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Stigmatization By Another Dance Team
An anonymous poster alerted me to Chicago’s Robert Morris University dance team and their recent 8th place finish in a dance competition. Their costumes? You guessed it. Straight jackets. (Update 3/14/11: here’s the cached version of the story and picture, as it has dissappeared from the live site) I can’t believe we’re seeing this again,…
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Parents of Children with Bipolar Disorder and Childhood Onset Schizophrenia Tell Common Stories
I’ll never forget the day my son’s therapist told me he needed to be hospitalized. He was 11 years old and had spent his entire life vacillating between extreme happiness and extreme rage. He heard voices and saw things no one else could. Pediatricians and neurologists and developmental specialists had told us he was autistic. …
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Ten Minutes for Mom
I called my doctor last Monday morning and got his answering machine. Most people who don’t have urgent care near them and aren’t sick enough for the emergency room wait with scrapes and sniffles and coughs over the weekend to see their primary care doctor on Monday. So I wasn’t surprised I had to leave…
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March Love Drop – Katie
Last month the Love Drop Team raised over $13,000 (and 3 iPads!) to help two little boys with autism receive a service dog. They were beyond touched, and we did this in only 1 month – that’s it. Everyone came together and gave a few bucks each to impact one family’s life. If you were a part…
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Really Nice Weekend
Tim was struggling with his voices last week. Last Monday he got agitated over something seemingly small, and put his hands around a therapist’s neck as if to strangle them. He was about to grip when they said he crumpled to the floor, sobbing, hands on his head, complaining that they won’t go away. His…
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It Starts With Us
I have been following a Twitter account for a few weeks now without really knowing what it was all about. Today I took some time to find out, and I literally broke into tears when I read about this amazing cause’s mission and what it’s doing for ordinary people who just need a little lift.…
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Here We Go Again
Today on ABC News’ website, there is an article entitled, “Physicians: Prescribing Less May Improve Outcomes,” by Stefan Kruszewski, M.D. In his article, he states that doctors just prescribe ADD meds because they don’t bother to check for chronic marijuana or other drug use. That in the past, doctors prescribed meds for “disorders” like homosexuality…
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Constantly Trying to Remember That We’re Not Alone
I’m watching the Oprah Show dated February 18th, with Laurie and her son Zach. Laurie says, right off the bat, she knew something was wrong, right off the bat. Zach raged out of control. He was a threat to his family and classmates. He brandished a knife at his mom. He was so violent with…
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Pooch Therapy
I have four dogs (here are three of them, snoozing). Rosie is a 10+ year old Chocolate English Labrador. Lola is a seven year old Chihuahua & Rat Terrier mix (not pictured). Sydney is a two year old Silky Terrier mix, and Chloe is a two year old Goldendoodle. I didn’t intend to have four dogs. Lola…