Where My Son LivesWritten by Cass Hope
I watch as my son’s eyes glaze over and I know that for a little while at least I have lost him to splendor of his world. My son suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome and it has taken us as parents a long time to accept that there are certain things that my son does that we will never really understand. When he travels around house doing what doctors call “stiming” he looks at us like we are strange ones that don’t do this that we don not require such activities in order to survive. “Stiming” is self-stimulation, which can be opening and closing window blinds for extended periods of time, watching tap drip or carrying around a shoe. In my son’s case it is flicking a soft cloth right in front of his eyes, which is visual stimulation. Sometimes it calms him and other times it gets him all excited but it is as necessary to his existence as air is. When he is stiming he leaves our world and goes into his. I’ve asked him what makes his different and he says in his world he is popular, understood and feels happy. It saddens me that this world cannot offer that to him. I knew that there was something wrong at a very early age but it took me years to convince doctors. I was just another mother over reacting to what was perfectly normal. As an infant he was colic and it wasn’t only at certain times it was 24hrs a day. The first time I slept through night was when I purchased a jolly jumper for him and he basically jumped himself to sleep. I curled up around bottom of him and we stayed there for 5 hrs. To this day sleeping is still a big problem for him. As my son grew there was more and more strange behavior. He never played with toys or with other children for that matter. He walked on his tiptoe never flat foot. He was always flapping his hands and would spend long hours playing with a pen that made a clicking noise. If he became overly agitated I would put on high-heeled shoes and clicking sound of heels on floor would calm him. As long as he was awake he was either rocking or bouncing. We had to put his high chair up against a wall so he wouldn’t tip it over he rocked so hard. Once my son reached age of 4 his behavior turned aggressive and out of control. It was a nightmare of hospitals and doctors and he became a guinea pig for various medications. Over course of a few years he was diagnosed with various disorders such as Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD), tourette syndrome, obsessive compulsive disorder and Non Verbal Learning Disability (NLD). Finally at age of 9 he was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. Asperger’s Syndrome is part of a sub group which is part of a much larger category called Autistic Spectrum Disorders or Pervasive Developmental Disorders (PDD). Asperger’s Syndrome (or Asperger’s Disorder) is a developmental, neurological disorder characterized by severe impairment in social development, obsessive traits causing repetitive patterns of behavior and very narrow and focused interests. They are usually very clumsy and have awkward movements. Unlike with Autism, children with Asperger’s show no delays in development of language skills. Once we actually knew what was wrong with my son a whole new avenue of opportunity opened up for us. As a mother first thing I did was research. I spent hours with my nose in a book or staring at computer screen. The one piece of hope that I found in almost all of my research was that with treatment children with Asperger’s can grow up to have fulfilling lives as adults. Of course earlier they receive treatment higher rate of success but my son only started receiving real treatment when he was 11 and we have still seen great improvement.
| | Easy Steps to Prevent MesotheliomaWritten by Amie Perlowski
Mesothelioma is a rare cancer that attacks body's mesothelial cells around organs. The mesothelium provides a protective membranous lining for internal organs and allows moving organs (i.e. heart and lungs) to glide easily against adjacent structures. The names of three regions of mesothelial cells that provide protective coating are 1) pleura, sac which surrounds lungs; 2) peritoneum, lining which protects abdominal cavity; and 3) pericardium, sac which surrounds heart. Three different types of mesothelioma cancer attack these three different regions. Pleural mesothelioma: A type of lung cancer which attacks pleura surrounding lungs, this is most common type of mesothelioma, affecting approximately two-thirds of all mesothelioma patients. Symptoms include horseness, fever, blood in sputum, swollen arms and face, coughing, loss of weight, difficulty breathing, chest pain, weak muscles, and reduced tactile sensitivity. Peritoneal mesothelioma: A cancer of abdomen which attacks peritoneum lining abdominal cavity. This affects approximately one-third of all mesothelioma patients. Symptoms include abdominal bloating, impaired bowl function, fever, swollen feet, and nausea. Pericardial mesothelioma: This form of mesothelioma which attacks pericardium surrounding heart is extremely rare. Symptoms include chest pain, dyspnea, cough, and palpitations. Mesothelioma has been linked to asbestos exposure. Asbestos is a type of building material used in thermal insulation products and ceiling tiles. In United States, asbestos usage peaked during 1950s - 1970s. During late 1960s, concerns over health consequences of asbestos exposure began to arise, thereby decreasing amount of asbestos manufactured in next two decades. By 1980s, a new industry of asbestos abatement began to flourish. But according to United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), as many as 733,000 schools and public buildings still contain asbestos.
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