Category Archives: mothers

Signs of Dyslexia

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(A note~ I changed the video in the previous blog on Education and Malala)

As you know, I’m dyslexic.  I thought I’d pass along this list of symptoms for those who may be similarly affected:

1. Known in family tree.

2.  Not speaking by 1st birthday.

3.  Twisted Oral Speech – Multiple Syllables  (like saying am-in-al for animal or pasghetti for spaghetti — my daughter did this and I thought it was just a cute part of being a little one “dutchy” as my Mom would call it.)

4.  Stuttering in early years

5.  Cluttering early

6.  Articulation Difficulties m/n, r/l, even in adults

7.  Chronic Ear Infections  (I would say chronic earaches, too.  Get this–many of us on the mercury poisoning list have earaches or history of ear infections.  When I’m chelating, I always get an earache.)

8.  Can’t master tying shoes.

9.  Trouble with left/right

10.  Late to establish a dominant hand.   (I’m not sure why it is important to establish a dominant hand.  I would think after all the years of abuse connected with forcing left handed children to use their right hands, that the thought of a dominant hand being important would die away….)

11.  Mixed dominance w/hand per task.  (Again, I don’t know why such importance is put on this–)

12.  Can’t say or write alphabet in sequence.

13.  Difficulty spelling last name.  (Ha.  Try one with four syllables)

14.  Address/Phone # difficulty

15.  Sequence, Names, and Sounds of alphabet (where one has to keep starting over from the beginning to name all the letters)

16.  Sequence Days of the Week and Month  (I solved this by creating a picture in my mind of the months and the days of the week–the days look connected like a telephone pole line.  The months look like a calendar in my head.)

17.  Multiplication facts (Math is difficult because there is no reason.  Dyslexics need to have a reason.  This really slammed me–one of the things I told my calculus adviser was that the instructors tell you a problem. I wanted to know “why” .  I knew by the look she gave me that there was a reason they didn’t do this (in Indiana University, their math program featured books written by women mathematicians that explained it in a way that I (and probably other dyslexics) could understand.  We want to know why and if we don’t know why, it gets in the way of solving the problem.

18.  Knows a word on page 1, but not on page 3.  In the excellent book I got from my PUBLIC Library, it explained that dyslexics get stuck on words that they can’t associate with a picture.  This was my daughter’s difficulty, too.  I would point to the word “the” and then turn the page and point to it again, and she couldn’t recognize it, even though she just looked at it.  This was because a, an, and the don’t stand for any particular object.  She could remember words like “ball” because it stood for this round thing that bounced.

19.  Won’t try to sound out unknown words.

20.  Terrible Spelling – often no vowels.  This is the opposite of me–I was an excellent speller.  I have lost the ability, however, with the mercury poisoning.  I misspell words that I know. (updated 5.2015: I am now recognizing and spelling words better….so there’s progress in that direction.)

21.  Terrible Penmanship–dysgraphia.  (Again, the opposite of me–I have very nice penmanship.  This is explained that dyslexics are highly creative–supposedly, the right side of their brains are larger.)

22.  Impacts Visual Memory–3D is the gifted area

23.  Handwriting posture – Often head on desk or turning paper.  Yup, that would be me.

24.  Extreme difficulty with cursive. (Again, not a problem for this dyslexic — nice cursive writing.)

25.  Reversals after 2 years of writing practice instruction.

26.  Writing Conventions are very poor, but content is okay.  (Poor capitalization and paragraphing.  Dyslexics need to write first, take a break, and then come back to edit later.)

27.  Word retrieval issues

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Seriously, writing this entry, I’ve had to re-type several times because of the backwards letters.  Being dyslexic requires more energy–hence the reason they tend to want to give up in frustration. (I’m also chelating, and it’s amazing how much worse my symptoms are….so yeah, you know what I’m thinking–is dyslexia related to mercury/heavy metal poisoning?)

It also should be noted that dyslexics are often treated as if they are stupid, but evidence proves that is not correct.  Dyslexics are highly intelligent.  My daughter would have been branded stupid for the rest of her life if I had listened to her teacher.  I just want to encourage parents that you are the best judge of your child, and to listen to your instincts.

Stealing from the poor

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This mother in Saskatoon had apples stolen from her trees.  She said in the story that her son cannot digest food easily, so she was planning on making applesauce with them, when someone came and cleaned her out.  Luckily, there were some good hearted people who gave her not only apples, but other food, as well. …one could say that she was made whole.

That’s what Law was originally about–someone does something wrong to another and is made to do something for that person to make up for it–that’s what they called “making one whole” .

Now it seems the Law—looking at the person stealing as a corporation– is saying that the corporation had a right to take everything. 

Or –she was at fault for not having a guard dog protect her assets.

Or –she should have had a hot fence up. 

I’m thinking of corporate anti-union sentiment; of bankers/finance; of insurance (both health and home); of pretty much anything in this country where the less well-connected or less wealthy are not being treated in a just manner.

Our apples have been stolen and we haven’t enough folks with good hearts and enough resources themselves to come and make us whole again.

Pregnant mothers, mercury, and toxins

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Well, this   sounded refreshing by the title.  But I’ll hold my applause until they actually put their money where their mouths are and get off their duffs.

This sentence is why I have my doubts:

“What we’re trying to get is the balance between awareness and alarmist,” said Dr. Jeanne Conry, president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

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We are waaaay past alarm.  If you’re not alarmed, you haven’t been paying attention.  This is decades past due!  They knew this back in the sixties, so spare me the tender steps and get on it already.  And don’t act all concerned with women’s health when you’re willing to poison them with vaccination….and of course, you’re not willing to treat poor women with whatever they can pay you.

I cannot believe they are recommending fish, especially catfish, tuna and salmon.  This report states catfish are okay, but I have read in other reports that they are high in mercury.   Fish can be high not only in mercury but toxins from pesticides [PDF} and other farm run off.  I don’t go along with the statement that this is good news in regards to standards for drinking water.  I cannot drink tap water because of the contaminants. Note that they are STILL finding DDT decades after being banned.   And because of “budgetary restraints” glyphosate (Monsanto’s RoundUP)  was not measured.   This should alarm everyone.

…and they’re asking the American Chemical Society for its input? A group that makes its living off of chemicals that are toxic to us and destroy our immune systems?  Seriously??

And in the we-are-our-own-worst-enemy category–the report states there are high concentrations of chemicals from home lawn and garden use in streams, etc. in the urban setting.  I’ve told the story before, but it bears repeating–there was a couple who had the perfect yard–grass was unnaturally green and not a “weed” in sight.  They sprayed for weeds frequently, I’m told.  They had not one but two dogs die of cancer.  Yep.

So…yeah, we have our own culpability for contributing to the toxic soup in pursuit of a perfect yard.  And perfect looking vegetables and fruits…who cares if they’re nutritious or not….kind of like our state of society right now, eh?  We judge more by the outside packaging than by what is on the inside….

Okay, I’m off my soapbox.  For now.

 

 

More on Irish Slaves

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I went back to read the blog again, and this time clicked on the comments section.  I found the comment below about further study of the Irish slave trade.  It is amazing that this went on for 200 years, and nobody knows about it!

Stumbled upon this website doing Irish Genealogy and thought I’d post that I just finished the book To Hell or Barbados: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ireland by Sean O’Callaghan and am starting White Cargo: The Forgotten History of Britain’s White Slaves in America by Don Jordan & Michael Walsh.

I highly recommend To Hell or Barbados. It reads a little like a history text but still fascinating none the less to learn about this little talked about portion of history even though it went on for almost 200 years!

-J

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I found this blog on Sean O’Callaghan’s book To Hell or Barbados.   She writes a powerful paragraph in which she asks:

What if this story of the Irish and Scots had been exposed and well known; would slavery have had a different complexion and perceived differently today? Would the legacy of slavery, the blight and scourge it has inflicted upon people of African descent in the Americas be the same? Or would slavery have been understood for what it is: a system based on the conrol and subjugation of those who have no power–for economic gain.

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There is a short documentary video on the site, as well, but it only covers the African slave trade, so no new information on the Irish/Scots slave trade there.

Something disturbing, though, as I’m trying to find other blogs reviewing the book–one had stamped on it “White Pride World Wide”.  That is the LAST thing I would want to come of this information—we don’t need the KKK (and cohorts) to use this to further its hate agenda.   Good God, it should cause them to pause and reflect on how it was done to the vulnerable whites, as well, and therefore, should be a learning moment on empathy and justice.  It should be a lesson on how once again, those in power create hatred towards a specific group to gain even more power (the Nazi’s flash in my mind as I write that).

Do unto others…

Unreality

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I was stunned the other night when I saw that Duchess Katherine had lost so much of her pregnancy weight that she is nearly back to her anorexic looking self.  No, I’m not going to apologize for saying that, either, if someone thinks I’m being too harsh.  Kate looked healthy before she became engaged and then she lost more weight making her look anorexic to me.  It is not healthy and I strongly suspect it is the reason she was so violently nauseated in the first few months of her pregnancy.

Now we have media obsessed with her returning to her pre-baby weight.. Sweet Jesus they were after her the DAY after she had given birth

Good Grief, it took me two years to lose the weight after giving birth.  And I exercised with aerobics but ate normally.  You cannot lose 60 lbs. or so in a month’s time in a healthy way.  It can’t be done.

It’s occurred to me that perhaps Kate’s breastfeeding could account for some of the weight loss–but I’m sure that wouldn’t be more than 20 lbs.

Anyway, the whole warped obsession needs to be nixed.  It’s not healthy—mentally or physically.

 

Oh….the irony…

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Let’s play “Spot the Irony”  today.    I’ll put up three stories in the news and you can guess at the irony….

First, in what is entirely too common, we have a woman in a military/police occupation being sexually harassed.  Why should she or the others who complained have to resign their positions?  What about the mounties who harassed her?  Meanwhile, there are stories over the net of gang rape and assaults against women**…the police, who are doing their own share of harassing are supposed to investigate these incidents in a fair and just way??

Secondly, women who are breastfeeding their infants are asked to use the bathroom to nurse their child.

Meanwhile….a Victoria’s Secret store opens in B.C.

See…nourishing your child is something to be ashamed of while sexy lingerie that promotes boobies are perfectly fine….just as long as you don’t pop one out.

Oh…the irony…

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**I am in awe of her courage–as one commenter put it:  a warrior woman!  Not only that, but the two bears showing up and not harming her also leaves me in awe.

Misogyny in all forms

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This post has got to be one of the worst I’ve read in a looong time.  The misogyny coming from someone claiming to be a feminist (well, actually, she doesn’t claim it, but the insinuation is there) is something to behold.

As I said in my comment, the vitriol here against women who make the choice to stay home is one of the reasons I no longer call myself a feminist, even though I very much believe in equality.

The feminists in the 70s railed against women staying home…I understand the historical context–their mothers were forced to stay home after WWII, and forcing anyone to do anything will inevitably result in resentment…especially when staying home is characterized as “doing nothing” and “contributing nothing to society…”

Not only that, but the stance that abortions should be allowed at any time–even at the eighth month–are the reasons that feminists lost many women who were against that but believed in equality.

And sadly, that is still true today.  Women who believe in equality but are against abortion or want to stay home are marginalized by feminists such as nonny mouse.

It seems to miss the point that it’s not the staying home part, but how culture values it.  Our culture doesn’t value much of what women do…whether it is at home or in the corporate world.  It’s the culture that needs changing, and that’s not going to happen by minimizing women’s role at home.

As I posted previously, other cultures, such as in Europe, provide support to women. They try to prevent abortions by preventing pregnancy in the first place–the ideal, for me.   And guess what–they don’t have mothers having baby after baby (as the repubs and some dems like to argue.)

Many of those arguments are tenuous at best, but it is the continued reference to European abortion laws that most represent a convenient cherry-picking of facts to support the rollback of women’s rights. Many European countries do indeed regulate abortion with gestational limits, but what SB1 supporters conveniently ignore is that those laws are entrenched in progressive public health systems that provide quality, affordable (sometimes free) health care to all individuals and prioritize the sexual and reproductive health of their citizens. Most SB1 advocates would scoff at the very programs and policies that are credited with Europe’s low unintended pregnancy and abortion rates.

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More here on the women’s right to decide how she will give birth.  I love this–midwives have been targets of a well-run campaign against them since medieval times when they have as good a record of healthy childbirth as physicians.

This will give one moment to pause…when you look at the statistics for the U.S. at the bottom– the maternal death rate in this country is 1 in 2,100.  The article states it’s typically 1 in 7,600.

Pretty sobering in a country that likes to think of itself as such a beacon of healthcare.

On the Edumucation Front…

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Well, folks, the Bush family just keeps on giving and giving….

…what exactly they’re giving (perhaps the word is *taking*)  is open to debate…

Diane Ravitch has a blog up on the Jeb Bush Miracle .  *cough*

Florida school grades released today are “worse than useless measures of educational quality,” according to a local expert on assessment. Bob Schaeffer, Pubic Education Director of the National Center for Fair & Open Testing (FairTest), explained, “Based largely on scores from the low quality FCAT exam, state officials change the grading formula each year to serve their political agendas.”

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National Center for Fair and Open Testing

Bob Schaeffer (239) 395-6773
cell (239) 699-0468

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And more here on those Lazy Teachers.  Really?  And how many hours have you spent in a classroom?  Or with your own children reading to them or playing with them or asking them about the lessons they learned in school that day….?  Methinks thou art a phony…

The baby

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Well, unless you’re living under a rock, you probably know that the royal baby is on the way–the Duchess is in active labor.  It brought back memories of my first baby.  He took 24 hours to come out into the world.  My mother told me that I, too, took 24 hours of labor.  Both my son and I have the German cheekbones…I can only surmise they were the hold up. :p

I don’t, however, think this baby is any more special than any other and the worldwide attention is so over the top.  Good Grief.  Poor Kate for having to deal with the pains of labor with the whole world watching!

It’s bad enough when you’re in labor in a hospital and the staff puts their hands up your crotch every hour, forces you to take an enema, and then when you’re in so much pain you think your head is going to explode, they tell you to “blow it out”…

I had one honest nurse tell me she’d like to tell the male doctor to blow something else out. Haha.

Anyway, good wishes to Kate and William, and the baby.  And to all the new Moms and Dads welcoming their babies in the world.  May you all be safe and warm and dry.  What a perfect world that would be…