connected to our brain and the regulation of our emotions, stress, a...nd cognition? That the vagus nerve, which regulates our parasympathetic (calm) response, has fibers that run all throughout our internal organs and our gut? This is why what we put into our bodies is SO important, and researchers are starting to find connections between gut disorders or poor diets and all kinds of other diagnosis such as ADHD, anxiety, or autoimmune disorders. Lets stop focusing on labels and pills, and start tapping into the power of whole clean foods and our body's incredible natural resources!