Tag: resources

Dear Mr. Dad: My wife and I have been considering the option of homeschooling our children next year. Though it seems like a great idea in some ways, I’m still a bit hesitant. Will it hurt their social development? And what about when the time comes for college applications? Can you help me sort all of this out?

Homeschooling, which used to be very rare, has been getting steadily more popular over that past few decades. Parents embrace it for many reasons. They may be unhappy with the educational choices presented to them in their area. They may want more control over what their children learn, both in terms of curriculum and philosophy.

"My dear family, after four long years of battling this illness, I just can’t take it any more…" So begins the note I left for my family before attempting suicide on July 24, 2004. In my fight against depression, I had tried 23 different medications, electroconvulsive (shock) therapy on 20 occasions, transcranial magnetic stimulation, cognitive behavioral therapy, and many other conventional programs related to the treatment of clinical depressions. I also had tried alternative treatments, such as acupuncture, kinesiology, and self-improvement courses. But on that day in July 2004, I had completely lost hope that I could recover.

Your car is in the shop, again; your once adorable toddler is now a raving, raging adolescent; that job you thought would be yours forever has disappeared in the reconstruction of an uncertain economy, and to top it all off, your spouse is off and running on this "great opportunity" which leaves you with too many chores, lonely weekends, and too many nights of an exhausted "not tonight" mate.

You dream of the "good old days" when cars ran well, children obeyed, jobs stayed put until you quit, and spouses—well—just stayed put!

The good news is that autism awareness and diagnosis have improved by leaps and bounds over the last decade. Detection is now possible at a very early age. In fact, the American Academy of Pediatrics encourages screening for autistic features as early as 18 months.

The bad news is that autism recognition initiatives have almost exclusively focused on early childhood. Low diagnosis rates of autism in adults who missed early detection have created a significant gap in our ability to provide vital assistance throughout the lifespan.