Enjoying this blog? Check out the rest of the Health & Wellness Channel 
It’s Charlie’s 11th birthday today. I had asked his teacher about bringing in a cake and she said that would be great, but could we do it on May 14th, as she was planning to be at an autism conference on the 15th? Sure I said and made plans to leave early on Wednesday so […]
A new study in the May 15th Biological Psychiatry has found genetic links to the “impaired social behaviors” of autistic children. Researchers from Yale University studied six genes “known to be involved in maternal and affiliative behaviors”; they suggest that two neurohormones which are linked to affiliative behaviors in animals, prolactin and oxytocin, are linked […]
Sunday’s New York Times had an article about “Mad Pride”: More people with “severe forms of mental illness such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder” are now speaking out about “their demons”:
About 5.7 million Americans over 18 have bipolar disorder, which is classified as a mood disorder, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. Another […]
Tomorrow brings yet another chapter in the annals of the U.S. “Vaccine Court.” Nearly 4900 families have filed claims with the U.S. Court of Claims alleging that vaccines caused autism and/or other neurological problems in their children. Two 10-year-old autistic boys, William Mead and Jordan King, from Portland, Oregon, will serve as the test […]
Hope you got the perfect gift for Mother’s Day—-Margaret Lenahan has. Her 16-year-old son, James, was diagnosed with autism around the time that he turned two; today, he is a junior in the Ryken program for special needs students at Xaverian High School in Brooklyn, and a member of the varsity B basketball team for […]
First, Happy Mother’s Day to every mother reading this and many more (my own included, of course)!
An essay by Robert Hughes in today’s Chicago Tribune is entitled What Autism Means to a Father and much of what he says strikes home with me as a parent. Hughes captures how a parent feels as he or […]
“In psychology, I’m starting to get the weary feeling that everything gives you mental illness,” quips Williams Saletan in the May 7th Slate on Human Nature. Saletan references the recent study which found that parents who have psychiatric disorders are doubly at risk to have an autistic child (while also citing another study according to […]
The decision to put an autistic child on medication is never easy for a parent to think about. When the medications in question are antipsychotics (like Risperdal) and antidepressants (like Zoloft), and when the child is disabled and has little or no language to explain how he feels while on the meds, a parent has […]
Last fall, I wrote about our difficulties getting swimtime in for Charlie at our YMCA pool in the later afternoon/early evenings, the time when he’s most ready to go. Our YMCA has three pools, two of which seem to be perpetually in use for the swim teams’ practices, adult lap swimming, or lessons. The third […]
It was about three years ago as Charlie was turning eight that I stopped carrying him. He was always big for his age and I developed a bit of a muscle in my left arm from holding him, balanced on my hip—-he weighs as much or more than me now and the babe-in-arms days are […]
Autism mother gets on her soapbox.
Written by Kristina Chew, PhD [email] for b5media.
A Dozen Steps
A Hearty Life
Alzheimer's Notes
Astronomy Buff
Autism Vox
Baldiness
Breaking the Mirror
Breastfeeding 1-2-3
Cancer Commentary
Daily Tomorrow
Diabetes Notes
Eating Fabulous
Fertility Notes
Genetics & Health
Health and Men
Healthbolt
Help My Hurt
Kids Health Notes
Lively Women
Mental Health Notes
Pink Ribbon Review
Tales of CFS
Veggie Chic
Weighting Line
Recent Comments