The day started great and ended fantastic. Today was what we might consider a ‘typical’ families day, or at least what we imagine might be ‘typical’. All those windows we keep peering [Read more…] about Today has been a great day…
The mind is a powerful tool
I was reading this article today from the Huffington post, and it further serves to remind us of how powerful our minds are, especially to suggestion. Heidi Halvorson, Ph.D. writes to the power of girls underachieving, regardless of how bright they are, due to the messages they receive from the adults [Read more…] about The mind is a powerful tool
Developmental Trauma Disorder
I fought against people for so long, endured weird looks and obligatory ‘urm yes it is possible’ comments from multiple professionals who I have encountered in the quest to help our son and not one of them has explored this seriously or really paid any attention to what I have asked about the relationship between his first 7.5 months and the problems that have been evident since he was about 12 months old. I have asked, “does his first few months have any relation to his night terror problems” “does he have a developmental delay because of his early experiences” “Is his hyperactivity anything to do with [Read more…] about Developmental Trauma Disorder
Ingenious Minds – Science Channel
The Science Channel has launched a new series that began last week, that offers a peak into the minds of various savants around the world. While I was watching it on my DVR last night I realized (again) how little we really understand the human brain and how amazingly plastic it is.
The first savant, George Widener, explains both his aspergers and his savant mind, [Read more…] about Ingenious Minds – Science Channel
Dr. Oz, the Autism Support Network and Dr. Mercola.
I only posted this today (Mercola’s article) as yesterday I was reading that 1 in 110 children now are being diagnosed with autism! 1/110!!! When our son was diagnosed there was 1/150 – which I thought at the time was terrible enough. Now the numbers are staggering and continuing to climb yearly. I think almost all of us now know a family touched by a spectrum disorder. So I also ask the question “what’s going on here?”. I am not actually anti-vaccine, although I believe that the people who choose not to vaccinate do so after reading thousands of hours of information. I do think its a valid topic to include on this site, simply as people are still so confused in the vaccine debate. The whole Andrew Wakefield thing has been misquoted and misconstrued for so long now, I am not sure really if its possible to view the original results of his paper, which I truly believe we all should at least read so we know the argument for and against his work. I am not convinced it is quite as simple as the mainstream media would have us believe. With anything I like to explore the for and against, and then I believe I can find the truth somewhere in the middle!
I do not believe anyone who makes the decision to not vaccinate, makes it lightly. There is always a fear involved both for and against the vaccination protocols. Personally, both my children were vaccinated on a slower scale, much like Dr. Sears and Dr. Oz chose for their children. My daughter shows no adverse effects (yet) from any of her vaccinations and we stopped all vaccinations at age 3 (although for us it was actually age 5 as we were on a very slow schedule). They each had the separated measles, mumps and rubella vaccinations over the course of 6 months. I don’t regret vaccinating them nor do I know what decision I would make if I had to do it over again. My decisions have already been made, so luckily for me I don’t have to have that internal angst over whether to do it or not. I do remember that when our son had his chickenpox vaccination he was totally silent for an entire week. I called his pediatrician and was told there could not be any possible correlation between his shot and his behavior. I remember panicking and worrying if it was going to be a permanent thing. After working so hard to get him to even start making the sounds it was very distressing to see them go away. Luckily he slowly started trying to make the animal sounds, again. I did continue to give him his vaccinations until he entered Elementary school when I discovered that not only should I be concerned with side-effects and allergies given to me at each vaccination appointment (wasn’t that enough?!!!!) I found some new information that made me totally reevaluate from a different perspective my choice to not vaccinate. This again, was a personal decision that was right for our family, and I absolutely do not disagree or agree with anyone else’s decision to vaccinate or not, I am going to assume that they also did their homework and made the right choice for them.
This is from the other article I read yesterday regarding the Autism Support Networks review of Dr Oz’s show and where he mentions the 1/110 diagnosis. Again a worthwhile read.