Can parents safely relax screen-time limits during the summer? The complicated answer is, “It depends.” The underlying goal is balance. If your child is attending day camp or taking sailing lessons, increased afternoon screen time is not detrimental. If your child is cooped up indoors working a summer job, for...

When the American Academy of Pediatrics first issued its guidelines for daily screen-time limits, parents worried most about hours wasted watching television and playing video games. Now, screens power nearly every daily action: reading, communicating, listening to music, playing games, and devouring cat memes.

On any given day...

June 29, 2017

Boys are more likely to have brains that are larger or smaller than average, a new study says, while girls have less size variation. This could help explain why disorders like ADHD and autism are more prevalent in boys, researchers concluded.

The study, published June 20 in the journal Cerebral Cortex, examined MRI...

Despite a high dropout rate and low test scores at Ballou High School in Washington, D.C., every senior was accepted to at least one college.

(Image credit: Chelsea Beck/NPR)...

June 29, 2017

A new study finds that adolescents with ADHD are 36 percent more likely to get into a car accident than their peers without ADHD, corroborating earlier research.

The study, published earlier this month in JAMA Pediatrics, looked at approximately 18,500 patients of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia,...

Fidget spinners are the latest rage, and stores have trouble keeping them on the shelves. But what do users think of them? I consulted a panel of experts—the kids themselves. As a child clinical psychologist, I asked my patients about what they like about fidget spinners, how they affect attention and learning, and what...

The author, who has chosen to remain anonymous, has been CEO of several companies during his successful career.

Over my years as CEO of several U.S. and European medical companies, I have learned that employees don’t leave their personal life at home. Their domestic issues affect their work and sometimes spill out during...

In a dual-language classroom, sometimes you're the student and sometimes you're the teacher. Here's what it's like for 6-year-old Merari.

(Image credit: LA Johnson/NPR)...

It’s almost 8 a.m., and we need to leave the house in 16 minutes and 42 seconds. Two of my children are dressed, fed, and ready to rock and roll with happy, smiley faces. There was an altercation about the one-legged, broken dinosaur, which suddenly, during a fight, became the most loved toy ever! But after tears,...

For children with autism, Dorothy Siegel does not believe in paraprofessionals, the teaching assistants sometimes assigned to shadow students in class. To show you why, Ms. Siegel, 70, a longtime special education advocate, grabs your arm, pokes you and forcibly turns your head toward the...

Screen time can be more than a distraction if you follow these principles.

(Image credit: Chelsea Beck/NPR)...

New research from Indiana and Louisiana provides clarity in the voucher debate.

(Image credit: Shout for NPR)...