Archive
06/23/2008
Jason Sanford, our friend at storySouth (see External Links), sent us an email listing the selection of the top 10 works of short fiction published in online magazines during 2007. Direct link here . . . All have merit, and I was particularly impressed with two:
Do Not Hate Them Very Much, Matthew M. Quick, link here . .
and Friday Afternoons On Bus 51, Sruthi Tekkiam, link here . . .
Please give our friends at storySouth a visit when you can.
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06/22/2008
Artist Mary Lou Molinaro (full disclosure: Wife) has launched her Web site, providing an opportunity to view her current and older works. To view Mary Lou's site (external link), click on the image here:
06/23/2008 
We have lost George Carlin
No, no, no. Another spiritual mentor gone. Art Buchwald, Molly Ivins, Jim Murray gone. H.L. Mencken and Mark Twain long ago gone. Lenny Bruce, Richard Pryor, and now George Carlin. Who will guide me now?
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
. . . " --W.H. Auden
06/17/2008
My sister-in-law, Bonnie Deach, a speech pathologist who lives in Reno, NV, contributed the following article about an autistic client of hers. Bonnie and her husband, Randy Figurski, also a speech pathologist, have extensive experience evaluating and managing the treatment of people with autism and in assessing the needs of their families.
A.A., a young client of many years is six years old and already three quarters of my height and probably weight (although his is made up of muscle which he uses to every advantage). He is the master of strict routine, escape and evasion, and obsessive compulsive behavior. Our sessions begin with a pick up at our back door as he cannot be in our waiting room with other humans. A.A. has a "thing" for doors; opening and closing them over and over when left to his own devices. He will also run through them with no regard to his personal safety. We then move through the building to my office taking the same route that we have taken twice weekly for over 3 years...backdoor, gym, hallway, my office, holding tightly to his meaty little hand to protect him, our staff, clients, and materials. Materials? A.A. will eat almost anything not nailed down including glue sticks, Playdough, candle wax, room deodorizer, wheels he bites off of toy cars, rocks, leaves and other detritus. Once in the room, he asks for his reinforcer...Fritos. He gets exactly three which he sets on the table first, then wipes his hands in the air, and eats them all at once. When offered a cup of water, he has to circle the rim with his finger once before taking a drink. He then panics and asks to, "Go potty!". We hold hands and walk to the bathroom (the SAME bathroom) and we begin the process: He turns on the light/fan and I remove all but a small amount of toilet paper, toilet seat covers, room deodorizer, and paper towels. He sits down and I have to step out the room. I keep opening the door to check on him and ask if he is done yet. He frowns and says, "All done" which really means, "No". He holds one sheet of toilet paper under his rear and produces his first of several little, um...deposits. When he's done, we do the hand wash routine. He wets his hands and squeezes the soap through his fingers, back and forth. He rinses when I tell him to and then immediately cups his hands and takes a drink of water. He takes one paper towel, squeezes it and throws it away. I then talk him through how to actually dry his hands and we head back to the office. Along the way he has to stop at the saloon style swinging doors at he front desk and close them until them meet perfectly which takes a minute or so. If he is pulled away before this ritual is completed, he flops to the floor, screams, "All done!!", and can't be hustled anywhere until he's really, truly done. I have tried to hustle/force him back to my room and ended up with teeth marks and blood on my hand holding arm. A.A. has a penchant for pinching and biting. Endearing. Once we get back into the room, the teaching begins with lots of Fritos as reinforcement. Thank goodness for B.F. Skinner. A.A. stops frequently during the lessons to stare at the bent index finger of his left hand. He is actually learning but will always need assistance. His parents are loving and kind and spend their days running him to school, various therapies (some controversial), and a homeopath for other (more controversial) treatments. Mom works part time just to stay sane and dad works on the police force. Here's the kicker. They have another son, who is also autistic but higher functioning than his older brother. Fortunately, family has a vast support system of grandparents, aunts, uncles, sisters, and brothers who all help out when they can. A.A. is just one of an army of children fighting their way through this war.
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Posted 06/05/2008
I've added a brief accounting of an episode I had on a long flight with a young man who has Tourette's syndrome. Here is a link to that article:
Like Vintage American Cars?
A friend, Chip Carter, who owns North Bay Cabinets in Vallejo, is a founding member of a car club, Boyz Under The Hood. I committed to making a Web site for them long ago and finally got it online, May 30. Here is your link: