My Baby Cried Louder than Science

August 3, 2011January 31, 2022 by Jen Myers

Jennifer Byde Myers www.jennyalice.com In our family, we make medical decisions using science, facts, and data, and we believe in keeping our children healthy, so we vaccinate. I have never thought that vaccines caused my son to be autistic. Except for that one time. Lucy was a perfect baby; not that she never cried, or blew out a diaper, but she held her perfect little round head up, and rolled over on time, and she just looked. so. perfect. When she was four months old I took her for her routine vaccinations. She was in the 90th percentile for height, the 75th for weight…right on track, and the nurse gave her 3 shots: HIB, Pneumococcal Prevnar 7, and inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) She got little round bandages stuck to her little chubby leg. She scrunched up her face to cry and I nursed her a bit, and tucked her back…

Disability

For Physicians: 10 Things You Can Do To Help Families With Children Affected By Autism or Developmental Delays

February 16, 2011January 31, 2022 by Liz Ditz

Dr_Som www.pensivepediatrician.com/ This is a follow up to a previous post, Who Wins When Parents Spank? at the Pensive Pediatrician I certainly do not mean to trivialize the behavior issues that erupt as typical children develop, but the problems of atypical kids are more difficult and less likely to be fully addressed by general pediatricians, family practice physicians, and society at large. The 10 things pediatricians and family practice physicians can do to help families affected by autism or other developmental delays in their in their practices: 1. Understand the ABCs of behavior A= Antecedent = What happened immediately before the behavior? B= Behavior = A description of the behavior (not “he got angry”) C= Consequences = How did the parent or teacher respond and/or what kind of reinforcement did the child receive? For example, when David, my autistic son, was three, every time I fastened or unfastened his car…

Disability

Arbitrary Normality

August 2, 2010January 31, 2022 by Shannon Des Roches Rosa

Dr. Rob Lamberts distractible.org I’ve been practicing for sixteen years now, doing both internal medicine and pediatrics. One of the joys of that is watching kids under my care grow up and not having to give up their care just because they get older. The spectrum is wide, with some kids growing up in “normal” families with “normal lives,” others in “abnormal” families, and yet others with inherently “abnormal” lives due to illness or disability. But the kids aren’t the only thing that has changed over the past sixteen years, their doctor has changed as well. My comfort zones have widened, not getting rattled by “abnormal” as I once did. I used to feel uncomfortable with the mentally and emotionally disabled, now I am not. I used to feel sorry for parents with “abnormal” children. I used to feel bad for kids who were “abnormal;” I still do now, but…