Watching my children hurt is one of the hardest things for me as a parent. There are moments where I am completely powerless to take their pain away. I can still recount many of them. My son has an undiagnosed neuromuscular disease, which has meant many scary and painful medical tests. My daughter has a benign rapid heartbeat condition, which is frightening when it kicks in at 200 BPM. Her eyes...
Have you ever walked up to a Coke machine only to find Pepsi products, bottled water, or Gatorade? What is going on when this happens? No one would drive up to a Chevrolet car dealership and call it a Ford lot. But we do that with Coke machines. Why? Regardless of the type or brand of beverage in the vending machine, it is commonly called a Coke machine. Culturally, the brand become so strongly...
I was a cocky six-year-old. I didn’t know it. I didn’t mean to be. But I was. One particular day I had beaten my friend at wiffleball. We went to my house for a snack, and I made a pompous announcement that went something like, “Well, my team sure is feeling pretty good about winning that game!” My mom asked, “How do you think saying that makes Christopher feel?” Her question stopped me in my...
One of the first things a woman does when she gets a positive pregnancy test is to calculate the due date. Almost immediately, she starts looking ahead. Will this baby arrive in the spring along with the daffodils or in the fall alongside crimson leaves? Will this be a summer baby wearing sleeveless onesies, their bare limbs on display, or will this baby arrive just in time to be an extra special...
Autism spectrum disorder is one of several neurodevelopmental disorders, a group of conditions with their onset early in childhood. The disorder is “characterized by developmental deficits or differences in brain processes that produce impairments of personal, social, academic, or occupational functioning,” as described by the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5-TR).1...
