Yesterday in the New York Times an op ed piece appeared entitled ”Successful and Schizophrenic’‘ that affirmed the importance of neurodiversity and the value of strengths in people with mental health labels.  Written by Elyn Saks, who has lived with schizophrenia all her life yet been highly successful in several fields (professor of law, psychoanalyst, MacArthur fellow), the piece...Read More

The December 14th shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, have opened up a Pandora’s box of issues related to mental health.  One controversy in particular relates to the shooter Adam Lanza’s alleged identification as a person with a mild form of autism spectrum disorder called Asperger’s syndrome.  This hearsay diagnosis in turn has ignited a strong rebuttal from the...Read More

  Here’s a little multiple choice quiz: When we come to the end of life, what is it that we are most likely to regret?  Is it: a) ”I wish that I had spent more time answering my email” b). ”I wish I had spent more time texting.” c) ”I wish I had spent more time...Read More

An article in the latest APA Monitor (the monthly news magazine of the American Psychological Association), reveals that budget cutbacks nationwide and a growing focus on academic learning, has resulted in fewer school psychologists being available to help children and adolescents with social, emotional, and behavioral problems.  The National Association for School Psychologists (NASP) recommends one school psychologist for...Read More

Why is it that we expect children to sit quietly in their seats while they’re being taught in school?  We even use the word “seatwork” to describe this behavior.  I want to know who made this decision.  I can imagine some grizzled old scholar somewhere in Europe during the late eighteenth century thinking:  “You know, I really like...Read More