When Inclusion Works, the Possibilities Are Infinite

National Library of Medicine, hugging someone helps release the “feel good” hormones like oxytocin.In fact, the same site reports that therapeutic touch is being explored for helping people recover from a significant illness. So, why not hug someone you love that needs a little boost in their mood?Do you need an occasion to buy someone a gift? You don’t need to spend thousands of dollars or buy something significant. Remember, it truly is the thought that counts and they will appreciate the gesture.Life isn’t always kind, and sometimes you need to hear that you’re doing good.

Let’s start off with a recap.

Do you run a personal blog, maybe on Shopify or WordPress? If you have a blog, no matter where it’s hosted, if you collect email addresses from people, you need to have a data protection plan in place. Not having this critical feature could land you in hot water. 

I knew this was coming. At least, I suspected it would come. The whir of the oxygen machine, the light from the monitors illuminating a little body in a big bed. Bags of saline and medicine and food hanging from the IV pole — like a medical jellyfish. Sea turtle decals on the doors and large pictures of the ocean on the bathroom wall.

At the beginning of 2021, the state retirement and disability program from which I receive benefits notified all of its members that effective January 1, 2022, they would no longer be able to provide members under a certain age with group health insurance. This applied to “regular” retirees and disabled retirees alike. Even though we paid a premium that was deducted from our monthly benefits, the cost to provide health coverage to all of us had become too prohibitive. Instead, we all would have to buy health care plans through the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The program also said that in fall 2021, we would be contacted by a benefit counselor who would help us through the transition and assist us with choosing health care plans that could best meet our individual needs. I was terrified. I have Crohn’s disease and specifically applied for these disability benefits because I desperately needed good health insurance.

I have fibromyalgia, so I have dealt with “fibro fog,” but I have memory loss now, which is different. I would explain “fibro fog” as feeling like a cloud that descends over your mind. My thinking is slow and sleepy. Movements are harder and more exhausting because I have to push through that thick fog.

When you’re in a dark place, you may encounter many different emotions and questions. The most powerful feeling I personally experienced at my lowest was anger. I wanted to be angry at the world. The two questions I asked myself were “Do I want to change?” and “How do I want to change?” After answering these two questions, I started to think about seeing a mental health professional.

When COVID-19 quarantine hit, it caused many of us to do some intense personal reflection and take some “life inventories.” Mine made it glaringly obvious that I had a lot of healing to do when it came to my relationship with myself. I was focused on filling my “happiness tank” and “quality time tank” with other people’s love and attention. I realized that’s not only unfair to those around me, but it’s also impossible to sustain in the long term. So I set off on a self-discovery adventure during which I acted on my own love language and took myself on creative “self dates” every few weeks until my relationship with “me, myself, and I” was the strongest, most reliable connection I had in my life.

Returning to work after any chronic illness can feel daunting and stressful. Sometimes it may feel easier to ask the doctor for another note and stay off of work rather than returning. Getting back into work can help you, though, as it may give you a purpose and add structure to your days. As a life coach, returning to work with chronic illness is an area in which I often work with clients so that their return to work is not only as smooth as possible but is also a positive experience.

People have been inking their bodies for thousands of years. In ancient times, tattooing was used to decorate the body, show status, and oftentimes as therapy or a form of punishment. One of the oldest reasons for this practice is related to spirituality.

I’m going to say something that might be controversial… I don’t think watching TV is really so bad for us!

For the past few weeks, I’ve been struggling with nausea. It’s never been a symptom I’ve had long-term before, and it hasn’t been easy getting used to it. I’ve been leaving classes early because I’m afraid of getting sick in class. I’ve avoided eating with other people, or even being around people who are eating. I study vegetable production, and until this started I never realized how much we talk about vegetables. In the class I TA for, the professor spent a lecture discussing winter squash, and I had to leave when he started naming different squashes. No pictures, no scents, just the thought of food.

Wake to Wake Watersports, so he’s out on the water often. He takes Zyzz along for the ride most of the time since they’re the best of buddies.

Being diagnosed with fibromyalgia can feel daunting. There is so much to learn about this illness and how it can affect you. Doctors can be extremely helpful in this case, because they can often answer a lot of your questions with ease and knowledge. Research on your own can also be helpful, but sometimes taking what you learn to your doctors to help debunk some of the myths you come across may be necessary. The following are 10 great questions to ask your doctor if you need some guidance about what to ask.

“Sobriety was the greatest gift I ever gave myself.” ~Rob Lowe

June 9, 2022Stimulant medication does not help children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) learn academic lessons more thoroughly or more quickly, according to new research that dispels long-held beliefs about treatment.“Although it has been believed for decades that medication effects on academic seatwork, productivity, and classroom behavior would translate into improved learning of new academic material, we found no such translation,” researchers reported in the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology.1, 2A controlled study evaluating the impact of stimulant medication on learning was conducted by scientists at the Center for Children and Families at Florida International University (FIU) in a summer classroom setting. Participants included 173 children with ADHD between the ages of 7 and 12 who attended the center’s eight-week summer camp program (77% were male, 23% were female; 86% were Hispanic, and 10% were Black).

sensory processing disorder (SPD), who may be over- or under-responsive to sensory input, seek specific sensations, or struggle to discern sensory information altogether. For these kids, daily functioning and wellbeing hinge on sensory needs — and our ability to understand and anticipate them.What’s the best way to do this? Create a sensory profile.

ADDitude’s Facebook community learned how to make new friends after a big move — or no move at all.“When you find another mom with ADHD, it’s like finding a unicorn. I have one ‘mom friend’ with ADHD and she’s awesome.” — Jessa“I just moved to a 55+ community with so many activities. They say it’s harder as one gets older, and then add ADHD to the mix.

Small Biz Trends, the first social media site was Six Degrees, and it was created in 1997. There are more than one hundred different sites, but Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat, and TikTok with the best ways to get TikTok likes remain the most popular.How much time do you spend each day surfing these sites? Can you quit social media, or has it become an addiction? It’s important to monitor how much you devote to these media apps as they can be time-consuming.Addictions come in all shapes and sizes, and trading one for another will not get you anywhere.

National Library of Medicine.With such overwhelming odds, why do people still want to stigmatize something so prevalent? Americans are overworked and underpaid, which adds undue stress to an already chaotic life. Not only must you work 40 or more hours a week to make it, but you have a household, family, and other responsibilities.Unless you’re a superhero, it’s challenging to get done all you need to and still have time for self-care. When’s the last time you had an hour to yourself to read a book, take a bubble bath, or watch a good movie with friends? Part of this is the reason why mental health issues are on the increase.

Sex and the City!). Little did I know the importance of maintaining a healthy pelvic floor, nor the starring role it plays in everyday functions or even where/what it is. If you’ve experienced the best orgasm of your life or managed to hold your pee in rush-hour traffic, you have your pelvic floor to thank. On the flip side, if your libido is leaving much to be desired or, worse, you feel pain during sex, consider them red flags that your pelvic floor muscles could use some TLC.

Fans of Mickey Mouse who use ASL to communicate will be seeing themselves represented by a new character, Fig, a gnome friend who is deaf.

I sometimes look back on life before lupus and psoriatic arthritis and feel startled by the richness of my days back then. I woke up, exercised, taught a full day as a preschool teacher, studied, and often went out for a drink or coffee with a friend before winding down for the night. My schedule required fewer choices than it does now. I thought nothing of how that kind of fulfillment from everyday activities merited keeping — or what the cost would be to my mental health were I to lose any major life activity.

Having attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) can without a doubt contribute to having a stressful time finding a job that just fits. Due to different ADHD traits such as difficulty focusing, impulsivity, bouts of extra energy, etc., certain job fields can feel a little harder. Sitting at a desk for long periods of time looking at spreadsheets may be a personal Hell for folk with ADHD, especially when you’re unmedicated. While there are some jobs out there that people have found mesh well with their brain, I think it’s important to highlight a certain career track that definitely isn’t for everyone, but that I’ve found works well with a lot of the ADHD brains I know. 

Our school district is slowly moving towards inclusion as the rule, not just an exception that parents need to fight really hard for. I believe our son Daxon is the first child with Down syndrome that his first-grade teacher has ever had in her General Ed classroom.