NOVEMBER 12, 2017 TELL IT LIKE IT IS

I PLEAD GUILTY. As an educator, I have met ALL kinds of kids. It's my business. I know when a kid is on the spectrum or suffers from mental health issues. I've seen it enough.  I've done the dance--tried to mention the "QUIRKY" behavior or "ISSUES"  to the parents YADA YADA-- AND URGE them to discuss IT with their pediatrician. DON'T THINK ONE PERSON HAS  EVER TAKEN MY ADVICE.  I get it--NO ONE wants to hear that their kid is different--BUT the reality is that THESE KIDS ARE NOT GETTING THE HELP THAT THEY DESPERATELY NEED. They grow up ISOLATED--LONELY--ANGRY-- unable to understand social cues. MANY become FRUSTRATED--DESPERATE ADULTS. If we want to see a change IT MUST start in schools WHEN THE KIDS ARE STILL YOUNG. Educators and other professionals need to SPEAK UP-- use their expertise. A DIAGNOSIS OF AUTISM OR MENTAL ILLNESS SHOULD BE on par with a diagnosis of DIABETES. If a kid had Diabetes--NO ONE WOULD IGNORE IT RIGHT??  THIS HAS TO BE MANDATORY--SO  CHILDREN CAN GET THE SERVICES THEY NEED.  THE SYSTEM MUST CHANGE. WE ALL NEED TO DO A BETTER JOB--PARENTS, EDUCATORS, GOVERNMENT. LET'S BE HONEST--HELP GUIDE--NOT HIDE.  THE PROBLEM IS REAL. We can't afford to sweep it under the rug anymore.

 Edith Wharton tried to expose problems in society in the early 1900's in her wonderful novel The House of Mirth. Wharton was truly a Renaissance woman.  She was the first woman to win a Pulitzer Prize in Literature, and designed several homes including one in Newport Rhode Island, and her primary residence, The Mount, which is still open to visitors today in Lenox, Massachusetts.  She's an interesting woman because she rejected the social norms of the day and considered them superficial and oppressive. In The House of Mirth, Wharton not only criticized the social pressure  women felt to conform through her main character, Lily Bart, but she also attacked the corruption of the upperclass as she portrayed them as  heartless, cruel and materialistic. In the novel, Lily Bart is a stunning beauty, well-bred and educated--with one flaw. Her family lost all of their money so she must depend on her beauty and the kindness and favor of others.  Her vocation-- find a wealthy husband with the right social status to secure her place in New York City society. Lily is torn though.  She yearns to be free of social conventions to live her life the way she sees fit.  As a single woman, she has no rights, no property, no money and is forced to rely on men. She's twenty-nine and her prospects for marriage are waning. Will Lily break free from the mold and live life on her own terms or will she be forced to marry because she is penniless?? After all, that's what she's been bred to do. Find out when you read this portrait of what life was like for  women at that time period. It's a beautifully written classic of about 340 pages or a 5 mile run that will make you happy it's 2017.