Randy Rolfe

FAMILY FIRST: Adult Health Issues Linked to Childhood Events and How to Overcome With David Marsh Lockridge

One of the most distressing developments in child-rearing in recent years is the amazing increase in the incidence of learning and behavior disorders, ranging from mild to severe, including ADHD, dyslexia, autism spectrum disorders, and more. Discussion continues whether to blame educators, parents, TV, video games, environmental toxins, or the family genes. But meanwhile, my guest today has found solutions. Dr. Albert Forwood has been helping children with learning and behavior problems for many years. Dr. Forwood has his board certification in the revered functional neurology program, an élite certification that less than 5% of doctors in his profession achieve. In 2009 he opened the Brain Balance Center in Wayne PA with an effective program that is helping kids, in extraordinary ways, with learning and behavior disorders, often with major progress in a surprisingly short time because of the customized treatment and the focus on the actual cause of the disorders

FAMILY FIRST: Repairing Hearing Loss in Kids With Dr. Ellen Finkelstein

Recent studies have shown that the music devices our young people are listening to are creating hearing loss far earlier than ever before. Ipods, MP3players, and other devices can deliver loud and prolonged sound right into the ears and threaten to damage the hearing of younger and younger people. Can we help young adults when their hearing is already damaged? Can we educate our teens to prevent hearing loss and still enjoy their music? My guest this week is Dr. Ellen Finkelstein, an audiologist and director of the East Side Clinic in New York City. She has become an outspoken advocate for helping people of all ages with hearing loss and especially young people who may not even realize that their ability to hear is being progressively damaged. Yet even slight hearing loss can affect their school performance, their social life, and even whether they are responsive to their parents. Listen in and find out how you can perhaps help someone you love to improve their quality of life.

FAMILY FIRST: : Help for the Adoptive Family With Kelly Ellison

who has considered adopting, either domestically or internationally. Often would-be adoptive parents are faced with challenges they had no way of knowing about ahead of time, and few appreciate the financial commitment, which can cost well over $10,000,with travel expenses, fees, and more, and cause undue stress at what should be a happy time. Likewise, friends and relatives often have no idea how to help. My guest this week is Kelly Ellison, who as a result of her own experience adopting her daughter fromChina,foundedYourAdoptionFinanceCoach.com and GotchaGiftRegistry.com, two eCommerce companies to fill this information gap. Her organization is dedicated to giving potential parents the coaching they need to make the process as smooth as possible and to educating friends and family about how they can best help, so that, as Kelly says, they can “bring their family home together forever.

FAMILY FIRST: Can You Clean Your Home Without Using Toxic Chemicals? With Vince Elliot

The news today is filled with stories of the increasing incidence of allergies, asthma, attention problems in kids, and other conditions which have been found to be related to the increasing load of toxic chemicals in our environment. And the Environmental Protection Agency has concluded that many of these chemicals are inside our homes rather than outside. For example, indoor air can be up to 17 times as polluted as outdoor air. Many of these toxic chemicals are in the cleaning products we bring into our homes thinking we are making our homes healthier. Can we clean without using toxic chemicals? My guest today is Vince Elliott, a longtime leader, teacher, and innovator in the science of cleaning. His passion is to understand the real concerns of actual consumers of cleaning services and to help them create a toxic-free, chemical free environment in the home, school and workplace, both for health and for our eco-system. A few simple changes can make a big difference.

FAMILY FIRST: Empowering Children Through Their Heritage With Michelle Dirks

In our fast-changing society today, many kids feel a bit adrift and their self-confidence can suffer. One of the most powerful ways to help them find their way is to help them reconnect with their cultural and family heritage and sense of place. My guest this week is Michelle Dirks, who does exactly that. Michelle Dirks is an internationally acclaimed educator and artist has captured her secrets of teaching success in her Treasure House Press curriculums. For over fifteen years, she has taught children, ages 3-17,creativeart programs from painting to print-making, primitive weaving to learning from the masters, calligraphy to urban-street art, recycled material murals to martial arts, each creative opportunity rich and engaging for students. The result is children re-discovering their passion for learning. In a multi-disciplinary approach to art education, Michelle Dirks provides a vast knowledge base while enhancing self esteem and cooperative communication between her students.

FAMILY FIRST: Parenting In The Real World With Christina De Valencia

Today parents face the complexities of multiple work responsibilities, school and afterschool activities, extended family duties, supervision of digital connections, health and more. We all want to do the best for our kids, but many parents worry that they are falling short, especially when they hear constantly in the news of what can go wrong for kids and young people in the world today. My guest this week on Family First is Christina de Valencia, a teacher, author, and family therapist who likes to focus on the core responsibilities of parenting. Originally from Europe, she has lived in many different environments. She is the mother of five children and has counseled many parents and families as a family therapist. She will share insights about how parents can stay connected to their kids even when everyone leads busy lives, what the most important responsibilities of a parent are, and the necessity of being a role model for your child, not just instructor, policeman, or judge.

FAMILY FIRST: How to Teach Your Child the Other Kind of Smart With Harvey Deutschendorf

Many of us parents leave it to the schools to teach our children the academic smarts which will help get them into good schools or land them a good job. And we assume that their IQ, or intellectual smarts, is mostly genetic. But what about emotional smarts? Can it be measured? Can it be taught? Might it be a better predictor of future success than IQ or academic standing? What is its impact on the relationships at work and at home which can have the greatest impact on our happiness and success? Is this a kind of smarts we parents can and should foster in our children? My guest today is Harvey Deutschendorf, a trained expert in evaluating and teaching emotional intelligence. He coaches people in both their personal and business life to improve their recognition and management of their emotions in ways that can dramatically improve their lives, and in a surprisingly short time. Tune into find out how a few simple changes can make a big difference in your work and family life.

FAMILY FIRST: How to Create Togetherness With Cyndi Dale

In today’s society we’re surrounded by the search for love–in books, in songs, in the movies, on TV, and now on the web–but how many of us know how to find it or even what we are looking for? As children we’re taught to go out there and find love without any cues or instruction on how to make it happen. It’s no wonder that so many adults can make messes of their relationships and end up questioning if being loved or finding love is even possible or meant for them. My guest this week on Family First is Cyndi Dale, a renowned author on intuitive and spiritual matters who has developed a guide that serves to open the heart, show you how to nurture your relationships, and give you new optimism and confidence about loving and being loved. She will share how our past experiences can keep us fearful or stuck and how to better understand our feelings and ways to keep them from spoiling our relationships. Listen in to find out great ways to find love or to keep your love fresh and growing.

FAMILY FIRST: A Unique Travel Adventure with Family With Stephanie Dale

What do you do when you want a complete change in your life? Many people today are talking about a midlife crisis, or even a quarter life crisis. Our current economic recession has many people thinking twice about where they are and where they would like to be. It can take courage to explore unconventional options. But one of the important ways to stay healthy is to not give up on your dreams. When you are busy with job and spouse and kids you may think that other adventures you dream about will never come. But opportunities can come in good time if you don’t give up on your dreams. My guest this week on Family First made a courageous change in her life when she sold her house and decided to trek from Rome to Istanbul with her grown son. Stephanie Dale is an Australian journalist and is the author My Pilgrim’s Heart: A Woman’s Journey Through Marriage and Other Foreign Lands, which isa travel memoir of their walk through the Balkans and the Middle East.

FAMILY FIRST: How Small Changes in your Home Environment Reap Big Rewards in improved family relationships with Denny Daikeler

Can something as simple as rearranging furniture or changing color in a room actually make for better family relationships, greater respect among family members, a stronger sense of unity and cohesion, or make chores easier or homework more fun? My guest today is an expert in helping families recreate home environments which can do all these things. Denny Daikeler has helped numerous families carefully set up their home so that boundaries are healthy, relationships are better nourished, and the identity of the family and each member in it is strengthened. Denny is the author of What Color is Your Slip cover? and has been a consultant internationally and to many different kinds of organizations and on television. The whole family can function at a higher level and create a greater sense of beauty, love, hope, and peace in the home, along with greater appreciation for others and the planet itself. Do listen in for tips you can put into action today.