Last Week’s Top Posts: Thoughts on Traveling and Take Care of Yourselves

I suppose it’s not surprising that the story of an autistic toddler and his mother being removed from an airplane got so much attention last week. Airplane is travel is neither so friendly nor so fun (or affordable) for anyone these days. The story of Jarret Farrell really home with me because, a couple of days before, Charlie and I had had our own difficult traveling moment.

There’s no plans of Charlie having to fly anywhere till December when we go to visit my family in California (already bought the tickets—-I like to fly on red eyes or very early with Charlie so he’s very likely to sleep, and non-stop is a sine qua non). So our trips will be made possible courtesy of the usual, though with gas here in NJ hovering just under $4/gallon (I know it could be worse; my parents are hanging on to Honda they’ve had before Jim and I got married because it gets really really good gas mileage), we’ve been less inclined to hop in the black car for random driving outings. But there are trains and subways since we’re in the NY metropolitan area and, of course, bikes.

I wanted to thank everyone who left good wishes to Jim about his back injury. He had an MRI on Thursday morning and we’re awaiting another visit with the doctor, and I’ve been reading about back pain, surgery, long-term treatment. It’s all been a reminder to Jim and me that, while Charlie is our number one focus, taking care of our not-getting-younger selves is part of what’s necessary, if too often overlooked. Just this past week I finally took myself in for some medical appointments that are routine but necessary: How can we be caretakers if we don’t take care of ourselves, too?

• Nutraceuticals for Autism?
  A company announces plans to develop a line of “nutraceuticals” specifically for autistic children and children with “related neurodevelopmental challenges”—-no one’s objecting to giving kids vitamins (and some helpful comments about vitamins and given them), though not sure if these “nutraceuticals” are the ones needed.
• Rapamycin Reverses Learning and Memory Deficits in Mice
  Researches give mice rapamycin, a drug that has been approved by the FDA to fight tissue rejection following organ transplants, and see their learning and memory deficits reversed.
• Autism Genes: Approaching a New Neurobiology
  Advances in DNA technology and in the understanding of autism have enabled scientists to use genotype and phenotype information together for find out more about autism; more here.
• You Know You’re a Parent When….
  —you’re driving home fast as you can in the right lane because your exit is coming up and there’s a semi tailing you and from the backseat comes a loud hacking sound…….
• Autistic student jumps in front of tram after cancelled school trip
  17-year-old Jonathon Howarth was so disappointed about a cancelled school trip that he walked out of his college and jumped in front of a tram in Manchester city centre.
• The Very Unfriendly Skies
  2 year old Jarret Farrell and his mother, Janice Farrell, are removed from an American Eagle flight at the Raleigh-Durham (NC) airport..
• On Being Different or, Kung Fu Panda!
  About a certain different-looking-and-being, disruptive-behaving, smelling-funny, yowly individual: Po!
• Disability Dolls
  Are disability dolls a “’blessing or a sick joke’“?
• Dysregulation of MicroRNAs and Autism
  A new study suggests that microRNAs (miRNAs)——a type of RNA (ribonucleic action), which is involved in protein synthesis—–may play a role in the development of autism.
• Children of the Stars: Autism in China
  A new documentary, Children of the Stars, tells the story of the family of Feng Jia Wei, who is 5 years old and autistic and lives in China.