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Autism is a disorder of neural development characterized by impaired social interaction and communication, and by restricted and repetitive behavior. The diagnostic criteria require that symptoms become apparent before a child is three years old.

Autism affects information processing in the brain by altering how nerve cells and their synapses connect and organize; how this occurs is not well understood.

 It is one of three recognized disorders in the autism spectrum (ASDs), the other two being Asperger syndrome, which lacks delays in cognitive development and language, and pervasive developmental disorder, not otherwise specified (commonly abbreviated as PDD-NOS), which is diagnosed when the full set of criteria for autism or Asperger syndrome are not met.

Parents usually notice signs in the first two years of their child's life. The signs usually develop gradually, but some autistic children first develop more normally and then regress. Early behavioral or cognitive intervention can help autistic children gain self-care, social, and communication skills. Although there is no known cure, there have been reported cases of children who recovered. Not many children with autism live independently after reaching adulthood, though some become successful. An autistic culture has developed, with some individuals seeking a cure and others believing autism should be accepted as a difference and not treated as a disorder. READ MORE HERE.

Even though autistic children are highly intelligent and loving, it is not easy to have a child or a member of the family who is autistic. Four of my friends have autistic children and I am aware of the challenges they face everyday. I salute their deep love for their children  and the way they have patiently given them nothing but the best of their love and resources. One of them is my ex-colleague whose sons are autistic. Another one is a former student who also has two autistic kids. The other two are blog readers who each has an autistic son.

This post and the following video is dedicated to them. May the sky be the limit as they endeavour to take care and to bring up their children in the best way possible.

May following video about the life of Jason McElwain inspire each one of us to be more than who we are today! Jason is an autistic teen who was chosen to manage his high school basketball team because of his unending enthusiasm. You've just got to watch where his enthusiasm took him... and the rest of us! In the video, Jason said, "the sky's the limit"; "give all the effort that you can to your dream"; and "never give up". Awesome!

Take care and God bless you all!

Guess who is the biggest government spender in world history....

According to Forbes:

The U.S. has never before had a President who thinks so little of the American people that he imagines he can win re-election running on the opposite of reality. But that is the reality of President Obama today.


CLICK HERE TO READ THE REST OF THE ENTRY.

At this point of time, I am sure many of you out there would rather be singing the oldie Guantanamera (which means 'Woman from Guantanamo') than to be thinking of Guantanamo, thanks to certain notes made public as reported HERE. Apparently, there was a legal dispute over the rightful composer of 'Guantanamera'. After a long battle, the Supreme Court of Cuba credited José Fernández Diaz, known as Joseíto Fernández as the sole composer of the music in 1993. (CLICK HERE for Celia Cruz's video.)

Ironically, the lyrics to the song relate to a woman from Guantánamo (the easternmost province of Cuba. Its capital is also called Guantánamo.), with whom Fernández  had a romantic relationship, and who eventually left him. The alleged real story behind these lyrics (or at least one of many versions of the song's origin that Fernández suggested during his lifetime) is that she did not have a romantic interest in him, but merely a platonic one. If the details are to be believed, she had brought him a steak sandwich one day as a present to the radio station where he worked. He stared at some other woman (and attempted to flirt with her) while eating the sandwich, and his friend yanked it out of his hands in disgust, cursed him and left. He never saw her again. These words are rarely sung today. (Source: HERE)

What about Guantanamo, to be more exact - Guantanamo Bay Detention Camp?

According to THIS LINK:

The Guantanamo Bay detention camp is a controversial detainment and interrogation facility of the United States located within Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba. The facility was established in 2002 by the Bush Administration to hold detainees from the war in Afghanistan and later Iraq.

It is operated by the Joint Task Force Guantanamo (JTF-GTMO) of the United States government in Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, which is on the shore of Guantánamo Bay.[1] The detainment areas consist of three camps: Camp Delta (which includes Camp Echo), Camp Iguana, and Camp X-Ray, the last of which has been closed. The facility is often referred to as Guantánamo, G-Bay or GTMO, after the military abbreviation for the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base.

After the US Department of Justice advised that the Guantanamo Bay detention camp could be considered outside U.S. legal jurisdiction, the first twenty captives arrived at Guantanamo on January 11, 2002. After the Bush administration asserted that detainees were not entitled to any of the protections of the Geneva Conventions, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld on June 29, 2006, that they were entitled to the minimal protections listed under Common Article 3 of the Geneva Conventions.

Following this, on July 7, 2006, the Department of Defense issued an internal memo stating that prisoners would in the future be entitled to protection under Common Article 3. Susan J. Crawford, who was appointed by Secretary of Defense Robert Gates to review practices used at Guantanamo Bay, told Bob Woodward of the Washington Post in an interview in January 2009 that Mohammed al-Qahtani was tortured while being held prisoner at Guantanamo Bay, making her the first Bush administration official to concede that torture occurred there. MORE AT THIS LINK.

If you want to know what goes on there, CLICK THIS LINK that will lead you to lots of information.

Other recommended readings:

Huffington Post's article which has 4, 288 comments!!! (must read, must watch!!!)

Sesame Street - Songs of War by Christopher Cerf,who has won two Grammy Awards and three Emmy Awards for his music.


Al-Jazeera's Report on Songs of War

Music in Psychological Operations

The Daily Mail's article

The Guardian's article

Here's a list of thought-provoking statements that I collected at random. I hope at least a few may tug at your heart's strings. :-) Take care and have a restful evening.

1 - The biggest adventure you can ever take is to live the life of your dreams.

2 - Spend more time trying to make something of yourself and do not worry about how to impress people.

3 - Sometimes you gotta quit thinking so much. If it feels right, it probably is. So just go with it.

4 - The more you are like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, which makes you unique.

5 - Let your heart guide you. It whispers, so listen closely.

6 - The past can hurt. You can either run from it or learn from it.

7 - Once in a lifetime, you meet a person who takes your breath away; not because you want them to, but because they're meant to.

8 - Memories are strange things. Some are so incredibly clear, probably because you've thought about them a thousand times.

9 - Just because you're right for each other, doesn't mean you're right for each other right now.

10 - Once in a lifetime, right in the middle of an ordinary life, we get a chance at a fairytale.

11 - Let your guard down; take a fall you'll never know if you're loved unless you give it your all.

12 - Don't gain the world and lose your soul. Wisdom is better than silver and gold.

13 - I know its wrong, but I believe in getting even.

14 - Just once I want my heart to lead me somewhere where there's a chance of a happy ending.

15 - You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present.

16 - So you failed. You want to be really great? Have the courage to fail big and stick around.
Make them wonder why you're still smiling.

17 - Nobody knows your limits better than you do, but every once in a while somebody will question all you know and they will push you for the better.

18 - If you're going to go through hell, I suggest you come back learning something.

19 - Distance between two hearts is not an obstacle, rather a great reminder of just how strong true love can be.

20 - The beautiful thing about memories is that they are yours; whether they are good, bad, or indifferent. They belong to you, and no matter where life takes you, your memories tie you to where you've been, and to where you are now.

21 - Life moves pretty fast. You don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.

22 - Instead of telling our young people to plan ahead, we should tell them to plan to be surprised.

23 - Goodbye is like putting a period to a sentence. There will be no more words to be added after the period. Unless if you make another new sentence.

24 - You know you really love some one when you can not hate them for breaking your heart.

25 - It all comes down to that one person you always think about before you fall asleep at night.

-Author Unknown-