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An Infant's Mind
Baby's Brain Development
By Teri Brown
In a world obsessed with faster, better and stronger, it is no surprise that the "do more" philosophy has moved to include our children. The top preschools have waiting lists, toys abound that promise to make your child smarter in the womb and flashcards for babies are commonplace. But do these gimmicks really work? Just how much can babies younger than a year old learn beyond the basics of sitting up, chewing and, in some cases, walking?
Ann Friedrick, a mother of two from Portland, Ore., wasn't sure just how much her children would learn before they were a year old, but she figured enrichment couldn't hurt. "At that time I didn't know if the activities I was doing would have any effect on my child, but I figured it was a mother's job to try," she says. "I played classical music, offered visually stimulating toys and did a lot of face-to-face verbal engagement."
Friedrick, like most mothers, wasn't trying to create a genius; she just wanted to enrich her child's life in any way she could. But just how much enriching sticks to an infant before age 1?
"At birth, a newborn baby is functionally blind, deaf and insensate," Doman says. "These sensory pathways grow and develop based upon stimulation. The sensory pathways grow when appropriate visual, auditory and tactile stimulation is given with the proper frequency, intensity and duration."
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