Billy Powell

I just saw online that Billy Powell, the piano player for Lynyrd Skynyrd died yesterday, apparently of a heart attack. I saw him play a couple of times. The dude could tear up the keys.
Though the band today is pretty much just a tribute band, Billy was one of the few remaining original members. He was 56, which means the dude was in his early twenties when Skynyrd first hit it big. It's a widely known fact that he was a Christian, so I expect he's in Heaven right now.

Peace.

Star light, star bright....

Actually it's Venus. Really bright tonight and close to a beautiful crescent moon. Go outside and check it out.

Sara Groves, I saw what I saw

Temple Grandin: Autism is no obstacle

Last night we went to a lecture that was part of the "Creative Mind Symposium of Ideas" presented by Savannah Country Day School. From the website:

"Creative Minds brings leaders, experts and pioneers in a wide range of fields -from parenting to cultural issues - to share their wisdom in open, community wide forums in Savannah. This fourth annual speaker series, which runs throughout the 2008-2009 school year, is designed to stimulate dialogue and spark debate about issues that affect us all."

Last night's speaker was Temple Grandin, Ph.D., the best-known adult with autism and the author of best-selling books like Thinking in Pictures and Animals in Translation: Using the Mysteries of Autism to Decode Animal Behavior. She also has over 300 articles published in both scientific journals and livestock periodicals. Because she thinks in pictures, much the way animals do, she became interested in livestock and has invented livestock handling devices that are used nation-wide in the U.S.

I enjoyed it immensely. During her presentation Dr. Grandin offered a lot of personal insight about autism and said a lot of things that I already suspected to be true:

Autism is a spectrum disorder. Seeing the movie 'Rain Man' does not mean you have just been introduced to everyone who has autism. As I've said before, though I haven't been diagnosed, I believe I fall somewhere on the spectrum. In fact, had the awareness level been higher when I was a child, then I strongly believe I would have been diagnosed. There were years of my life when I was isolated from my peers and just couldn't seem to figure out what all the rules were for social interaction.

For instance, I can remember wondering how everybody seemed to know what to say to start a conversation. Was there a book that told them when it was okay to talk and what words to use? With my family it was easier, because I was acclimated to them, but put me with people that I hadn't known since the crib and I would clam right up with no idea how to unclam.

One of my favorite books on the subject was co-authored by Dr. Grandin:


It really opened my eyes about a lot of things I had experienced while growing up. Things that dogged me right on into adulthood. Thankfully, there is much more awareness now and my son is getting intervention that is practical and proven. We give him tools like 'conversation starters' and use methods that help him understand sequence of events. He is learning how to make eye contact and relate to his peers in appropriate ways. (Thank you Lord for knowledge!)

Another thing Dr. Grandin said to confirm my suspicions was this:

"Fear is the main emotion in autism."

This has certainly been true in my experience. And while I know most of this is neurologically based, I can't help but think that there is a spiritual component to autism. I know that a life-verse for me has always been 2 Timothy 1:7 "For God has not given us the spirit of fear, but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind" (NKJV). That verse has comforted me when nothing else could. We really have no clue of what all was lost at the Fall. Our bodies began to die and our minds were severely affected.

But God is in the business of restoration. I knew that when I named my son it was a prophetic thing. I named him Caleb, because I wanted him to have courage like the biblical Caleb. To have a wholehearted belief that God could accomplished what He promised. In hindsight, it was even more prophetic than I realized. He will live up to that name and fear will have no hold on him.

Another thing Dr. Grandin said was that everyone exhibits some autistic traits. What leads to diagnosis is getting several of them and to degrees that hinder you. Everyone talks about autism being on the rise, but I believe it's always been here; it just hasn't been recognized and called by that name. (Nerd and Geek are sometimes just synonyms for Asperger's, a specific type of autism.)

But autism doesn't have to be insurmountable. Early intervention can make a huge difference. I came away from the talk feeling encouraged about myself and my son. Dr. Grandin has succeeded because of her autism, not just in spite of it. Because her mind works differently she was able to design chutes and devices that handle livestock more effectively and make treatment and slaughter of animals more humane. She emphasized that we should find out what a child is good at and encourage them to pursue it. If I could write a blurb for her lecture it would be this: "Good common sense meets profound truth."

Or to flower it up: "God will use what we regard as a weakness to show His power and glory."

Peace.

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P.S. A special thanks to my mother-in-law for watching our boys for us. You rock! And to Anna and Noah, we really enjoyed hanging out with you guys. Let's do it again soon.

The thing that should not be

No, this isn't about a Metallica song. It's about this disturbing fact: George Clinton is on this season of 'Gone Country' and is going to try to learn how to do country music.



Dude, you are the Godfather of Funk. You are George Doctor Funkenstein Clinton, better known as the Maggot Overlord of Parliament Funkadelic. You do not need to do country music. Not that I don't love country music. Some of it is very awesome. But this is like Pat Boone putting out a metal album. It's just a bad idea.

What's going on?

So here's another update on my thyroid problems. Went to the doctor today and he explained that my TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), which is produced by the pituitary gland is not exhibiting the inverse relationship to the thyroid hormone that it is supposed to trigger the thyroid to produce.

Say huh?

In other words, my T4 (thyroid hormone) levels are low. But so are my TSH levels. When T4 is low, the TSH levels typically increase because the pituitary starts trying harder to tell the thyroid to make T4. This doesn't seem to be happening. Which means the pituitary gland could be the cause for the hypothyroidism.

If this turns out to be the case, this would effect the treatment since the pituitary also regulates other glands and normal kidney function. Said another way, pituitary gland failure means that the other glands may also be failing and treatment other than just thyroid may be necessary.

Man, I hope that's not the case. Cause I really thought we had this thing figured out, and I'm getting tired of going to the doctor.

The doc did quiz me on how I was feeling. He seemed encouraged by the fact that I'm feeling better than I have in a long long time. But he went ahead and scheduled me for an MRI next week. He also mentioned that he may end up referring me to an endocrinologist, depending on what we find.

Anywho, maybe we'll get this nailed down before long.

Peace.

Moral dilemma

Is it wrong for me to ask my three year old son to smell my feet and tell me if they stink?

We have ways of making you talk!

Some prisoners of war that I found while looking for ice cream.





I fear they died a slow death. And I'm pretty sure my oldest son has never heard of the Geneva Convention.

I'm tired I tell you!

I haven't blogged about it yet, but I found out about a month or so ago that my thyroid doesn't seem to be working like it should. Don't know how long this has been going on. One of the questions they asked me was "Do you feel tired a lot?". Oh yeah. And then, "How long has that been going on?" Oh, about forty years.

Anywho, I'm not sure that my thyroid has been underactive for that whole time, but it's nice to get a confirmation that it is not due to some innate laziness that I stay tired. They've prescribed a generic form of synthroid:


I will go back in a few months to see how it's working (they look at my blood for certain levels of whatever), and adjust the dosage if necessary.

I'm already taking medicine for blood pressure and cholesterol. So I really don't like the idea of taking a bunch of pills, but if it will help I'm beginning to think that whatever it takes to feel better is worth it.

Alright then, let me get out of here and go to work.

Fleshy headed mutant, are you friendly?

Okay, eh. Like this one is for Wunderkraut and that other hoser, Noah.

Wish I had been more timely with this

Christmas is over, but here's a good message pertaining to it, from John Eldredge over at Ransomed Heart ministries. Gotta go to work now. Peace.