Getting family support during the pandemic

 QUESTION: Dear Adele, My husband and I live in a rented apartment building with paper thin walls! Recently we have heard frequent loud arguments, yelling, banging and the sounds of crying children coming from our neighbours unit. We have concerns about the well-being of the toddler and infant who live

Meltdowns and explosive behaviour in young kids

 QUESTION Dear Adele, Our two preschoolers are getting more proficient every day in the art of delivering monstrous Mount Vesuvius meltdowns. When they become angry or frustrated, they yell, scream, cry and sometimes throw things, bite and hit. We often wonder what has happened to those adorable cooing babies in

What I Learned as a Medical Student Working with Low-Income Families in Toronto

 Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. As a medical student taking part in a Social Paediatrics course at The Hospital for Sick Children, I was recently immersed in the lives and healthcare needs of low-income families in Toronto. This experience reshaped the lens through which I now view healthcare and helped

Prenatal Stress Can Affect the Fetal and Infant Brain

 By Nicole Letourneau and Justin Joschko Prolonged exposure to toxic stress has been linked to depression, heart disease, diabetes and alcoholism Last month, it was reported that an Edmonton woman was badly beaten by her spouse. Though the attack put her in the hospital, the police offered a silver lining

Sometimes Compensation is the Road to Closure

 For more than 150 years, the Government of Canada attempted to assimilate aboriginal children by placing them in residential —otherwise known as boarding — schools. Since it was too difficult to change adults, they began "Christianizing" children as early as age five. But over the years, tens of thousands of