Guest Post from Howard Chang, MD, PhD: Unknown White Matter Disease
I am please to present a guest post from the illustriousDr. Howard Chang of Michigan State University, who presents a perplexing case. Dr. Chang would be interested in reader comments. He writes: "I can use some help from our colleagues. Any advice (from anyone) on where and how to proceed for additional studies will be very much appreciated. "Dr. Howard ChangThis is a case of a 12-year-old male with cerebral palsy, severe developmental delay (level 1-2 years), and seizures (stable, no seizure episodes since 2 years). He had progressive decline in neurological functions following flu-like illness. He received IVIG an...
Source: neuropathology blog - October 5, 2016 Category: Radiology Tags: neuropathologists Source Type: blogs
Coming Into View: Women and Disability
When disability rights advocate Anastasia Somoza, a young woman with cerebral palsy, gave her rousing speech at the Democratic National Convention in July she did more to bring disability into the mainstream’s view than anyone else in recent memory. She also reminded the world that there is a gender dimension to disability, one too long overlooked, misunderstood or left unaddressed.
One in five American women – about 27 million of them – have a disability. That number, which is growing, includes women veterans. But women with disabilities often have to fight against two forms of discrimination, one related to dis...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - October 4, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Disabilities Women Source Type: blogs
New Television Series Features Character Who Uses AAC
Tonight at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time, ABC premiers “Speechless,” a new sitcom starring Micah Fowler—who has cerebral palsy—as the nonverbal, eldest son in a family of five. The show also stars Minnie Driver. Fowler portrays a character with more severe symptoms than the actor has in real life. For example, he learned to use an alternative and augmentative communication (AAC) device for the show.
The show’s producers partnered with The Cerebral Palsy Foundation (CPF) to receive technical advice on Fowler’s role. In addition, the show’s team will share content with the CPF, so the organization can share related i...
Source: American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) Press Releases - September 21, 2016 Category: Speech Therapy Authors: Shelley D. Hutchins Tags: News Speech-Language Pathology Augmentative Alternative Communication Source Type: blogs
6 Things Differently-Abled Kids Made Me See
You're reading 6 Things Differently-Abled Kids Made Me See, originally posted on Pick the Brain | Motivation and Self Improvement. If you're enjoying this, please visit our site for more inspirational articles.
As a 19-year-old, I was advised to take up volunteering in order to beat clinical depression. A month into my year-long association with an organization for visually-challenged children, I had a differently-abled four-year old come up to me after my session with them, throw her tiny arms around my neck, and whisper 'I love you' into my ears. All because she'd loved the song I'd taught them that day. No one had eve...
Source: PickTheBrain | Motivation and Self Improvement - August 28, 2016 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Cynthia Ranjeeta Tags: featured happiness motivation self improvement differently-abled kids generosity how to beat depression pickthebrain power of music volunteering Source Type: blogs
Writing in a Fishbowl - Week Six
Saturday: It's about this time of the summer every year that I suddenly realize there is a very good reason why I have not accomplished even half of what I set out to do: Summer vacation.I must live in a fantasy bubble, but I forget year after year that when the kids are home over the summer, I don't get much done. Every year I set big, amazing goals, and every summer I beat myself up for failing at them. Then I remember, duh, hello? Summer vacation.You'd think with only one kid at home that I'd manage to master this conundrum, but I'm afraid the Brownie has the best of me. It could be that my brain damaged, learning disab...
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - August 7, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Tags: ADHD Depression Family Goodreads Journaling Writing Source Type: blogs
Robotic Crawling Assistant for Kids at Risk of Cerebral Palsy
Cerebral palsy (CP) can be detrimental to the physical development of a child, but the earlier therapy is initiated the better are its results. The trick is to identify young children at risk of CP and to provide them with a therapy that helps with long term development. To that end, researchers at University of Oklahoma created a device that helps infants crawl around the floor while their brain activity is being monitored.
Coupled with a movement test that’s pretty good at forecasting which kids will develop CP, the robotic system allows at-risk kids to begin moving around earlier than they would normally would. T...
Source: Medgadget - August 2, 2016 Category: Medical Equipment Authors: Editors Tags: Neurology Pediatrics Rehab Source Type: blogs
Falling into Depression, and Climbing Out Again
Sometimes days don't go as planned. With my tic disorder and a sudden bout of depression, Sunday started off poorly:Having a very difficult time with#depression today. Worst I ’ve had in a while. So, sunshine& a mountain hike is my prescription.— Douglas Cootey (@SplinteredMind)July 31, 2016That tweet was the turn around moment for me. Before that, I missed church because I was ticking, but I was also too depressed to get out of bed. I was wallowing!! When was the last time I did that? Since my daughter, Bri'anna Joy, was in town from Germany, we had planned a big daddy/daughter hike with me and my four girls, ...
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - August 1, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Tags: Depression Family Goodreads Source Type: blogs
Writing in a Fishbowl – Week Three
Two things of note today:On Thieves & Lowlifes Last month I moved all the boxes in my rented garage space into my living room. I’m moving in two months, so I figured I’d save money while pruning the boxes down to fit into a smaller space. The detritus of my half of twenty-three years of marriage still awaits my sad, pruning heart. If there weren’t so many precious things mixed in, I’d dump the lot. Instead, it’s like I just got a messy new roommate. The only problem I had was what to do with my mountain bike and disabled daughter’s adult trike. I refer to her as the Brownie on social...
Source: The Splintered Mind by Douglas Cootey - July 12, 2016 Category: Psychiatry Tags: Family Goodreads Writing Source Type: blogs
Narrative Matters: On Our Reading List
Editor’s note: “Narrative Matters: On Our Reading List” is a monthly roundup where we share some of the most compelling health care narratives driving the news and conversation in recent weeks.
Stunting The Growth Of Children With Disabilities
Parents of children with severe disabilities concerned about being able to physically care for their children as they grow up are finding hope in a treatment known as “growth-attenuation therapy,” but questions about the ethics of the therapy, and a lack of long-term outcomes data, mire the treatment in controversy.
In The New York Times Magazine, Genevieve Field tells the...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - March 30, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: Jessica Bylander Tags: Elsewhere@ Health Affairs Featured Narrative Matters autism heart disease On Our Reading List Source Type: blogs
Elephants and Mobile Clinics in Uganda
By Luke Husby, DO, and Heather Brown, MDWe arrived in rural Masindi, Uganda, after more than 24 hours of air travel and a five-hour van ride over the only two paved roads in the country. The travel was fairly exhausting.The Masindi-Kitara Medical Centre (MKMC) is a fully functional hospital in Masindi, Uganda, run by Palmetto Medical Initiative (PMI), a nonprofit organization based in Charleston, SC. MKMC has multiple nurses, an inpatient ward, and obstetrics, gynecologic, surgical, and outpatient wards. It recently established itself as a low-cost, self-sustainable, private clinic to offset the two opposing ends of the...
Source: Going Global - March 1, 2016 Category: Emergency Medicine Tags: Blog Posts Source Type: blogs
On retained primitive reflexes
Each year I receive several emails from colleagues about 'retained primitive reflexes.' I am also seeing an increased number of reports from local 'health care' providers who are documenting these alleged problems so I thought I would write a summary of my opinion on this topic. Predatory 'health care' providers including some OTs, PTs, chiropractors, and behavioral optometrists are creating a new 'market' for treating this alleged 'problem.' Parents should be very wary of these practitioners and other professionals should challenge these practices whenever they are seen.The following is the kind of ...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - January 27, 2016 Category: Occupational Health Tags: evidence-based practice OT practice school-based practice sensory integration Source Type: blogs
The choreography of care is etched in my muscles
In neurology clinic, I was asked to see a young man with epilepsy — a seizure disorder — due to cerebral palsy from birth. It was one of my first clinical encounters of my first rotation of medical school, the tenuous transition from knowledge-absorber to translator and caretaker. I walked in to find a patient who was wheelchair-bound and largely non-verbal, and who interacted with the world by tracking gaze and moving his arms. He held a toy in one hand that he rotated constantly; the other lay limp on the side of the chair.
I read in the medical record that he attended a day program where he enjoyed watching ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - January 27, 2016 Category: Journals (General) Authors: Amrapali Maitra Tags: Education Medical school Source Type: blogs
Remembering Dr. Pamela Davies & her work with premature babies: A personal tribute
Dr. Pamela Davies may not be a household name, but she radically improved the life chances of premature babies.
I had direct experience of this – in fact it is largely due to her work that I’m even around to write this. My early weeks, more than 45 years ago, were spent at Hammersmith Hospital in London after my twin sister Jenny and I were born ten weeks premature – weighing in at 3lbs 5oz and 2lbs 12oz. The circumstances of our birth were anything but usual – the doctors discovered mum was carrying twins less than 24 hours earlier. Mum did have her suspicions. ‘What, do you have an elephant in there?’ my gran...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - November 27, 2015 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Champions Childbirth DW UK Source Type: blogs
I vaant to TELL you zomething!
I want to share a message about authenticity in therapeutic relationships.Jim was a 40 year old man who participated in a day treatment program in a rural community. The program itself was conceived and nurtured by Jim's parents along with other parents who were desperately trying to find non-institutional program options for their children. Jim had cerebral palsy and an intellectual disability. He attended that community program as a school child and eventually 'graduated' into the adult day treatment program. The program grew from providing services to just a few children to several hundre...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - September 22, 2015 Category: Occupational Health Tags: Disability rights OT Education OT practice Source Type: blogs
