Search Results for: blog when in rome

Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day

As single mothers we sometimes try to do it all. We’re working to support a family on our own while trying to be the nurturers we were meant to be. We run our children to their activities, make dinner, clean the house, do the laundry, and still manage to get up and do it all again the next morning without the help of a significant other. We want to be able to provide our children all the benefits they would have if we were a stay-at-home-mother, even though that is no longer possible. In short, we try to be superwoman … Continue reading →

Mother’s Blog About Mentally Ill Son Goes Viral

A mother has written a blog that has been passed around the internet via Facebook and in links in several other blogs and news articles. In it, she discusses her fear that her son will someday do something similar to what Adam Lanza did in Connecticut. It is an eye-opening piece of writing. Yesterday, I wrote a blog that clarified that not all people who have Asperger’s Syndrome are violent. Some can, and do, express loud, verbal, outbursts or may push someone away from them. Typically, the violence that people with Asperger’s Syndrome express is not premeditated or planned out. … Continue reading →

Clarification on Asperger’s Syndrome and Violence

By now, we have all heard the tragic news about the shooting that took place in an elementary school in Connecticut. Some say the shooter had Asperger’s Syndrome. Experts point out that there is no evidence of a link between violence like what happened and the existence of Asperger’s syndrome. A tragedy has occurred in Newtown, Connecticut. I do not have the words to express the grief and pain that the parents of the children who were killed at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut must be feeling. Lacking that, I will instead quote part of what President Obama … Continue reading →

Teen Battles “Sleeping Beauty Syndrome”

Sleep is something that everyone needs a healthy amount of. Parents of young children probably treasure sleep more than anyone else does. Teens tend to sleep a lot, but not as much as a seventeen year old in Pennsylvania. She has been diagnosed with “Sleeping Beauty Syndrome”. Disney made the story of “Sleeping Beauty” well known to many of us when we were children. An angry fairy places a curse on Princess Aurora while she is still a baby. Nothing bad happens until the Princess becomes a teenager. She pricks her finger on a spindle, and this triggers the curse … Continue reading →

Blogging From the Personal Side of Parenting

The internet has a wealth of information about a vast variety of special needs. It is fairly easy to look up medical information or news articles regarding a special need. Sometimes, it can be comforting to read a blog written by a parent about the personal side of parenting a child who has a special need. Here are a few interesting ones to explore. Parents can get online and quickly look up symptoms, recommended diets, help with IEPs, and news about health insurance coverage for their child’s special needs. What about if all you want is some conformation that your … Continue reading →

Arbaclofen May Help Symptoms of Fragile X Syndrome

Arbaclofen is a drug that has not yet been approved by the FDA. It appears to treat social withdrawal symptoms in people who have Fragile X Syndrome. There is hope that perhaps this drug could also help people who have autism with social difficulties. Arbaclofen is also called STX209. It is the first drug that is designed to treat one of the symptoms of Fragile X Syndrome. More specifically, arbaclofen helps with the social withdrawal that many children who have Fragile X Syndrome experience. Fragile X Syndrome is a genetic condition resulting from a chromosomal abnormality. It results in an … Continue reading →

Teen With Down Syndrome Treated Badly by Airlines

A family from California had not one, but two, airline companies give them problems specifically because their teenage son had Down Syndrome. American Airlines and United both need to improve their worker’s understanding of the Americans with Disabilities Act. Airlines are notoriously unfriendly to parents who have small children traveling with them. It’s unfair, and unkind, and parents should not have to tolerate the “dirty looks” that they receive from other passengers – and airline workers – just because their baby is crying. Everyone knows that babies have a tendency to cry. It’s normal! Workers at American Airlines and United … Continue reading →

Special Needs Blog Week in Review – May 20 – 26, 2012

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Each week, the Special Needs Blog Week in Review gives you a quick summary of all of the blogs that appeared here in the past seven days. This makes it easier for you to find the blogs you missed and the ones that you didn’t have time to read when they first went up. The Special Needs Podcast Roundup went up on May 21, 2012. This week, I’d like to point out an episode of CNN’s Sanjay Gupta, MD that was released on May 14, 2012. The episode is called “Should We Diagnose Kids Pre-Psychotic?” Dr. Gupta discusses the changes … Continue reading →

Special Needs Blog Week in Review – May 6 – 12, 2012

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Once a week, the Special Needs Blog Week in Review gives you a quick summary of all of the blogs that appeared here in the past seven days. It is an easy way to find the blogs that you might have wanted to read, but, didn’t end up having time for when they first appeared. What did you miss this week? The Special Needs Podcast Roundup went up on May 7, 2012. This week, I’d like to point out an episode of “Hold the Gluten”. The episode is called “Celiac Awareness Month”. One host shares her experience of being on … Continue reading →

Asperger Syndrome Eliminated from DSM-5

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The latest round of cuts to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders includes the removal of Asperger Syndrome, (as well as some other disorders). Comments about this change will be accumulated until June 15, 2012. It is expected that the DSM-5 will be published in May of 2013. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, (or DSM) is a huge catalog of symptoms that can be used by doctors and by psychiatrists around the world to properly diagnose a person with a mental illness. The DSM is not set in stone. Instead, it is designed to have … Continue reading →