azad

As a Parent, I get frustrated, feel pain, disappointment and anger when people label my children or think/speak before really understanding who they are. 28 THINGS PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH AUTISM WANT YOU TO KNOW *So many people have the wrong idea or a misconception about children with Autism. I think sometimes it’s worse with kids that are high functioning, because they are VERY border-line. Which is why it’s called a spectrum. It’s huge: from low-end to high-end. A range of levels. Each child is different. No two children are the same. You meet one child with Autism, you’ve met one child with Autism. I know this first hand because the twins- Zion and Ziah are vastly different when it comes to where they stand on the spectrum. I asked several of my friends from my Autism Support Group- The Starfish Throwers what they would want others to know about their child with Autism. This is what we came up with- 28 Things Parents of Children with Autism Want You to Know He is ...

A few weeks ago, when I walked into the bathroom at work, I was greeted by sticky notes all over the mirror. They bore messages like "Good Morning Gorgeous! Go Get 'Em!" and "You Are Good Enough. Accept Yourself." and "Smile!" and "Hello, Lovely!" and many more. Even though I know that whoever put up those notes wasn't thinking of me, and probably doesn't even know me, I felt it was a personal message to me that I desperately needed to hear. I haven't felt very good lately. A major surgery will definitely do that to a girl. I'm exhausted. I can barely drag myself out of bed in the morning, and since getting ready one-armed is so difficult, I go to work feeling a little self-conscious and just not quite put together. Then there is the added fun of being newly diagnosed with Lyme disease and just beginning treatment, which makes me feel even worse. And I know I have a long road ahead of me with both my shoulder rehab and th...

The rheumatoid arthritis diet can alleviate much of the intolerable effects of rheumatism. If you have been suffering from this health concern, stop taking too many pills which would only temporarily stop the pain inflammation. The worse part is that being too dependent on meds might eventually lead to other side effects. The best thing to do is to make some changes in your diet. The adjustments are just minimal but the positive effects are truly impressive. Knowing the different types of food to eat and those which should be avoided can do miracles in solving your rheumatoid pain. That is because the rheumatoid arthritis diet will provide the vitamins and nutrients which enhance the overall health of your body. At the same time, avoiding the foods which promote joint pain, swelling and fatigue will enable you to move around more freely. Fruits Fruits are generally packed with a lot of nutrients and vitamins that are really useful for improving overall health. But when it comes t...

Anxiety is unpredictable, confusing and intrusive. It’s tough. Not just for the people who have it but also for the people who love them. If you are one of those people, you would know too well that the second hand experience of anxiety feels bad enough – you’d do anything to make it better for the one going through it. We all have our ‘stuff’ – the things that we struggle with. Ultimately, they are the things that will make us braver, wiser, stronger, more compassionate and better humans. It’s just the way it works. The difference with anxiety is that the struggle is more visible. Whether we struggle with anxiety, confidence, body image – whatever – there are things that we all need to make the world a little bit safer, a little bit more predictable, a little less scary. We all have our list. When someone you love has anxiety, their list is likely to look at little like this: It’s no biggie. So don’t act like it is. In the thick of an anxiety attack nothing will make sense, s...

Fibromyalgia is a condition that causes chronic pain and inflammation of muscles.  This pain can be debilitating, as it can rage from mild to moderate to severe.  Those who have fibromyalgia have a variety of symptoms and related health issues. Symptoms of fibromyalgia include pain in the neck, shoulders, hips, and other areas.  Painful muscles may prevent people from regular activity and can cause depression and anxiety from increased stress levels. People with fibromyalgia have a lot of chronic pain that can be consistent over months or years.  Because of this chronic pain, people are easily tired and may have a hard time getting through the day’s activities without a nap or several rest periods. This pain can lead to depression and isolation, as people may feel too exhausted to go out or to work.  This lack of energy can lead to isolation and loneliness if the person is too exhausted to maintain social events and other engagements.  Lack of sleep d...

CHICAGO — A brain region controlling whether we feel happy or sad, as well as addiction, is remodeled by chronic pain, reports a new Northwestern Medicine study. And in a significant breakthrough for the millions of Americans suffering from chronic pain, scientists have developed a new treatment strategy that restores this region and dramatically lessens pain symptoms in an animal model.The new treatment combines two FDA-approved drugs: a Parkinson’s drug, L-dopa, and a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug. The combined drugs target brain circuits in the nucleus accumbens and completely eliminate chronic pain behavior when administered to rodents with chronic pain. The key is administering the drugs together and shortly after an injury. As a result of the study’s findings, the scientists are pursuing a clinical trial. The treatment has the potential to prevent chronic pain if used early enough after injury, the scientists said. The study was published December 21 in Nature Neuro...

Dyslexia. It’s a word many parents dread when they hear it in reference to their own children. What their “lay” minds take in is that they have a child who will face struggles throughout his/her schooling and in life. Dyslexia never goes away. There is no medication to mitigate the symptoms; worse, it is an invisible disability which (if undiagnosed) subjects the sufferer to lots of misunderstanding and criticism for things over which s/he has not control. As parents research their child’s dyslexia and receive information from the experts, they come to understand many things that they want others to understand as well. Here’s 20 of them. 1. THEY READ DIFFERENTLY. The brain anatomy of a dyslexic child is different. The area that understands language operates differently than the average individual’s. The brain has to translate symbols on the page of a book (for example) into sounds. The sounds then have to be combined to make meaningful words. The parts of the brain that do...