Wednesday, March 13, 2013
FREE Article on Childhood Autism
Dr. Raymond Le Blanc has published my article Where Innocence Began on his website. Please accept this free article and go ahead and email it, print it, copy it, share it, distribute, but please do give me credit for authorship and don't change it.
Thanks, valued readers.
Tuesday, January 29, 2013
A story about my children, Mental Health, and me
Yes, that's correct grammar, it's "mental health and me" where "me" is the answer to "who"? Unsophisticated people know that "You and I" as subjects is correct whereas they use the "I" inappropriately as object and think they are correct. Just a little rant about a pet peeve. I've been corrected by people for using "me" correctly.
I didn't race last fall after all. My son passed away the end of September 2012 and we held a memorial the day of the race. He had very aggressive esophageal/stomach cancer which claimed him in a few months. He left behind friends, family, a partner to grieve, and a son. As well as wonderful memories which can never be replaced by anyone else in this world.
He was the closest to me of my children, a caring, kind, strong man of 44 years with an off the wall sense of humor. I miss him very much. My daughter and he were very close, thrown together by years of my emotional neglect when I was ill when they were growing up, and they relied on each other; mostly my son took the brunt of it as he was the elder.
I wrote a book about schizophrenia called The Insanity Machine, co-authored with Austin Mardon, PhD, who contributed his part via a couple of interviews with him. It's on eBook and in print now, available on Amazon, B&N and other venues. You could also get a signed copy by getting in touch with me at kennam [at] shaw [dot] ca.
I've asked Authors for a Cause to publish a book of short stories which I'm dedicating to my son, Steve Wild. He was into science fiction, robots, computers, reading and working on his blog, and helping those closest to him with their techie problems. When I was ill 22 years ago he took care of things at home.
I have another son, a fine young man of 50 years, who was born out of wedlock when I was 17. I gave him up for adoption at birth and he found me on February 14, 2001. He was raised by a good Mormon family and is very devout. We talk every week and see one another approximately once or twice a year. He lives about six hours south of here in a small town in southern Alberta.
My daughter is strong and brave. I spent Christmas with her this year and we spent two days and two nights on a float house on Quadra Island just off Vancouver Island. She lives in Vancouver in a cute two bedroom condo and works as a communications consultant and website specialist. She loves to travel and worked at the Olympics 2010 in Vancouver and in London in 2012 with the broadcasters. She also has an off the wall sense of humor.
I wonder where they got their sense of humor?
Below is the trailer for my published book, SpaceHive, also available on Amazon and B&N, etc, as well as Chapters Westside here in Edmonton. Enjoy. It's for kids of all ages and is dedicated to my three children and also my three grandsons, the little brats who don't call me, but I love them just the same as love is a mirror and what you give you get back eventually. I believe that.
Enjoy the video, kids of all ages.
I didn't race last fall after all. My son passed away the end of September 2012 and we held a memorial the day of the race. He had very aggressive esophageal/stomach cancer which claimed him in a few months. He left behind friends, family, a partner to grieve, and a son. As well as wonderful memories which can never be replaced by anyone else in this world.
He was the closest to me of my children, a caring, kind, strong man of 44 years with an off the wall sense of humor. I miss him very much. My daughter and he were very close, thrown together by years of my emotional neglect when I was ill when they were growing up, and they relied on each other; mostly my son took the brunt of it as he was the elder.
I wrote a book about schizophrenia called The Insanity Machine, co-authored with Austin Mardon, PhD, who contributed his part via a couple of interviews with him. It's on eBook and in print now, available on Amazon, B&N and other venues. You could also get a signed copy by getting in touch with me at kennam [at] shaw [dot] ca.
I've asked Authors for a Cause to publish a book of short stories which I'm dedicating to my son, Steve Wild. He was into science fiction, robots, computers, reading and working on his blog, and helping those closest to him with their techie problems. When I was ill 22 years ago he took care of things at home.
I have another son, a fine young man of 50 years, who was born out of wedlock when I was 17. I gave him up for adoption at birth and he found me on February 14, 2001. He was raised by a good Mormon family and is very devout. We talk every week and see one another approximately once or twice a year. He lives about six hours south of here in a small town in southern Alberta.
My daughter is strong and brave. I spent Christmas with her this year and we spent two days and two nights on a float house on Quadra Island just off Vancouver Island. She lives in Vancouver in a cute two bedroom condo and works as a communications consultant and website specialist. She loves to travel and worked at the Olympics 2010 in Vancouver and in London in 2012 with the broadcasters. She also has an off the wall sense of humor.
I wonder where they got their sense of humor?
Below is the trailer for my published book, SpaceHive, also available on Amazon and B&N, etc, as well as Chapters Westside here in Edmonton. Enjoy. It's for kids of all ages and is dedicated to my three children and also my three grandsons, the little brats who don't call me, but I love them just the same as love is a mirror and what you give you get back eventually. I believe that.
Enjoy the video, kids of all ages.
Thursday, July 19, 2012
SCHIZOPHRENIA SOCIETY OF ALBERTA "WALK AND RUN"
I'm walking 2.5 km (a pittance, I know!) in the annual SSA "Walk and Run" at Rundle Park here in Edmonton on Saturday, September 22, 2012.
Please consider donating an amount of your choice on-line to this worthwhile cause. A receipt will be issued for $20 or more.
It should be a fun day. I'm looking forward to it. Won't you join me, those who can? I'll keep you updated on my journey.
So far I have $45 in donations and my goal is $300. I haven't started asking for pledges yet on a pledge sheet off-line.
The SSA has offered their assistance in fundraising and are giving out free purple hair dye for participants.
Purple is their color, I think because of their flower the iris, which is adopted by the Canadian Schizophrenia Society because of Vincent Van Gogh's famous painting.
Some people think Vincent was schizophrenic. Also some people think Ernest Hemingway was schizophrenic or bipolar.
Many famous people may have had mental health problems, and I question whether their illnesses made them more creative and interesting people. Now anyone different or with behavioral concerns is set apart and a label given. I wonder if that is wise.
There seems to be a spectrum now of disorders, and I would question whether anyone really is normal.
Want to bet I can walk it? I'll jog, too, if I reach my goal of $300!!!
I'll be back with further updates. Comments are welcome. Would anyone like to join me, at least virtually, on this walk?
Please consider donating an amount of your choice on-line to this worthwhile cause. A receipt will be issued for $20 or more.
It should be a fun day. I'm looking forward to it. Won't you join me, those who can? I'll keep you updated on my journey.
So far I have $45 in donations and my goal is $300. I haven't started asking for pledges yet on a pledge sheet off-line.
The SSA has offered their assistance in fundraising and are giving out free purple hair dye for participants.
Purple is their color, I think because of their flower the iris, which is adopted by the Canadian Schizophrenia Society because of Vincent Van Gogh's famous painting.
Some people think Vincent was schizophrenic. Also some people think Ernest Hemingway was schizophrenic or bipolar.
Many famous people may have had mental health problems, and I question whether their illnesses made them more creative and interesting people. Now anyone different or with behavioral concerns is set apart and a label given. I wonder if that is wise.
There seems to be a spectrum now of disorders, and I would question whether anyone really is normal.
Want to bet I can walk it? I'll jog, too, if I reach my goal of $300!!!
I'll be back with further updates. Comments are welcome. Would anyone like to join me, at least virtually, on this walk?
Saturday, June 23, 2012
IT'S A WONDERFUL WORLD
Credit to Louis Armstrong for the ♫ ♫ ♫ song. It is a wonderful world, GO BUCKEYES, GO INDIANS!!!!
I wait for the next letter or phone call to set me free.
No, I amend that, I AM free. I wait for the next letter or phone call which will be wonderful I'm sure and if it doesn't make me happy, that's MY fault. I had loads of good friends when I first became ill, and now I'm normal and can help others heal.
Which might or might not be necessary, but I'm up for it.
Let the healing begin on all sides and to both parties and all parties.
Never forget to have fun, too. Heal and have fun. And love.
I wait for the next letter or phone call to set me free.
No, I amend that, I AM free. I wait for the next letter or phone call which will be wonderful I'm sure and if it doesn't make me happy, that's MY fault. I had loads of good friends when I first became ill, and now I'm normal and can help others heal.
Which might or might not be necessary, but I'm up for it.
Let the healing begin on all sides and to both parties and all parties.
Never forget to have fun, too. Heal and have fun. And love.
Monday, June 11, 2012
Enough is too much
I'm not doing anymore than I've done already to advocate. A letter to the editor of my daily newspaper, this blog, and what I've shared on My Fitness Pal, Facebook and Twitter is enough for now. I'll reassess later.
My good friends are happy for me and that's a treat. I've had dysfunctional friends in the past who certainly should have been left behind and are.
I want to address one other question, speaking of dysfunctional friends, there was 22 years ago a gay woman who drank too much and raised two grandchildren with the help of Social Assistance; they were children of her daughter, a prostitute. I tried to help that woman and her 11-year-old daughter and regret it very much. My one big fear is that she will come back in my life. Her name was Karen, and there are other dysfunctional people in my life whom I have left behind long ago. My daughter was neglected in favor of this woman and her daughter, and my other friends at the time, and my only excuse is my illness.
My name is quite public now in newspapers and magazines, and now a couple of books, and it isn't uncommon for vipers to latch onto public figures.
My father always said, "I refuse to let them make me live in fear."
My only recourse is to be honest and open, and avoid those emotional vampires from my past who would bring me down.
But that's enough about history.
Life goes on. I hope to continue with the good graces of friends and family, God and man.
I'm very fortunate to have good physical health. Now as I enter my 68th year in October, it's important to keep a good attitude as might I say, my friend Judi in Michigan displays, a woman who survived surgery for cancer the size of a grapefruit, and remains positive and loving. Kudos, Judi! Hope to see you again this fall.
I keep the number of my lawyer in mind, in case I need her. And depend on the good will and respect I've garnered during the past 20 years.
As my psych says, if negative thoughts arise, block them. I've dealt with them, now block them. It works pretty well.
Anyone else with a mental illness find that blocking or biofeedback or behavior mod works well?
A friend and neighbor in my apartment block is responding well to a decrease in meds. I recently had an increase but find that I sleep too much.
As I write, a fire alarm is sounding in the building next door. I'm also lucky to live in a fairly safe and clean building. I"ve owned my own house in the past and am happy to rent this little studio suite. Not a lot of room but it's my own and a lot can be said for that.
As Norman Vincent Peale once said, and the Secret tried to sound as though it was something just discovered, the power of positive thought.
Comments are welcome.
My good friends are happy for me and that's a treat. I've had dysfunctional friends in the past who certainly should have been left behind and are.
I want to address one other question, speaking of dysfunctional friends, there was 22 years ago a gay woman who drank too much and raised two grandchildren with the help of Social Assistance; they were children of her daughter, a prostitute. I tried to help that woman and her 11-year-old daughter and regret it very much. My one big fear is that she will come back in my life. Her name was Karen, and there are other dysfunctional people in my life whom I have left behind long ago. My daughter was neglected in favor of this woman and her daughter, and my other friends at the time, and my only excuse is my illness.
My name is quite public now in newspapers and magazines, and now a couple of books, and it isn't uncommon for vipers to latch onto public figures.
My father always said, "I refuse to let them make me live in fear."
My only recourse is to be honest and open, and avoid those emotional vampires from my past who would bring me down.
But that's enough about history.
Life goes on. I hope to continue with the good graces of friends and family, God and man.
I'm very fortunate to have good physical health. Now as I enter my 68th year in October, it's important to keep a good attitude as might I say, my friend Judi in Michigan displays, a woman who survived surgery for cancer the size of a grapefruit, and remains positive and loving. Kudos, Judi! Hope to see you again this fall.
I keep the number of my lawyer in mind, in case I need her. And depend on the good will and respect I've garnered during the past 20 years.
As my psych says, if negative thoughts arise, block them. I've dealt with them, now block them. It works pretty well.
Anyone else with a mental illness find that blocking or biofeedback or behavior mod works well?
A friend and neighbor in my apartment block is responding well to a decrease in meds. I recently had an increase but find that I sleep too much.
As I write, a fire alarm is sounding in the building next door. I'm also lucky to live in a fairly safe and clean building. I"ve owned my own house in the past and am happy to rent this little studio suite. Not a lot of room but it's my own and a lot can be said for that.
As Norman Vincent Peale once said, and the Secret tried to sound as though it was something just discovered, the power of positive thought.
Comments are welcome.
Sunday, June 10, 2012
U of A is OKAY but where's the Truth?
I posted a link on my Facebook page to a guest column and asked for feedback. The guest column is here and
I sort of regret posting it. I wondered what my readers thought of the U
of A's policy of encouraging students to "snitch" on other students who
might have mental health concerns. This news release to which I refer was dated two
years ago and I haven't heard anything of it since.
I was wondering if anyone had heard what's happening there at the U of A, my alma mater, and they probably wish they had never heard of me or that I had never entered their doors!
I made some trouble while I was there but it wasn't my fault. In my graduating year I developed a psychosis which involved a delusion of control and delusions of grandeur, to coin the psych's own phrases of yesteryear, which I think might be appropriate. I saw a psychologist at Students' Counseling for two or three years, with no diagnosis and no medication, and when I finished I was whisked away by Campus Security to the downtown police station, to jail, to court, and then to the forensic unit at Alberta Hospital with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia.
It seems something might have been done at the time to help me and the unfortunate professor who was at the helm trying to assist, but if this is a sample of the type of help offered there, then it didn't help me! Not until I got to Alberta Hospital, where I belonged in the first place, and then home, and now almost 40 years later, when I recognized that to get help I'd have to break the law and be referred to FACS (Forensic Assessment & Community Services). Which I did.
Unless of course, my delusions of control were correct.
I think the U of A has shown compassion in my case and vice versa. I could say that sending various post cards over the period of two weeks doesn't warrant jail time, when they weren't threatening in any way (asking for forgiveness), and apparently the judge agreed but the prosecutor didn't. I also could say that I took compassion on the accuser and dropped my "not guilty" plea to "guilty" immediately when I was told she was "frail", an accuser I suspect of being bipolar herself, but in a more powerful position than I was.
Whether or not I suffer from major delusions in this case is a thing I don't know and I will agree with the U of A that mental illness does pose a particular challenge, particularly if left unchecked.
I'd love to wear my U of A tee shirt. I'm proud of the institution and agree with the motto "Whatsoever things are true."
Truth may be relative. I don't believe it's absolute.
I'm still waiting for Truth. Anyone?
I was wondering if anyone had heard what's happening there at the U of A, my alma mater, and they probably wish they had never heard of me or that I had never entered their doors!
I made some trouble while I was there but it wasn't my fault. In my graduating year I developed a psychosis which involved a delusion of control and delusions of grandeur, to coin the psych's own phrases of yesteryear, which I think might be appropriate. I saw a psychologist at Students' Counseling for two or three years, with no diagnosis and no medication, and when I finished I was whisked away by Campus Security to the downtown police station, to jail, to court, and then to the forensic unit at Alberta Hospital with a diagnosis of paranoid schizophrenia.
It seems something might have been done at the time to help me and the unfortunate professor who was at the helm trying to assist, but if this is a sample of the type of help offered there, then it didn't help me! Not until I got to Alberta Hospital, where I belonged in the first place, and then home, and now almost 40 years later, when I recognized that to get help I'd have to break the law and be referred to FACS (Forensic Assessment & Community Services). Which I did.
Unless of course, my delusions of control were correct.
I think the U of A has shown compassion in my case and vice versa. I could say that sending various post cards over the period of two weeks doesn't warrant jail time, when they weren't threatening in any way (asking for forgiveness), and apparently the judge agreed but the prosecutor didn't. I also could say that I took compassion on the accuser and dropped my "not guilty" plea to "guilty" immediately when I was told she was "frail", an accuser I suspect of being bipolar herself, but in a more powerful position than I was.
Whether or not I suffer from major delusions in this case is a thing I don't know and I will agree with the U of A that mental illness does pose a particular challenge, particularly if left unchecked.
I'd love to wear my U of A tee shirt. I'm proud of the institution and agree with the motto "Whatsoever things are true."
Truth may be relative. I don't believe it's absolute.
I'm still waiting for Truth. Anyone?
Sunday, May 27, 2012
This is a bit scary, but I'm walking to support the Schizophrenia Society of Alberta on Saturday September 22, 2012. Please consider supporting me by donating at my pledge page. Any amount would be welcome. Any donation over $20 will be issued a tax receipt, so be sure to include your name and address for that.
If you like, I'll run part of the way! It's for a great cause!
Thanks, Judy, for your generous donation!
If you like, I'll run part of the way! It's for a great cause!
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