What if the older child your family is considering adopting, smokes? Will you allow the child to continue smoking after being placed in your home? Will you insist the child quit smoking or refuse to pursue the adoption?

We had a 15-year-old girl come to live with us and she stayed for nearly two years, even though originally, it was supposed to be for only a few days. We found out the day after she arrived that she was a smoker. Not only are none of our family members smokers, but we have children with asthma, so we’ve never allowed anyone... more

If something smells good, it probably tastes good too, right? It seems like a logical assumption, especially for a young child or even an older special needs child. That may be why several young children have licked the hand sanitizer off from their hands, after an adult placed it there, instead of just rubbing it in, to disinfect their hands. Only, the adults didn’t realize the children had eaten the hand sanitizer, until they figured it out, after the children became extremely ill.

The children were found to be severely lethargic,... more

I had to re-read this because I couldn’t believe my eyes – an Emory University student’s mother calling a Wall Street firm to reconsider her child’s rejected internship? And this was after the student had missed a sitdown session and canceled a phone interview.

Today’s Atlanta Journal Constitution enumerates the hyper-hovering of baby boomer parents over their offspring. It cites examples of parents attending job... more

Last night I sat in a room full of hopeful, yet battle-weary parents. I felt completely at home. A couple hundred parents of special needs children had gathered to hear the Georgia Department of Education’s information on how they plan to implement the recently passed Senate Bill 10, Vouchers for Special Needs Students. The line to ask questions of the “Associate Superintendent of Innovative Education” was a mile long. (Side note here: This gal has... more

I know something else that could help to explain how Cho Seung-Hu developed into the totally detached cold-blooded killer he was last Monday. Nancy, over on Reactive Attachment Disorder blog is addressing it as well. And on the listserves of those parenting traumatized children, parents are speculating the way the parents of autistic children are speculating…could it be that Cho had attachment disorder?

Hmmm…the evidence isn’t there, yet. So the theory is just that, a theory. But the one big difference between attachment disorder or borderline personality disorder and other... more

Some news sources are reporting that the Virginia Tech killer, Cho Seung-Hu, was diagnosed with autism. The source of this information appears to be a great-aunt who lives in Korea and hasn’t seen Cho for several years. The thought of all this makes my head spin.

First off, autism doesn’t account for the sociopathic, paranoid behaviors. One thing we as parents of special kids need to make crystal clear…children with autism are NOT killers just by virtue of being autistic. Children with autism have major communication and social impairments as a result... more

In my current cynical state, few things can bring me to tears. While I’m watching with amazement and horror at the Virginia Tech tragedy, I have to admit those reports in this morning’s paper did not bring a tear to my eyes the way this one did: Friends Make Teen Feel Like Royalty. Out of South Georgia, a place I had long thought of as stereotypically backward when it came to special needs students (Sorry Cindy on Older... more

Don’t you just love how the research to show how harmful a product can be is done years after a product has been in use? Polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs have been in use since the 1970s. This chemical is a flame retardant and it is present in your home in your TV, your computer, your toaster and your couch. It was a great idea, in theory, to reduce the flammability of common household equipment and thus reduce house fires and ultimately human fatalities that can result from house fires.

The big problem is PBDEs don't... more

Sometimes we don’t think to show respect to children or value their ideas. I thought this article was a good reminder to us to never underestimate the power of a child’s mind. It seems that two fourteen year old school girls with a science project to complete decided to compare the vitamin C levels in ready to drink products. Their hypothesis: the cheaper brands were less healthy. So their original goal was to prove that the more expensive Ribena brand was healthier and to support the company’s claim that their product contained more vitamin... more

(No, I don’t mean the doll!) Today I "met" amazing Amanda Baggs, a 26-year-old woman with severe autism (considered low functioning) who has filmed and edited the You Tube video you see here.

I suspect that if you spend a little time with Amanda, as I did this morning, watching her video and the CNN newscast about her, as well as reading her writing, you will not only be amazed by Amanda, but amazed by how Amanda gives you hope and raises doubt in your mind at the same time.

For... more