New Directions was founded in 1998 to share important messages about brain development so that parents could take advantage of the critically important window of opportunity that occurs in infancy. The non-profit institution has become a foremost authority on early learning and is consulted by organizations across the nation. In 2006, New Directions Institute merged with Arizona's Children Association. Arizona's Children Association is the oldest and largest child welfare and behavioral health agency in the state and one of the largest in the country.
Neuroscientists from the finest research facilities in the United States are solving mysteries of language, mental processes and behavior by observing the brain at work and are adding to the existing body of psychological research on early development. The new technology of PET scans and MRIs has made it possible for researchers to finally 'look inside the brain' while it is at work and actually see how the brain processes information.
Rachel Lam is a current doctoral student in Learning and is an Educational Psychology Teaching Assistant at ArizonaStateUniversity. Rachel is a board member of a non-profit organization whose mission is to support families of children with autism.
