The Mommy Brain Blog

I have a story on dolphin therapy in today's Washington Post, and have already received one outraged letter from a man whose daughter has benefited and who said that from the tone of this article, I couldn't possibly be the parent of a "special needs" child....There is a lot of fascinating stuff that didn't get in this story. Like the fact that Betsy Smith, the founder of the therapy, has since become a Zen Buddhist, increasing her objections to subjugating other "sentient beings," and that "The Cove," an amazing documentary on the slaughter of 23,000 dolphins a year in Taiji, Japan, starring ex-Flipper trainer Ric O'Barry, has been nominated for an Oscar -- and deserves one.
I was motivated to write this story by yet more evidence of this humongous, multi-faceted and completely unregulated industry that has grown up to cater to/exploit desperate parents of disabled children. In some cases, the entrepreneurs are clearly well-meaning, but that doesn't change the fact that fortunes are being spent, and in this case, animals cruelly exploited, for usually dubious results.

I have a story in the New York Times today about a humanitarian exception to our immigration laws...with an amazing photograph by the talented Theo Rigby.

Having finished my book on ADHD (due out in Sept. 2010) I'm now back to freelancing for awhile, focusing on my other obsession: global warming. Here's the latest, a blog item for the New York Times on the new attempts to overturn California's historic climate change law....

My stories on neurofeedback's promise and pitfalls appeared in today's Washington Post.

It has already engendered several comments, most of them, alas, expressing the all-too-common pooh-poohing of whether ADHD is "real" or God's judgment on inept parents and our video-gaming culture. I hope the tone improves as today goes on and that at some point we can accept that ADHD (like global warming) is a genuine cause of suffering that should be addressed in more thoughtful ways.

I have another story in the New York Times today -- about the decline in local seafood in the SF Bay Area....

So, not that I'm used to thinking of myself as a victim, but I spent three weeks following up a tip, traveling to Santa Rosa, and calling sources I've cultivated for years to write a story for the New York Times last Sunday only to have it blatantly ripped off by David Knowles of Sphere, who only after pressure from higher-ups included a link to the Times' story which still made it look like he originated it. Now the piece is being picked up all over the place, looking as if he originated the story. I think he should apologize, at least.

I have a story in yesterday's New York Times about doctors prescribing medical marijuana for adolescents with ADHD.

The advocates' view is that marijuana is medicine -- that it relieves suffering and should be allowed for a wide range of maladies, physical and mental. What I found from extensive reporting, however, is that the known issues with the drug, particularly the heightened risk of dependency among teens and people with ADHD, outweigh the immediate benefits.

There's gotta be something better....