#FF: The Face of Autism, Silver Linings, & the Power of Mothers

Thought for the Day: I collect my finds for this post throughout the week while I browse the web. My only agenda is to find articles that will help my readers, but when I put them together they sometimes have some common features. In today's post two common themes arose loud & clear. The first two articles relate to helping people understand & discuss two serious psychological disorders: autism & bipolar disorder. The second two show the power of mothers' resourcefulness & creativity. I hope you will use, enjoy & share these resources with friends & family. I hope you will come back tomorrow for Saturday's Songs for the Soul post, a series I started last week. As I prepared for tomorrow's post, the songs came in handy, by accident, in some of my sessions with clients. Without giving away any confidential information, I will share how the songs I chose helped people as they worked through life challenges in therapy. 

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1) My first fabulous find is a contest sponsored by Parenting Magazine called: What Autism looks like. Autism  is one of various psychological issues that impact on followers of my facebook page & blog.  It is one of the challenges that are grossly misunderstood in our society. I frequently hear how parents of autistic children contend with critical looks & comments from other parents, storekeepers & passersby as they try to control their children's challenging behavior. I applaud Parenting Magazine for their willingness to write about a topic that is rarely covered by mainstream media. Entrants in the contest could win a well deserved family vacation package, plus airfare, to The Santa Barbara Beach & Golf Resort in Curacao, a $500 donation to the autism organization of your choice & a chance to appear in Parenting magazine. Two runners-up will receive a $500 donation to the autism organization of their choice. To enter, fill out a simple form with a 300 words or less story telling what autism looks like to you by March 18th. To get the details & enter the contest, click here: http://www.parenting.com/webform/what-autism-looks?src=SOC&dom=tm
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2) An article about how the movie Silver Linings Playbook has been changing lives is my second fabulous find. It appeared in The Huffington Post & was written by Matthew Quick, author of the novel, The Silver Linings Playbook, upon which the movie was based. He reports that as he talks with people from around the country who have seen the movie, that it has helped "an extraordinary amount of people feel less alone." Director, producer & screenplay writer, David O. Russell, did not have a hard time imagining the characters & their lives. David's 18 year old son, Matt, suffers from bipolar disorder. (Here's a clip of David & Matt speaking about their experience working on the film. ) The movie is giving new insight into the world mental illness & how it impacts on families. It also has opened a platform to discuss the obstacles in the path to recovery. The acting by Jennifer Lawrence, who received the Oscar for her role,  Bradley Cooper,  Robert De Niro & Jacki Weaver are all believable, at times funny & other times just heart wrenching. David O. Russell was not the only one in the movie who had first hand experience with mental illness. De Niro revealed the fact that he too has known what families of the mentally ill experience. He apologized for tearing up (see photo below) during an interview with Katie Couric about the movie. The fact that De Niro, whose father suffered from depression, felt compelled to apologize for his emotions underscores how hard it is for people to discuss mental illness of a family member publicly. Fortunately, the movie is helping many people speak up about their experiences. If you have not seen the movie yet, make the time to see it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/matthew-quick/silver-linings-playbook_b_2706230.html?icid=maing-grid7|heroes|dl19|sec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D274538
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3) My third find comes from an organization called Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. In just 10 weeks, these amazing women have mobilized 80,000 members with 80 chapters across the country. The nonpartisan grass roots movement is organizing an event in Washington DC on March 13th. They will even set up appointments for anyone who wants to take part to meet with their elected officials! I am trying to free up some time to go down, since both gun control & increased access to programs for the mentally ill are high on my personal agenda. Here's how these fiesty moms are taking action: MOMS TAKE THE HILL: Can you join Moms Demand Action on March 13 in Washington, DC? We'll help make your appointments with your Congressional reps - all you have to do is fill out this form and get to DC! Please share with moms who may want to join us! #momsdemandaction #gunsense Click here to learn more & sign up if you can go:

http://momsdemandaction.org/moms-take-the-hill-for-gun-sense/
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Lynn Perkins Founder & CEO of UrbanSitters with her twins

4) If you need a sitter in order to go to Washington DC, my fourth find, the work of another creative mother may help you find one quickly. The article by Catherine New tells the story of how Lynn Perkins, the mother of twin boys (pictured to the left), is revolutionizing the baby sitting market. See how her new company, UrbanSitters.com is using online matchmaking technology to streamline the process of finding a sitter.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/06/urbansitter-lynn-perkins_n_2576984.html?utm_hp_ref=women-in-tech&icid=maing-grid7|heroes|dl14|sec1_lnk3%26pLid%3D275294

Have a wonderful weekend!

 
 
 
 

The Hunger Games Parenting Nightmare or Opportunity?

                       Parenting Nightmare or Opportunity?

Thought for the day: I heard a story once about the difference between heaven & hell. In the story,  in hell there was a huge banquet table overflowing with food. The people seated at the banquet table had long spoons attached to their arms. The spoons made it impossible for the people to bend their arms, so they could not reach their mouths & feed themselves. The people at the banquet in this version of hell were all starving. In heaven, there was an identical banquet table. The people at the banquet table in heaven also had long spoons attaches to their arms, however, these people were not starving. The people in heaven had figured out that they could feed one another & they were all enjoying the bounty. Even when we are faced with difficult situations, we have choices.  The movie, The Hunger Games raises similar moral & ethical questions. What would you do if you were challenged by life & death issues? What do you want your children & teens to learn from movies like The Hunger Games?

Yesterday, I went to see the movie, The Hunger Games. It is not the kind of movie I tend to frequent. When I heard the story line about choosing teenagers in a lottery to fight to the death in a televised "reality show," I was anxious about the impact it would have on our youth. I went to see it to be prepared to help parents & teens in my clinical practice process this blockbuster movie which brought in $152.5 million^[5] (USD) on its opening weekend in North America. I am glad I went & would encourage parents to see the movie before their children, so that they will be prepared to talk about the questions the movie will raise for their children. It does not need to be a parenting nightmare any more than the book, The Lord of the Flies which is taught in most schools across the USA.

The movie is a powerful critique of many things which are happening in our society. One of the characters says, "It's only a television show." It raises questions about how television productions can distort & sensationalize reality. Each of the "Tributes," children chosen as sacrifices to fight to death for their district, is taken to the capitol to be packaged, branded & prepared to try to get "sponsors" to support them. The 2 tributes from District 12, Katniss Everdeen (Jennifer Lawrence) &  Peeta Mellark (Josh Hutcherson) are followed as they try to survive & hold true to themselves & their values. Katniss volunteers to be a tribute to save her younger sister who was picked in the lottery. She then befriends & tries to protect a younger tribute from another district. She also protects Peeta from her district. The children & adults from the districts are trapped like sacrificial lambs. The parents in  are impotent & unable to protect their children. The adults in the opulent capital are portrayed as childish caricatures of adults enjoying the horrors as if they were at a Mardi Gras celebration. The leaders, like the character portrayed by Donald Sutherland are cynical, calculating, & controlling. They give minimal hope to the districts to keep them subservient.

Unfortunately,  in our world today, in Africa, Asia & the Middle East children are being used to fight in adult wars. Terrorist recruit suicide bombers among dissatisfied teens. In 2010, the United Nations started the Zero Under 18 campaign to help stop the deployment of children to fight wars. Throughout our world, even in the United States, human trafficking of children & teens is happening. Children are being abused, kidnapped & used as prostitutes. Organizations like A Child Is Missing, featured in my book, help protect children from being abducted or kidnapped. Although there has not been a Hunger Games TV show, we need to protect our children from the abuses of children in our world. The movie will bring up the uncomfortable, yet real questions of what you are doing or can do to protect children from child abuse & war.

The kinds of discussions that this film can provide are worth having with your children.  What could parents have done to protect their children? After one of the tributes was killed one district did try to fight back. How could adults help one another & fight back? What could the children have done to fight back? The time to protest is before dictators take over. Are there things happening in the world that we as Americans who have freedom can help prevent? Are we like the people in heaven or like those hell, failing to see that there are ways we can help one another?