March is Women’s History Month, and we would like to introduce you to several women who are pioneers in child development and have a strong influence on what we do at My Therapy House.
Some of these women were excluded from working in hospitals because of now outdated rules about women practising medicine but they persevered, and their research is widely recognised around the world today.
Dr Mary Sheridan – Developmental Paediatrics (1899 – 1978)
Dr Sheridan defined and developed the field of developmental paediatrics in England during and after World War II. She published several papers on speech and language delay, and observed that children who were diagnosed later with hearing and speech difficulties and visual impairments had more difficulty at school. In 1960 she wrote a book called “From Birth to Five Years” which is still in publication and used as a guide to child developmental stages.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sheridan
Professor Elizabeth Newson – PDA Recognition and Research (1929 – 2014)
Elizabeth Newson was a developmental psychologist who emphasised the importance of observing children’s play and involving parents in behaviour assessments. She worked with her husband through the 1950s and 1960s, researching child development and publishing widely used psychology textbooks.
Elizabeth’s son was diagnosed with autism, and this inspired her research. She identified Pathological Demand Avoidance (PDA) as a type of autism. She strongly believed that her work should “make sense”, and helped many families make sense of their child’s behaviour.
Maria Aarts – Marte Meo (1950 – )
Maria Aarts developed Marte Meo (a Latin expression meaning “on one’s own strength”) to teach parents and caregivers how to connect with their child to support and strengthen the child’s understanding of themself and to model positive, predictable interactions. She remains involved in training educators and therapists in using Marte Meo techniques.
Read more: https://www.martemeo.com/en/about-marte-meo/
Serena Wieder, PhD – co-creator of DIR
Dr. Wieder has pioneered important approaches to diagnosing and treating infants and toddlers with infant mental health and developmental disorders. With Dr Stanley Greenspan, Dr Wieder developed the Developmental, Individual Differences, Relationship-based (DIR®) model of early intervention for neurodivergent children.
She is a founder of the Profectum Foundation which provides training and resources for therapists, educators, parents and families, and continues to practice as a Clinical Psychologist.
Read more: https://profectum.org/aboutus