Darling Downs Paediatrics

01/09/2025

I was privileged to meet Keri Opai at a conference in Queenstown recently. He gave a moving talk on, and is the creator of an amazing piece of evolving work: Te Reo Hāpai — The Language of Enrichment - a glossary of te reo Māori terms for use in the mental health, addiction and disability sectors.

“He mana tō te kupu” — “Words have great power” — a whakataukītanga kōrero (proverbial saying)

The concept is great. English medical, mental health terms etc are translated to language which is more meaningful for the Māori community. New language was created for some words which did not exist in Māori, such as:
‘Autism’ – Takiwātanga - 'my/his/her own time and space'

I particularly love the way they use language that does not emphasize deficit or disability.

Look out for my new friend in the office (seen in the photo below) – the Piwakawaka (or NZ fantail). This inquisitive and energetic friend is constantly on the move, from sunrise to sunset. It is not surprising therefore, that it symbolises another term close to my heart. ADHD, or better yet:
Aroreretini – ‘Attention goes to many things’😊

11/05/2025

Happy Mother's Day to all of you who have that role in someone's life. It's vital and it shapes lives.

I've been reflecting on having been blessed with 4 mothers in my life.
There's my mum, of course❤️Aside from giving me life...well, there are no words and she is sorely missed the last couple of years. 2 major loves of my life - Nature and music (and a green thumb), are thanks to her.

My 'babysitter' who became a grandmother to me, and her daughter, another mother. They immersed me in Spanish language from only a few months old. So many big firsts with them (many of which I wouldn't even remember because they would have been early milestones). But also my first: bike, my first watch, swimming lessons and learning to swim, my first drive of a car. And empanadas....something I now make for my own family, and they scoff them down hungrily!

And finally my stepmum. When a teacher in high school deflated me by saying I wasn't suited to medicine, she convinced me to 'bu**er what he thinks' and to go for my goals.
Thanks to her, as an early teen, 3 much younger brothers came into my liffe and I am certain that this had a role to play in leading me to working with kids.

Happy Mother's Day to all of them and thanks ❤️

04/05/2025

May the 4th be with you, all my little friends, and their carers. Set your blasters to stun and have some fun today! Pew pew!

The battle between good and evil rages on in our corner of the galaxy but I believe that even the hardest of hearts can learn tolerance and accept diversity, in all its forms🙏

31/03/2025

The final appointment with a young person, after many years knowing them and watching them grow into young adults, comes with mixed emotions. It's sad to say goodbye; but it's great to be part of seeing them head off into the 'adult world'.

Mr J has impressed me for a few years now, with his complex, cool and creepy creations. He treated me to a bag full (literally!) of new characters today. Each with their own backstory and unique skills.

I think 'Sonic X' is my favourite (3rd from the right)...and the X inspired me to suggest to Mr J that he should make versions of Elon and Trump!

07/03/2025

handy to know 👍

Edit: we are now extending through Saturday although a littlele lower on staff so please best with us!

Our thoughts go out to those impacted by Cyclone Alfred

In an effort to support the community, we’re offering free Virtual Paediatric Urgent Care consultations tonight (Friday 7th March 2025) if you are impacted by the floods and cyclone in the Northern NSW & South East Queensland Region.

We hope extend this to Saturday but as many of our clinicians are in the region we will assess tomorrow and update as necessary.

Our paediatric emergency doctors will be available in the afternoon and evening and will be free for if you are impacted by the floods (simply upload a photo of the address on your drivers licence)

Please visit cubcare.com.au, or speak to a member of the team on 1800 312 611 if you have any queries
* Please note:
- This is for our Paediatric Urgent Care Service only.
- This subject to availability & capacity of our clinicians.
- This service is for conditions that need to be seen by a paediatric emergency specialist that day (eg not for longer term health queries, mental health, ADHD, ASD or smaller items such as medical certificates, script repeats etc).
- Ages 0 to 16 years.
- Cub Care hours of operation only
- Cub Care reserves the ultimate right to determine eligibility for a free consult at its own discretion

28/02/2025

Rare diseases are rare until they affect someone you love

28/02/2025

There was an interesting presentation by GameAware founder Andrew Kinch, at a conference I went to last year.
These guys may provide some guidance if you've got a hardcore gamer at home :)
https://www.gameaware.com.au/

27/01/2025

Many of my little friends start a new school year tomorrow. For some, first day back will be Wed or even Thursday. Whatever the case, I hope your first day back (or first day ever!) goes well.

And remember - be careful in the Occult section of the library, if your school has one.....

17/01/2025

I recently read this book and I would recommend that all parents, soon-to-be parents and anyone who’s even an thinking of becoming a parent one day, read it too.

It proposes a very reasonable explanation for a phenomenon that I’ve ben seeing in my practice over the last decade or so – a concerning increase in Anxiety, mood disorders, self-harming (and some curious things like a wave of tic disorders emerging across many countries back around 2020-21, following Covid).

There are some broad take-home points for me, obviously explained in much greater detail in the book. These include:
- Rates of anxiety, depression and self-harming behaviour in children increased suddenly and significantly internationally from ~2010, coinciding with the advent of the first smart phones
- Free play (face-to-face, not online) is essential for children’s physical and social development
- Children are ‘anti-fragile’ i.e. they need failures, setbacks and shocks in order to develop strength and self-reliance
- ‘safetyism’ (carers restricting what they let children do and intensifying supervision) is detrimental to children’s ability to deal with conflict, risk and frustration
- There is an ‘opportunity cost’ to a screen-based childhood i.e more time on screens = less time they are doing other things, developing gross and fine motor skills, socialising, experiencing Nature etc)
- Phone based childhoods cause damage through: sleep deprivation, social deprivation, attention fragmentation and addiction.
- There are differences in how screen time affects girls vs boys (social media more harmful to girls)
- It ends with suggestions for what parents, teachers and communities can do and which can be realistically applied to everyday life situations
- There are no less than 65 pages of notes and references to back up the data and hypotheses they present. Whilst Facebook has recently decided to abandon fact checks, you can rest assured that the data presented in the book, are indeed facts 😊

https://www.anxiousgeneration.com/

25/12/2024

Merry Christmas! Hope all my little and not so little friends had a great day and a few wishes fulfilled.
Some pics of ornaments on our tree this year...a few of my favourites :) nod to Hannah P Kirby for her elfish skill
And yet another amazing tree, thanks Chrissy Trees 4 U👍

17/12/2024

A family I see whose 2 children take an ADHD medication called Concerta (methylphenidate extended release) advised that in Tenterfield NSW, they recently found difficulty getting it. Unfortunately the TGA site confirms anticipated shortages over the coming months. For now, I would recommend trying to get it as normal at your usual chemist. There may be a need to discuss options if supplies become very low.

The Medicine Shortages Information Initiative provides information about prescription

31/10/2024

Happy Horrible Halloween 💀👻🎃🧟🧙‍♀️🦇😱

I decided on a political theme this year. The rest are the work of my 13yo son.