Saturday, July 30, 2011

Science Article: One Problem, Many Paths

Must dust off psych books where they talked about neurons and dendrons and the like.  Interesting ideas, like girls might be more resistant to the genetic causes of autism than boys, explaining the disparity in the numbers.

I've been bad...

I have not kept up with this blog as intended.  A few quick lines to bring my eight friends reading up to speed...


  • Summer's good.  
  • Have done DC, a couple of museums, and one theme park with the boys with one more to come this week, with free tickets that Jacob won for a reading program.
  • Jimmy finally got into this therapeutic riding program.  Very necessary structure for him.  He has turned ten (seriously?!), but there is a serious uptick in both the running and his accidents, so the little structure he gets right now helps him focus a bit better as well as becoming more verbal.  He loves the horses.
  • I really need to get a ton of pictures off the computer downstairs.  

That is all for this early hour.  More to follow.  Really.  I promise.

Friday, July 29, 2011

So... Natalie Munroe...

I guess I was snoozing in February because I am only hearing now about the blogging teacher who makes fun of her kids online (on work time, no less.)  Aside from questioning her choice of profession, I am most disgusted by her use of a cartoon - she took it down, but here is the gist of it, in a quote from a local Patch...

A piece of clip art that accompanied the post particularly enraged disability advocates and school board members. It depicted a special-needs school bus and read, “I don’t care if you lick windows, take the special bus, or occasionally pee on yourself, you hang in there sunshine, you’re friggin’ special.”

She attempted to defend herself on her own blog, though it is interesting to note that the relatives with disabilities that she trots out to highlight her "sensitivity" on the subject have physical disabilities.  As the mother of one who more apt to pee, along with other behaviors that go along with developmental disabilities, I can tell you that people don't view these disabilities all in the same light.  If she had any sensitivity, she wouldn't have used the cartoon and comment in the first place.  Or she would have issued a true apology to those who would be offended.  I am even more floored that an educated mother of young children (she is the mother of a toddler and newborn, apparently) would have such vileness in her heart.  The health of your children isn't promised.  Jimmy was a healthy, normal newborn - that gift ended before he was a year old.  In an instant, someone like Natalie Munroe could find herself in these shoes through the hand of fate.

I doubt anyone like that thinks that deeply before speaking (or blogging) so harshly.  She might want to do so in the future.

Edit:  So I found a copy of the offending page with comic on a British news site.  It's small.  Yeah, it's offensive, at least to me.  "If You Can't Say Anything Nice..."  Indeed.

Friday, July 01, 2011

Okay, I need to catch up...

It's been a busy couple of days... a few photos off my phone...


What is wrong with this world?

From Daily Press comments' section on a special education article:

Americanborn at 7:47 AM July 1, 2011 Face it, go visit a school of your choice and realize that certain "so-called students" should not even be there in the first place!  Many babies, if they were born in the animal world, would be eaten by their mothers or left to die a quick death.  If doctors would do their job and focus on "QUALITY OF LIFE" society would not be faced with the is dilemna.  It sickens me to see parents demanding that the world bows to the astronomical expense of HELPING THEM RAISE A CHILD that they can't take care of from the "get go".  It sickens me to see parents struggling to make decisions regarding certain children as to who will take care of them when they are gone.  Ask yourself one question before you judge my post....IF GIVEN A CHOICE...WOULD YOU LIKE TO LIVE A DAY LIKE THIS....A WEEK LIKE THIS?????   Me, I wouldn't last an hour!