Amen to that. I’m an adoptive mom. I’d walk barefoot over hot coals for my kid, as would most parents I know. There’s no one so charismatic that they could make us do this to our kids.

She was adopted. I’m sure the police heard “older adoptee” and concluded “messed up juvenile delinquent, nothing to see here” instead of “already traumatized kid at high risk of exploitation; we should take this extra seriously.” Adopted children are so stigmatized and their needs so poorly understood in the larger…

It literally saved my life. Fair warning - sometimes you have to try several different ones to get it right. Be patient with yourself and it. But it’s so worth it.

As a Christian, I agree with you completely.

OMG, yes! You know I have never, ever heard a man describe that scene as a rape scene. I’ve heard multiple men over the years refer to it as hot, sexy, or even rough sex, but none of them ever called it a rape scene. They all had the same creepy leer on their faces when they said it. I’ve never seen the movie and it…

There was a recent study (sorry, can’t remember the link) that showed it wasn’t the students who were the biggest reason teachers quit, but unsupportive administrations who create hostile work situations. I love to teach, but I found out I could not cope with the AG private school I first worked at, largely because…

Yes, and the worst case of food poisoning I’ve ever had came from a church potluck lunch. I have no way of telling which dish on the buffet table made me that sick, but I guarantee you the cause was improper handling, probably because the food was allowed to sit in the danger zone of temperature during a longish…

It’s South Carolina. Calling her a “little girl” is affectionate/protective language. In the macho culture of the south he can’t say “That poor woman. It breaks my heart to think of what she suffered,” so he’s using a diminutive. A “little girl” isn’t so much a child as a woman in need of rescue who is not to blame…

I LOVE this approach. My kiddo spent about four months sleeping in his closet each night. It made him feel safer. I made sure the door was wedged so he couldn’t get trapped in there and let him do it. Eventually he decided to sleep in his big boy bed again. As long as everybody is safe and gets enough sleep, who cares…

Early childhood trauma can actually do more damage because the body and brain DO remember it, just not in the same way older brains remember things. Biographical memory doesn’t start until about 2.5 in most kids, but I’ve worked with enough foster children to know that the ones who have it worst are often the ones who…

I love the solution here - in fact, it’s what I do too and it’s saving everyone’s sanity. My 4 yo cannot EVER sleep through the night. Literally can’t. He used to wake up around midnight with screaming nightmares so bad he couldn’t fall asleep again for three-four hours even if I stayed with him and slept on his floor…

“Like if you deliberately have to do something provocative and likely offensive to get people to pay attention to your speech, the content of your speech probably isn’t that good or original.”

You know what else raises testosterone levels in a woman? Stress. Seriously - years ago I was under tremendous stress getting my PhD and my androgen levels went up immensely. My doctor tested for all the usual things and I’m not intersex. Not even remotely. I just had elevated levels of androgens because I was…

Very well written article. I can’t say I’m impressed by Saudi Arabia’s attempts to use Attar and other American trained women as covers for their lack of substantive change. The hypocrisy is pretty strong here, especially considering the scrub job they did and that Pepperdine is an explicitly evangelical Christian…

Bravo!! You nailed it - now more than ever we need to not let the RNC and its ilk gaslight us.

Exactly! Well said. Trump has been asking followers at his rallies to “raise their right hand” in that exact salute for the Pledge of Allegiance for months. He’s not putting his hand over his heart and neither are they, which is traditional. He’s ask them to engage in an aggressive display of nationalism while…

Cognitive disability is not a bar to having children. The laws in most states prioritize keeping bio families intact. I’ve seen foster children returned to mentally disabled parents by judges who openly admitted that mom or dad wasn’t capable of caring for their child without significant long term help. People with…

It is for you because you’re an adult without a cognitive disability. Try explaining death to a person with the cognitive function of a five year old and see how well that goes. I’ve actually had to do it and it doesn’t work. Months later the person will still be asking “when is X coming home? Why don’t we see them…

Thank you for saying this. FASD - like you said - is completely invisible and and often undiagnosed. One thing even doctors don’t often understand is that a person can do well on certain measures of IQ and STILL have the cognitive and emotional problems of FASD, including the inability to really conceptualize the…

Metal detectors?! I don’t even have a reliable lock on my office door. Some classrooms can’t be locked from inside. The only places on campus with any sort of security are dorms that require key card access (useless because students let strangers in all the time) and the library that can tell if you’re stealing a…