I didn’t use to believe in medication for Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). Truth be told, I didn’t used to believe in ADHD at all. Nobody was ever diagnosed with it when I was a kid back in the 1970s. Now, it seems to be everywhere. “Perhaps as many as two million American kids” now […]
Overwhelmed by messages that come through texting, e-mails, the computer, and various apps on phones and iPads, today’s culture seems to be missing something. It is slowly becoming obvious that people are losing the ability to think, hear, and understand. Life seems to revolve around sending and receiving, even when the substance is totally lacking. […]
During my speaking tours around the country, I get a chance to hear what is on the minds and hearts of adult children, the challenges that are the toughest for them to deal with. One question I hear over and over goes something like this, “We see our parents struggling with their living situation, and […]
Today I have been reflecting on life and death. This past Saturday my oldest daughter married her best friend in front of God surrounded by family and friends. There was a joyous celebration after the nuptial Mass. My mother was under the weather but attended that Mass and came to the reception for a short […]
When Rick Santorum’s article “Two Years Worth Every Tear” was included in my book, “A Special Mother is Born,” my favorite line was “Living with Bella (his daughter with trisomy 18) has been a course in character and virtue”. Each of the thirty-four stories written by parents of special needs children contains a lesson which […]
“O most Sacred Heart of Jesus, fountain of every blessing, I adore you, I love you….” My baby’s heart stopped beating and I don’t know when. All I know is that on Friday it was fluttering and six days later it was still. One moment: Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Then: Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeep…….. My mother’s heart heard […]
Stephanie Wincik is a registered nurse who doesn’t consider herself pro-life, or subscribe to any particular religious belief, yet after 25 years of working with the medically fragile disabled patients, she stumbled upon an article which galvanized her into writing a pro-life book, Making the Case for Life, which has in its enhanced second edition, […]
Clara Lejeune Gaymard has a “servant of God” as a father: Jerome Lejeune, the French geneticist who discovered the cause of Down syndrome. Lejeune, who died in 1994 at age 67, was outspoken against legal abortion. He was named the first president of the Pontifical Academy for Life shortly before his death by Pope John […]
This is a reflection I wrote after viewing Spiritual Growth in Tough Times which centers around the healing process. Sister Joyce Rupp discusses the process of healing with the analogy of the seasons. We all want to live in the spring and summers of our lives but we have to live through the difficulties of […]
As I write this in mid-March I look forward to soon being with two special families, who because of the depth of their love for a family member, found themselves in the midst of an international spotlight they did not seek, and a fierce conflict they did not shirk. They are the families of Terri […]
This past week, health care journalist Charles Ornstein wrote a compelling piece for the Washington Post detailing his personal experience with heart-wrenching end-of-life medical decisions. Ornstein’s story of his mother’s death highlights the complexity of this little-discussed topic, and should serve as a wakeup call to every American family: End-of-life issues should not be avoided […]
The topic for discussion at my local Theology on Tap recently was evangelization and Christ’s instructions to His Apostles to go out and spread the Good News: Then Jesus approached and said to them, “All power in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go, therefore, and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in […]
Pope Benedict XVI’s impending resignation, announced this morning, has opened the usual spate of questions prior to a conclave, as well as new ones about the status of a living Pope emeritus. Among some pro-lifers there is lots of buzz about whether the new pontiff will be pro-life, as was John Paul II. It’s an […]
Straight from My Heart is a collection of fifteen short stories and seventy-three poems, approximately chronological, with each story being independent and individually rewarding. Yet all of the pieces collectively draw the reader to something larger. The stories are engaging, at times fascinating, and always thoughtful. Patricia Devlin’s stories follow an autobiographical journey through the […]
The doctor performing the ultrasound had a strange look on his face. The newly married couple braced themselves for what they were sure would be terrible news. “Now, don’t scream,” he said in measured tones. “One. Two. Three…Triplets!” Jason and Marie Taylor, both in their 30s, had married only four months ago, in May 2012. […]
With the passage of each year it appears that more and more Americans are being served a platter of nuanced messages regarding how one is to care for a dying loved one. It is as though death could somehow be made more palatable for those involved. The truth is that death is inevitable; nobody will […]
The United States Senate voted this week against ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). The 61-38 vote failed to garner the two-thirds majority necessary for ratification due to serious concerns that it would undermine sovereignty and parental rights, and be interpreted to advance abortion.“For decades, the United […]
In recent decades, America has made many wonderful advances in protecting the rights of people with disabilities and including them in society. Gone are the days of forced sterilization and institutionalization. Now we have laws making disability discrimination illegal and most public places handicap accessible. Children with special needs are able to get an education in most public school […]
Senator Reid made a motion yesterday to move the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) to executive session. The motion passed allowing debate to follow. Foreign Relations committee chairman Sen. John Kerry followed with an opening statement in which he tried to assure senators that the convention would not grant any new […]
‘End this pregnancy and tie her tubes.’ That was the stark advice given by a a court-summoned doctor in a possible forced abortion case involving a mentally handicapped woman in Nevada, according to a transcript of a Nov. 1 hearing obtained by LifeSiteNews. Judge Egan Walker of Nevada’s 2nd District Court is holding evidentiary hearings […]
As a physician I deal with what Gerard Nadal, PhD (who blogs at Coming Home) writes about every day. I see the destruction this Culture of Death has caused to my patients and their families. STDs, infertility that inevitably results from STDs, increased rates of breast cancer, many due to hormonal contraceptive use or abortion, […]
All parents want their newborn child to be “perfect”—free from any physical or mental impairment. Mainstream culture teaches us to reject disabilities, and to reject the children themselves if prenatal tests reveal the presence of conditions like Down syndrome. When we fail to respect inherent human dignity, any number of excuses can be made as […]
Today is the feast of Blessed John Paul II. He is often referred to as John Paul the Great, but I will always know him simply as JPII. No doubt he was a mighty world/religious leader, but to many of us who grew up under his pontificate, he was also a gentle and humble shepherd […]
They didn’t see that coming. Planned Parenthood’s support of the UN Disability treaty has put the abortion group in an awkward position. In the abortion group’s zeal to support the treaty because it endorses the right of persons with disabilities to access “reproductive health care,” it neglects to notice that the same treaty would require […]
