Saturday, March 21, 2009
Medical board reaches decision on accused pediatrician
Dr. Melvin Levine, pediatrician and author of A Mind at a Time, has agreed to never again practice medicine following a series of complaints and accusations that he molested patients. He will be allowed to continue to write and lecture.
Thursday, March 19, 2009
It's a really big hill, revisited
A while back -- two years ago, now that I think about it, I wrote a post called "It's a Really Big Hill." I was thinking about how people do not grasp what Origami is all about until they have had a one-on-one interaction with him. Here is an excerpt from what I wrote:
In general, it does not take anyone very long to notice that O is "different," but very few people are able to grasp that we are dealing with another degree of "different."
When I tell people that we bought a house with a huge sledding hill in the back yard, they will nod and say something like "Oh, yes, our kids like to sled in the back yard, too." "No, really," I will respond, "You can ski down this thing, it is huge." "Oh yes, we know what you mean," they say. Then they come to our house. "Whoa! That hill is huge!! I had no idea you meant it was that big! How on earth do you mow it?" Seeing is believing, I suppose.
In the same way, we talk to people who will say, "Oh, yes, O seems smart, but don't they have programs for that in school? How far ahead could he be?" Well. There is no good way to quantify Origami's needs without coming across as a jackass, so in general we do not even try. The short answer, though, is: pretty darn far ahead. The longer answer might be more along the lines of, "Well, why don't you come on over and try to mow our back yard?"
I found myself thinking about this again recently, as I did sprints up the hill as part of my speedwork. I guess that oxygen deprivation shook something loose in my brain.
My son's tics have worsened dramatically in the last several months; this is to be expected at his age, but expecting the tics to get worse has not made them easier to handle. No parent wants to see his or her child in pain; it should be obvious to any observer that my son's tics cause him a great deal of pain.
I have written about how severe Origami's tics are. I have talked to friends and relatives about how severe Origami's tics are. Everyone has been wonderfully sympathetic and supportive. But I really do not think anyone understood just what I meant by "severe" until I shared video of O's tics. The extreme always makes an impression -- or is that, seeing is believing?
Let me put it this way: When Origami saw what his major tics look like, he was upset. He deals with the pain and the anxiety all the time, but he had no idea what the rest of the world sees when he tics.
I am not going to share video of Origami's tics on a public blog. Instead, I will share a photo of O enjoying the first snow of the season in our back yard. It's a really big hill, trust me -- or see for yourself.
In general, it does not take anyone very long to notice that O is "different," but very few people are able to grasp that we are dealing with another degree of "different."
When I tell people that we bought a house with a huge sledding hill in the back yard, they will nod and say something like "Oh, yes, our kids like to sled in the back yard, too." "No, really," I will respond, "You can ski down this thing, it is huge." "Oh yes, we know what you mean," they say. Then they come to our house. "Whoa! That hill is huge!! I had no idea you meant it was that big! How on earth do you mow it?" Seeing is believing, I suppose.
In the same way, we talk to people who will say, "Oh, yes, O seems smart, but don't they have programs for that in school? How far ahead could he be?" Well. There is no good way to quantify Origami's needs without coming across as a jackass, so in general we do not even try. The short answer, though, is: pretty darn far ahead. The longer answer might be more along the lines of, "Well, why don't you come on over and try to mow our back yard?"
I found myself thinking about this again recently, as I did sprints up the hill as part of my speedwork. I guess that oxygen deprivation shook something loose in my brain.
My son's tics have worsened dramatically in the last several months; this is to be expected at his age, but expecting the tics to get worse has not made them easier to handle. No parent wants to see his or her child in pain; it should be obvious to any observer that my son's tics cause him a great deal of pain.
I have written about how severe Origami's tics are. I have talked to friends and relatives about how severe Origami's tics are. Everyone has been wonderfully sympathetic and supportive. But I really do not think anyone understood just what I meant by "severe" until I shared video of O's tics. The extreme always makes an impression -- or is that, seeing is believing?
Let me put it this way: When Origami saw what his major tics look like, he was upset. He deals with the pain and the anxiety all the time, but he had no idea what the rest of the world sees when he tics.
I am not going to share video of Origami's tics on a public blog. Instead, I will share a photo of O enjoying the first snow of the season in our back yard. It's a really big hill, trust me -- or see for yourself.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Is Provigil addictive?
A new paper in JAMA discusses the potential for abuse of modafinil (Provigil).
Monday, March 16, 2009
"What's a smart guy like me doing in a bar like this?"
An article I stumbled across on Yahoo proves to be less asinine than I feared. In brief: an author/"expert" apparently declared that the higher one's IQ is, the more difficult it is to date. The author of the piece I linked to above politely calls bullshit on this theory.
That's about it, really; this is not an article of substance. The topic could spark quite a debate, though. I am sure that I know people who would side with the author/expert/hypnotherapist, and I am equally sure that I know people who would claim there is no correlation between dating failure and IQ. I personally think it might be a matter of social skills or "emotional intelligence" more than IQ score.
That's about it, really; this is not an article of substance. The topic could spark quite a debate, though. I am sure that I know people who would side with the author/expert/hypnotherapist, and I am equally sure that I know people who would claim there is no correlation between dating failure and IQ. I personally think it might be a matter of social skills or "emotional intelligence" more than IQ score.
Saturday, March 7, 2009
Deep Brain Stimulation to treat OCD?
Medtronic's Reclaim receives FDA approval for use in treatment of OCD where drugs and therapy do not work. Deep Brain Stimulation has been used in the past to treat movement disorders, but this is the first time it has been approved for treatment of a psychiatric disorder.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
Missouri legislature considers mandatory insurance coverage for autism
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090305/ap_on_re_us/autism_coverage
I am having a difficult time understanding how someone could be opposed to this.
I am having a difficult time understanding how someone could be opposed to this.
Sunday, March 1, 2009
apologies
My apologies to those of you who pop in here, looking for new posts. As winter drags on, so do I. I will try to post new and exciting tidbits soon....
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