Thursday, September 27, 2007
I'm not sure how else to put this but...
today, Terrence and I were on the front porch talking business, until something in the road caught his eye: running towards us was....a flock of squirrels. It was a strange, almost transcendent experience, seeing these 5 grey squirrels, 4 were babies, running towards us. I wasn't sure whether to run into the house screaming, or allow them to fashion a dress for me for the upcoming ball (that was a Cinderella reference). When the mother jumped, her babies would jump. When she waved her tail about, so would her babies. When she crawled up the tree trunk, her babies followed her, one by one, so we could see this spiral of squirrels winding up the tree. And there they stayed. I waited for them to come down and do some other awe-inspiring, synchronized act. But they stayed in the tree, where their mother scolded them for running in front of cars. I've seen ducklings paddling closely behind their mother. But never squirrels. It was truly awesome.
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Interesting facts about where I live (and have lived)...
Courtesy of Wikipedia...
*Due to the political and economic differences between Northern Virginia and the rest of the commonwealth, some secessionist sentiments have emerged with those persons wishing that the area could become the separate state of "North Virginia."
*Since the 2000 census, both Loudoun and Fairfax counties are the top two large Highest-income counties in the United States by median household income.
*Arlington is center of the largest Bolivian community in North America (mostly immigrants from Cochabamba).
*Originally part of the District of Columbia, the land now comprising the county was retroceded to Virginia in a July 9, 1846 act of Congress that took effect in 1847.
*Arlington was ranked as the most educated city (percentage of residents with graduate degrees) in 2006 by CNN Money.
*Arlington is the smallest self-governing county in the United States.
*Northern Virginia is also home to one of the largest African immigrant populations in America, with significant numbers of Nigerians, Ethiopians, Eritreans, Somalians, and Ghanaians.
*Northern Virginia suffers from severe road congestion. The congestion consistently ranks with Los Angeles and San Francisco, California as one of the worst three areas in the nation. Workers from these outlying counties face daily commutes that exceed well over an hour each way.
*Allen's sole wins in Northern Virginia were the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, winning the latter two only by the razor-thin margins of 298 votes and 47 votes, respectively.
*Manassas gained notoriety in 1993 as the hometown of John and Lorena Bobbitt, even though they resided outside the city and closer to the city of Manassas Park.[1] Their separate trials (John Wayne Bobbitt's for rape, Lorena Bobbitt's for malicious wounding) occurred at the Prince William County courthouse, which is in the city of Manassas.
*Due to the political and economic differences between Northern Virginia and the rest of the commonwealth, some secessionist sentiments have emerged with those persons wishing that the area could become the separate state of "North Virginia."
*Since the 2000 census, both Loudoun and Fairfax counties are the top two large Highest-income counties in the United States by median household income.
*Arlington is center of the largest Bolivian community in North America (mostly immigrants from Cochabamba).
*Originally part of the District of Columbia, the land now comprising the county was retroceded to Virginia in a July 9, 1846 act of Congress that took effect in 1847.
*Arlington was ranked as the most educated city (percentage of residents with graduate degrees) in 2006 by CNN Money.
*Arlington is the smallest self-governing county in the United States.
*Northern Virginia is also home to one of the largest African immigrant populations in America, with significant numbers of Nigerians, Ethiopians, Eritreans, Somalians, and Ghanaians.
*Northern Virginia suffers from severe road congestion. The congestion consistently ranks with Los Angeles and San Francisco, California as one of the worst three areas in the nation. Workers from these outlying counties face daily commutes that exceed well over an hour each way.
*Allen's sole wins in Northern Virginia were the cities of Manassas and Manassas Park, winning the latter two only by the razor-thin margins of 298 votes and 47 votes, respectively.
*Manassas gained notoriety in 1993 as the hometown of John and Lorena Bobbitt, even though they resided outside the city and closer to the city of Manassas Park.[1] Their separate trials (John Wayne Bobbitt's for rape, Lorena Bobbitt's for malicious wounding) occurred at the Prince William County courthouse, which is in the city of Manassas.
Aging parents and the disabled...
Holy shit. In the third paragraph, it reads, "The life expectancy of a Down syndrome child in the 1930s was less than 10 years. Today, it is nearly 60." Wow. This blows my mind. FS is 46. Anyway, interesting article on developmentally disabled baby boomers and their aging parents. A major issue for a mostly invisible population.
Longer life for mentally disabled brings complications
Chicago Tribune
September 23, 2007
Josephine Grabowski did not expect, at age 86, to be pulling herself precariously out of her wheelchair to change her son's soiled bedsheets.
In fact, she did not expect her son Frankie, now 48, to be alive at all. When her son was born, Grabowski's doctor informed her that "Mongoloid" children like hers did not live past their teens.
But as medicine advanced and home care improved, thousands of developmentally disabled baby boomers like Frankie Grabowski are outliving their elderly parents for the first time. The life expectancy of a Down syndrome child in the 1930s was less than 10 years. Today, it is nearly 60.
Nationally, there are 682,000 people 60 and older with developmental disabilities, and that is expected to double to 1.3 million by 2030, according to researchers at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
"It's an incredibly bleak picture," said Charlotte Cronin, executive director of the Family Support Network of Illinois, a statewide grass-roots advocacy group. "This person with significant disabilities - all they know is mom or dad. That's all they've ever known. And they can't talk, or the information they share makes no sense" to others.
For this reason, Josephine Grabowski's biggest hope today is that she outlives her son - a hope that teetered last week as she entered a hospital, suffering a bad reaction to antibiotics she took for a bladder infection. She predicts her son will fall into deep despair if she dies before he does.
"I know no matter how good the nursing home is, they won't do for him like I do," she said in a voice congested and weak from fighting a cold. "He will die from a broken heart and loneliness."
Although the doctor recommended the Grabowskis put their son into an institution, she and her late husband, Jerome, decided they would care for him in their modest home in aChicago suburb. Now, Josephine Grabowski, with severe arthritis, congestive heart failure and painful fluid buildup in her legs, is still her son's primary caretaker.
"We are looking at a terrible financial hardship for parents," said Dr. David Braddock, Coleman-Turner chair and professor in psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He was the founding head of the Department of Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "It's a very daunting thing - to have to be a caretaker when you yourself might need support.
"This is a challenge that is going to grow for older caretakers in our society as our nation ages. It's going to affect virtually all developed nations in the world."
But Josephine Grabowski said she does not regret deciding to care for Frankie herself.
Their home is dotted with lacy curtains and family portraits that point to happier times, including a shot of Frankie beaming in a suit and tie after his First Communion.
In his those days, Frankie would spend hours holding a battery-powered radio to his ear, set to a station as fond of Lawrence Welk as he was. He would giggle as he chased after plastic balls in the house. On sunny days, he would sit on the front steps and wave to neighbors.
Several afternoons each week, mother and son would drive to a McDonald's for a hamburger and fries drenched in ketchup. Frankie held court in the restaurant, shaking hands with staff and customers. At the grocery store, he would try to hug and kiss the cashiers in the check-out line.
When he napped during the day, his mother would head to her garden, where she would lose herself as she pulled weeds and tended her flowers.
"I was just a housewife," she said. "I took care of my family."
In a similar spirit, Terri Coglianese, 70, has cared for her younger brother, Charles "Titos" Sanchez, 69, ever since their parents died in the early 1960s. Sanchez, too, has Down syndrome.
"We would never put him in an institution," she said, tearing up. "He's my baby."
But his care became increasingly complicated over the years, first with the loss of sight in one eye, then after he fractured his hip in December. Sanchez must now wear diapers, he was no teeth and he is terrified of getting out of bed.
Family members say he "understands everything," but his communication skills are limited. It took his loved ones a week to realize he had a fracture because Sanchez never complained about the pain. He simply refused to walk.
For now, Sanchez remains bedridden in a nursing home in Park Ridge. Coglianese, who works full-time as a human resources administrator, plans to take him home once he regains his mobility.
"You are going to walk, right Titos?" Coglianese said softly to her brother in Spanish.
"Si!" he answered brightly.
To be sure, not all adults with disabilities face the same sort of challenges Grabowski and Sanchez face. Braddock said the vast majority of people born with Down syndrome today, assuming access to treatment, service and support, experience mild to moderate cognitive disability.
"They are able to live a productive life," he said.
But Josephine Grabowski's day-to-day life offers a glimpse of how precarious care arrangements can be - even with outside medical and social service assistance. She or a part-time nursing assistant changes Frankie Grabowski's bedsheets an average of 18 times a day. Late last fall, he developed a toothache. Unable to express what was wrong, he banged his head against the wall for hours, leaving marks. His mother arranged for him to be sedated and carried to a dental clinic by ambulance. He had to have four teeth extracted.
Still, with the help of Jenny Howard, a social worker from the Adult Down Syndrome Center at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Grabowski has come up with a plan for Frankie's care. She has signed the necessary paperwork so that her son will move to a nursing home when she dies.
Two years ago this August, Josephine had a heart attack as she walked to her bedroom one night from the washroom. An older son staying at her house was able to get her help, and today she describes her heart attack in almost-glowing terms.
"I felt peaceful," she said of her five-day stay at Our Lady of Resurrection Medical Center. "It felt so good, just sleeping. If this is the way it is when you die, I'm not scared. I'll catch up on 48 years of needing sleep."
Longer life for mentally disabled brings complications
Chicago Tribune
September 23, 2007
Josephine Grabowski did not expect, at age 86, to be pulling herself precariously out of her wheelchair to change her son's soiled bedsheets.
In fact, she did not expect her son Frankie, now 48, to be alive at all. When her son was born, Grabowski's doctor informed her that "Mongoloid" children like hers did not live past their teens.
But as medicine advanced and home care improved, thousands of developmentally disabled baby boomers like Frankie Grabowski are outliving their elderly parents for the first time. The life expectancy of a Down syndrome child in the 1930s was less than 10 years. Today, it is nearly 60.
Nationally, there are 682,000 people 60 and older with developmental disabilities, and that is expected to double to 1.3 million by 2030, according to researchers at the University of Illinois-Chicago.
"It's an incredibly bleak picture," said Charlotte Cronin, executive director of the Family Support Network of Illinois, a statewide grass-roots advocacy group. "This person with significant disabilities - all they know is mom or dad. That's all they've ever known. And they can't talk, or the information they share makes no sense" to others.
For this reason, Josephine Grabowski's biggest hope today is that she outlives her son - a hope that teetered last week as she entered a hospital, suffering a bad reaction to antibiotics she took for a bladder infection. She predicts her son will fall into deep despair if she dies before he does.
"I know no matter how good the nursing home is, they won't do for him like I do," she said in a voice congested and weak from fighting a cold. "He will die from a broken heart and loneliness."
Although the doctor recommended the Grabowskis put their son into an institution, she and her late husband, Jerome, decided they would care for him in their modest home in aChicago suburb. Now, Josephine Grabowski, with severe arthritis, congestive heart failure and painful fluid buildup in her legs, is still her son's primary caretaker.
"We are looking at a terrible financial hardship for parents," said Dr. David Braddock, Coleman-Turner chair and professor in psychiatry at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. He was the founding head of the Department of Disability and Human Development at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "It's a very daunting thing - to have to be a caretaker when you yourself might need support.
"This is a challenge that is going to grow for older caretakers in our society as our nation ages. It's going to affect virtually all developed nations in the world."
But Josephine Grabowski said she does not regret deciding to care for Frankie herself.
Their home is dotted with lacy curtains and family portraits that point to happier times, including a shot of Frankie beaming in a suit and tie after his First Communion.
In his those days, Frankie would spend hours holding a battery-powered radio to his ear, set to a station as fond of Lawrence Welk as he was. He would giggle as he chased after plastic balls in the house. On sunny days, he would sit on the front steps and wave to neighbors.
Several afternoons each week, mother and son would drive to a McDonald's for a hamburger and fries drenched in ketchup. Frankie held court in the restaurant, shaking hands with staff and customers. At the grocery store, he would try to hug and kiss the cashiers in the check-out line.
When he napped during the day, his mother would head to her garden, where she would lose herself as she pulled weeds and tended her flowers.
"I was just a housewife," she said. "I took care of my family."
In a similar spirit, Terri Coglianese, 70, has cared for her younger brother, Charles "Titos" Sanchez, 69, ever since their parents died in the early 1960s. Sanchez, too, has Down syndrome.
"We would never put him in an institution," she said, tearing up. "He's my baby."
But his care became increasingly complicated over the years, first with the loss of sight in one eye, then after he fractured his hip in December. Sanchez must now wear diapers, he was no teeth and he is terrified of getting out of bed.
Family members say he "understands everything," but his communication skills are limited. It took his loved ones a week to realize he had a fracture because Sanchez never complained about the pain. He simply refused to walk.
For now, Sanchez remains bedridden in a nursing home in Park Ridge. Coglianese, who works full-time as a human resources administrator, plans to take him home once he regains his mobility.
"You are going to walk, right Titos?" Coglianese said softly to her brother in Spanish.
"Si!" he answered brightly.
To be sure, not all adults with disabilities face the same sort of challenges Grabowski and Sanchez face. Braddock said the vast majority of people born with Down syndrome today, assuming access to treatment, service and support, experience mild to moderate cognitive disability.
"They are able to live a productive life," he said.
But Josephine Grabowski's day-to-day life offers a glimpse of how precarious care arrangements can be - even with outside medical and social service assistance. She or a part-time nursing assistant changes Frankie Grabowski's bedsheets an average of 18 times a day. Late last fall, he developed a toothache. Unable to express what was wrong, he banged his head against the wall for hours, leaving marks. His mother arranged for him to be sedated and carried to a dental clinic by ambulance. He had to have four teeth extracted.
Still, with the help of Jenny Howard, a social worker from the Adult Down Syndrome Center at Advocate Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge, Grabowski has come up with a plan for Frankie's care. She has signed the necessary paperwork so that her son will move to a nursing home when she dies.
Two years ago this August, Josephine had a heart attack as she walked to her bedroom one night from the washroom. An older son staying at her house was able to get her help, and today she describes her heart attack in almost-glowing terms.
"I felt peaceful," she said of her five-day stay at Our Lady of Resurrection Medical Center. "It felt so good, just sleeping. If this is the way it is when you die, I'm not scared. I'll catch up on 48 years of needing sleep."
Saturday, September 15, 2007
This is your brain on ADD...
So I found this book about ADD and relationships (primarily romantic, but can be applied to any relationship really) and have found it fascinating. It isn't incredibly academic - more anecdotal - but still quite insightful. As the daughter of an ADD-sufferer, and as someone with ADD tendencies and a definite ADD personality type (an ENFP looks eerily similar to someone with ADD), I found the book helpful in shedding light on the ways my actions affect others.
I guess no one really knows what causes ADD...it's still somewhat mysterious, as are most things involving the brain. But scientists know that Attention Deficit Disorder stems from some sort of neurological deficit in the prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain responsible for "executive functioning"). Neurotransmitters act as chemical 'bridges,' carrying information from one neuron to the next. If you have the right kind of neurotransmitter at the right time in the right place in the right amount, then everything hums along smoothly. If this is out of wack, your behavior is inevitably affected. When the electrical activity in your prefrontal cortex is sluggish (due to a lack of dopamine), you exhibit ADD behaviors.
Now, I have undiagnosed ADD (though my dad, a psychologist, has confirmed that I exhibit a lot of the behaviors; I've tried to develop some coping mechanisms), but I can relate to much of the stuff listed in this book. 1) Impulsivity, 2) Need for stimulation, 3) Forgetfulness, 4) Lack of organization, 5) Poor follow-through, 6)Difficulty staying on task, 7)Hyper-focused (related to the need for stimulation).
Need for stimulation is something I think I relate to the MOST. We tend to make fun of my dad for this. Whenever we try to have a conversation with him that's more than 3 sentences long, and he begins to zone off, we start waving our hands in front of his face to get him back in the "here and now." He needs multiple forms of stimulation to stay focused. And so do I, frankly, but this is manifested more in me biting my nails, cracking my knuckles, tapping my feet, doodling, twisting my hair around my finger, etc. These are some of my coping mechanisms...and they usually help.
The book says, "People with ADD want, crave, need, and absolutely have to have stimulation. They are drawn to new stimulation like the proverbial moth to the flame." Folks with ADD tend to be kinesthetic learners - they understand life better with it is interpreted through bodily experiences. My sister and my boyfriend are always saying this about me - I experience life through my senses. If there is something to smell or taste or hear or see or touch, I'm there. I'm a sucker for PDA (public displays of affection). I have to stop and smell the roses. I like watching butterflies and people's facial expressions and ants scurrying up a log. I feel almost drawn to touch soft, fluffy dogs or the big spines on a cactus leaf. I am fascinated by the slime molds in my backyard, the way they ooze when you poke them with a stick. I like climbing trees to pick the reddest apple. I revel in a good sunset, a yellow Autumn tree, a flock of birds. These are all the things life is about for me - things I can experience through my 5 senses.
My need for stimulation (which produces dopamine...mmmm) manifests itself in other ways, too. I read multiple books at once. I attempt three different tasks at the same time. I listen to music while doing paperwork. I knit while watching a movie. I doodle during meetings. I take a different route home. I delight in spontaneity and creativity and novelty. I am maybe one of the few who LOVE surprise parties. I love sending and receiving gifts or notes or emails "just because." I really feel fully myself when I travel abroad, as I am immersed in stimulation to the max (new food, culture, language, ahh!). And I feel fully myself when I am in deep, meaningful conversation with someone else, not necessarily discussing things I've already concluded but processing ideas, working through them, and sharing insights and experiences regarding those ideas.
Now, my need for stimulation isn't necessarily a bad thing. I definitely don't see it as such. In fact, it has allowed me to be a more creative, caring, intuitive, knowledgeable person. It only becomes problematic when 1) others do not realize this is my need or 2) this need is not reigned in. Without stimulation, I shrivel like a raisin. But with too much, I become self-indulgent and obsessive. I find that I can be hyperfocused on certain things that can cause a lot of stimulation - scrapbooking, hanging pictures up in my room, organizing my closet, reading a good book, listening to a friend, searching for something that I've lost, painting a picture, listen to a radio show I enjoy. But my hyperfocus is intermittent, and there are things that need my attention to detail but I have a really difficult time unless I find these tasks stimulating (anything involving numbers or minute details is, in my opinion, the antithesis of stimulating).
Anyway...a fascinating book. A fascinating read. I always love things that shed some light on the mystery of myself and the mysteriousness of other people.
I guess no one really knows what causes ADD...it's still somewhat mysterious, as are most things involving the brain. But scientists know that Attention Deficit Disorder stems from some sort of neurological deficit in the prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain responsible for "executive functioning"). Neurotransmitters act as chemical 'bridges,' carrying information from one neuron to the next. If you have the right kind of neurotransmitter at the right time in the right place in the right amount, then everything hums along smoothly. If this is out of wack, your behavior is inevitably affected. When the electrical activity in your prefrontal cortex is sluggish (due to a lack of dopamine), you exhibit ADD behaviors.
Now, I have undiagnosed ADD (though my dad, a psychologist, has confirmed that I exhibit a lot of the behaviors; I've tried to develop some coping mechanisms), but I can relate to much of the stuff listed in this book. 1) Impulsivity, 2) Need for stimulation, 3) Forgetfulness, 4) Lack of organization, 5) Poor follow-through, 6)Difficulty staying on task, 7)Hyper-focused (related to the need for stimulation).
Need for stimulation is something I think I relate to the MOST. We tend to make fun of my dad for this. Whenever we try to have a conversation with him that's more than 3 sentences long, and he begins to zone off, we start waving our hands in front of his face to get him back in the "here and now." He needs multiple forms of stimulation to stay focused. And so do I, frankly, but this is manifested more in me biting my nails, cracking my knuckles, tapping my feet, doodling, twisting my hair around my finger, etc. These are some of my coping mechanisms...and they usually help.
The book says, "People with ADD want, crave, need, and absolutely have to have stimulation. They are drawn to new stimulation like the proverbial moth to the flame." Folks with ADD tend to be kinesthetic learners - they understand life better with it is interpreted through bodily experiences. My sister and my boyfriend are always saying this about me - I experience life through my senses. If there is something to smell or taste or hear or see or touch, I'm there. I'm a sucker for PDA (public displays of affection). I have to stop and smell the roses. I like watching butterflies and people's facial expressions and ants scurrying up a log. I feel almost drawn to touch soft, fluffy dogs or the big spines on a cactus leaf. I am fascinated by the slime molds in my backyard, the way they ooze when you poke them with a stick. I like climbing trees to pick the reddest apple. I revel in a good sunset, a yellow Autumn tree, a flock of birds. These are all the things life is about for me - things I can experience through my 5 senses.
My need for stimulation (which produces dopamine...mmmm) manifests itself in other ways, too. I read multiple books at once. I attempt three different tasks at the same time. I listen to music while doing paperwork. I knit while watching a movie. I doodle during meetings. I take a different route home. I delight in spontaneity and creativity and novelty. I am maybe one of the few who LOVE surprise parties. I love sending and receiving gifts or notes or emails "just because." I really feel fully myself when I travel abroad, as I am immersed in stimulation to the max (new food, culture, language, ahh!). And I feel fully myself when I am in deep, meaningful conversation with someone else, not necessarily discussing things I've already concluded but processing ideas, working through them, and sharing insights and experiences regarding those ideas.
Now, my need for stimulation isn't necessarily a bad thing. I definitely don't see it as such. In fact, it has allowed me to be a more creative, caring, intuitive, knowledgeable person. It only becomes problematic when 1) others do not realize this is my need or 2) this need is not reigned in. Without stimulation, I shrivel like a raisin. But with too much, I become self-indulgent and obsessive. I find that I can be hyperfocused on certain things that can cause a lot of stimulation - scrapbooking, hanging pictures up in my room, organizing my closet, reading a good book, listening to a friend, searching for something that I've lost, painting a picture, listen to a radio show I enjoy. But my hyperfocus is intermittent, and there are things that need my attention to detail but I have a really difficult time unless I find these tasks stimulating (anything involving numbers or minute details is, in my opinion, the antithesis of stimulating).
Anyway...a fascinating book. A fascinating read. I always love things that shed some light on the mystery of myself and the mysteriousness of other people.
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