Monday, September 01, 2003

Pushy doctors and murderous millionaires

An IEP List of recent items in the news.

1. Another case of doctors trying to take away parents' rights to decide on their child's treatment. I don't know if the parents are right or wrong here, but the idea of losing custody for trying to get a second opinion is pretty scary.

2. A health report suggests that too much inactivity, TV and sunscreen may be leaving teens deficient in Vitamin D.

3. I've worried a lot about what being the oldest kid in class, by a year or two, might be doing to my daughter, but according to this report, being the youngest isn't a bowl of cherries either.

4. Kid's Health News offers pointers on finding a doctor for your child, and although it's aimed at parents of new babies, it's just as applicable to new adoptive parents. In our case, with our kids with special needs and especially our hyperactive son, we found that the most important things were a) a practice in which you see the same doctor every time, so you don't have to go through the whole involved history again and again; and b) a practice where you don't have to spend an hour in the waiting room.

5. A fairly bizarre story about the questions being posed to potential jurors in the trial of Robert Durst, a millionaire in NYC who alledgedly shot his neighbor, indicates that, among other things, his defense may include a claim that he has Asberger's syndrome.

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