From the Seattle Times:

Emilia Murry Ramey and Jody John Ramey were introduced by a mutual friend when they were students and have been married since 2006.

The pair, who both have Asperger’s syndrome, have written a book that grew out of their own experiences: “Autistics’ Guide to Dating: A Book by Autistics, for Autistics and Those Who Love Them or Who Are in Love with Them.”

They emphasize communication and try to break down stereotypes.

“A lot of literature on autistics comes from the medical community that shows autistics as broken and in need of fixing,” Jody said. “We don’t talk about autism as a deficit at all. We talk about how to sell the positive traits of autism in a romance.”

See earlier post here.

From the New York Times, a story that’s been hovering at or near the top of the ‘most e-mailed’ list:

It’s the tale of what’s being called a breakthrough in neuroscience: a potential new drug to reduce symptoms of schizophrenia. Instead of going the traditional route and relying on the neurotransmitter dopamine, research at Eli Lilly & Company focuses instead on glutamate.

The Lilly results have fueled a wave of pharmaceutical industry research into glutamate. Companies are searching for new treatments, not just for schizophrenia, but also for depression and Alzheimer’s disease and other unseen demons of the brain that torment tens of millions of people worldwide.

Driving the industry’s interest is the huge market for drugs for brain and psychiatric diseases. Worldwide sales total almost $50 billion annually, even though existing medicines have moderate efficacy and have side effects that range from reduced libido to diabetes.

Michael E. Baroody Jr., an attorney from Northern Virginia, shares a pair of letters he prepared in reaction to the statement by UNC biology professor Albert Harris that fetuses with Down syndrome should be aborted.

Mr. Baroody wrote the first letter in response to the op-ed in the Charlotte News and Observer by public editor Ted Vaden, and sent the second to Prof. Harris.

Dear Mr. Vaden:

After reading your article in Sunday’s News and
Observer, I felt compelled to share with you the
letter I wrote to Professor Harris. My letter was not
“damning” or “threatening”. I merely wanted to convey
to him how his comments can impact those with Down
syndrome, including my daughter. My letter is
attached and I hope you read it. (Incidentally, I
have not yet received a response from Professor
Harris.)

I was pleased to read your acknowledgement that we
parents of children with Down syndrome are
“understandably upset”; you also stated that you
“sympathize” with families upset by the comments. And
you acknowledged that the Professor’s comments were
“insensitive” and “ill-considered”. Your sentiments
are welcome. I would only add that the Professor’s
comments were deeply offensive and actually are
damaging to those with DS. As Professor Harris is
aware, people with DS can face many challenges. Our
society has a clear choice: we can either help them
face those challenges, or we can add to those
challenges by, for instance, questioning the
legitimacy of their existence.

Sincerely,

Michael E. Baroody Jr.
Centreville, Virginia

__________

Letter to Professor Harris
Dear Professor Harris:

Today I read an article from yesterday’s Chapel Hill
News publicizing your belief that fetuses which appear
to have Down syndrome should be aborted. You stated
that this is actually the “moral” thing to do because
of the effect on families, saying: “I knew somebody
who had a child like this, and it ruined their life.”

I am truly sorry for your friend’s ruined life, but
that single example lends little support for your
opinion, (more…)

From the [Charlotte] News & Observer:

Ted Vaden, the paper’s public editor, analyzes the media storm around UNC Prof. Albert Harris, who told his embryology class that fetuses with Down syndrome should be aborted.

I still have a nagging uneasiness about this story. It is a piece about a single remark in a lengthy lecture that, the professor says, was intended for discussion, not indoctrination. I have qualms about the headline “Abortion remark angers students,” when only one student complained. Sam Spies, the reporter, said he found only one student in the class who objected to the comment, although at least one other has since voiced concern. On the first page of the article, the story reported only the offending quote and the criticism, saving explanation from Harris and his defenders for the “jump” page inside the paper.

And I’m concerned that perhaps the paper was manipulated by an interest group with an agenda. The N&O learned about the flap from a news release from Carolina Students for Life, a pro-life group on campus. It said, “This latest account follows several reports of professors intimidating students or teaching personal opinions as course curricula” — which suggests to me a separate agenda. The story didn’t tell us about the pro-life group’s role, which it should have.

Harris made an insensitive remark. I sympathize with the offended student, who has a brother with Down syndrome, and with families upset by the comment.

But the statement was ill-considered, not ill-intentioned, and I don’t think Harris deserves the national condemnation that has befallen him. (Where, I wonder, are fellow faculty and administrators standing up for academic freedom?)

I have doubts whether the story should have run at all, given its provenance. But if it had to — can we ignore a news release? — I’d like to have seen better context, higher in the story, that would have given readers a more nuanced understanding of a professor just trying to teach.

From the St. Paul Pioneer Press:

An exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota examines the eugenics movement implemented by Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 1940s, and the role that scientists played in legitimizing and implementing policies aimed at changing the genetic makeup of the population. The exhibit points out the parallels with activities in the United States and elsewhere.

Eugenics is the belief that the human species could be improved by discouraging or stopping reproduction by people with genetic defects or undesirable traits and encouraging reproduction among those believed to have desirable, inheritable traits. It was carried out to its most horrifying extremes in Nazi Germany.

The theory also was promoted and practiced in places beyond Germany, including the United States and Minnesota.

… In Minnesota, a 1925 law paved the way for the sterilization of more than 1,200 “feeble-minded” or insane patients at the state hospital in Faribault, according to Neal Holtan, a medical historian and medical director of the St. Paul-Ramsey County Public Health Department.

… Experts said the exhibit raises questions about present-day concerns over the intersection of science and politics, the rights of individuals versus the larger population and 21st century eugenics.

“We have the human genome. As soon as we start passing judgment on what are good genes or bad genes, it’s going to start all over again,” said Holtan.

Andrew Lawson has Down syndrome.

From the Boston Globe, with video:

Andrew Lawson is a member of the basketball team in his Hanover, MA, high school. In one game last month, he scored 11 points.

In Andrew’s four years at Norwell, teachers, administrators, and coaches have worked under the theme of inclusion. He did not take separate classes. If he wanted to play sports, they found a way to make it happen.

Jim and Regina Lawson only wanted their son to have an experience to equal his peers. What they received was a community of support to grant Andrew the optimal environment for learning.

“I look at how far everyone has come in this process, and it really starts from his parents and their expectations of Andrew and the school,” Norwell special education teacher Judy Field said. “Their expectations were high, and it’s one that everyone has risen to.”

Basketball player Hennefer is selected as one of the Sports Illustrated “Faces in the Crowd,” to appear in the print edition of the magazine on Feb. 25.

He is also featured in a New York Times story: High school player with Down syndrome shoots, scores

See earlier stories starting here.