He caught his first fish. He climbed a 10-foot ladder in harness and roared down a zip line - like Tarzan - giggling all the way. He paddled a canoe and got a black eye when his sailboat tipped. The ordinary rites of summer for most kids, but a new world for my son Ben.

From 24-hour "Baby's First TV" to Baby Einstein DVDs, it's hard to fault parents for getting the idea that sitting infants in front of a screen may prod development. But growing studies show screen time isn't good for baby's brain.

Envisioning New Meanings is an art exhibit that tells the stories of women with disabilities - in their own words and images. It grew out of workshops across Ontario where women were asked: "How can art change perceptions of disability and difference?"

A chilling article crossed my desk the other day. It's about Jonathan King, 13 (in an earlier photo right), a boy with ADHD who hung himself in a "time-out" room in an Atlanta, Georgia school for students with behaviour problems. As a parent, I had my own experiences with the unreported use of restraints in an Ontario school for children with physical disabilities.

A dad writes about Having a child with cerebral palsy on the New York Times Motherlode blog.

 

"Tactless acquaintances have told me they would kill themselves if they became as disabled as me," writes Laura Hershey in Handicap is not a death sentence and should not be treated as one in U.S. News and World Report.

The Way I See It: A Personal Look at Autism and Asperger's, Temple Grandin, 2008

 

So Don't! And See What Happens! is a hilarious children's book (ages 4-12) about what happens when one mom decides to stop nagging. It includes Madi - a girl who has cerebral palsy and uses a voice-output device - and is inspired by author Sarah Leal's daughter. "When Madi was younger, there were no books that depicted characters with CP that were not for educational purposes and certainly no non-verbal characters who were hearing," Sarah says.

 

Great story and cool illustrations!