Anecdotes!
So several entertaining things have happened this past week, and I JUST had to share them with you. :)
On Wednesday, our Child Language Development class was talking about the prevalence of autism, and our prof told us that 1/165 people have autism. A colleague of mine raised her hand and asked what location that was based on; North American, Western Europe and NA, worldwide??? Our prof said that it's a NA and Western European figure; not much is known about autism elsewhere. Another person asked about autism in China and India, which still makes sense: they're very different culturally from us, and I believe that autism has some aspects of a social construct, since it's a wildly heterogeneous population. Then things got weird. The problem with being an academic (as much as I LOVE being student!!) is that we sometimes get a little disconnected from, oh say, reality. This became apparent when yet another peer inquired about the state of autism research in Africa. Ummm... somehow I don't think that autism is a really relevant issue in Africa right now. Your child behaves awkwardly in social situations? Autism, or the fact that he's starving, or she has AIDS? We live in the REAL WORLD people!! THINK! Use your COMMON SENSE. Megan and I just stared at each other... and now (in the vein of black humor) tend to kid each other about doing research on African Autism. *sigh*
Also, a friend of mine sent me an email about dating. He's not much of a writer, so I don't really expect his communications to be flawless, however... I totally bust a gut over this one. He was complaining about the traits he doesn't like in women, and was especially frustrated with those of the fairer sex who are cereal daters. No kidding! It drives me nuts when the guy I'm seeing insists on Fruit Loops every Friday night. ;)
Finally, I've already told you that Meg and I worked through the cadaver lab together on Friday. As we were checking out brainstem bits, Meg picked up a piece that was prosected (pre-dissected) to show us the thalamus and related structures. As she was slowly turning it to study it, it slipped from her fingers... and bounced onto the tray, splitting a bit! That dude's going to have trouble moderating his homeostasis! Uh oh ... The TA who was right there, got this shocked look on her face, which was beaten only by the look of pure horror on Meg's. "Oh dear, Meg," I said "guess you're going to have to replace that. Just lie down over here, and I'll get the scalpel...." :)
This weekend has been nutty so far. After my lab yesterday, I went to our department's research fair, where I heard about some of the other work going on. Nothing caught my attention more than my current plan for my thesis, so I'm taking the appropriate steps now to pursue that. Cool! Then it was off to the Doctor's for my annual thyroid check, and then to Safeway for groceries. Despite having a ton to carry home, I still managed to forget cucumber AND peppers. Crap! After dinner, I went over to Meg's to watch a movie... and we ended up watching both Rent and Narnia. She very kindly offered to drive me home, and I crawled into bed at 1!
Then it was up at 7.30 so I could get ready to go to the OASIS conference today. Melissa asked me "isn't it Saturday" while I was getting ready... I think she thought I was so on my school routine that I was getting ready for class! The sessions I attended were awesome. The first was a voice therapy class taught by a voice coach/actor, and it was phenomenal. If you want to learn some really good, relaxing ways to breathe, let me know. I'm hoping to get a group of us together... he said if we did, he'd be happy to come and teach us more! Then I went to a session on working with the hearing impaired (but not deaf) population. Despite being the largest disability group in Canada and North America, it isn't widely recognized as a real issue, and there's almost no funding available. Do you know that despite the fact that the average person with hearing loss has it in BOTH ears, most insurance companies will only give you $500 for ONE ear? And that the cost of ONE hearing aid starts at around $1500? So it costs you a minimum of $3000 for two, and your insurance will give you $500??? As the speaker said, how do you choose which ear gets to hear? Would you wear glasses with only one lens?? Clearly reform is desperately needed in this area.
Tonight I'm going to Al's house for a girly night of hanging out and playing of games. Yay! Then I'm coming home to crash. :) Tomorrow I'm either going to sleep waaaaaaay in (I need a little extra rest) or I'll go to church. My ride's out of town at the mo., and I know that God knows I love him, so maybe I'll sleep in. Then I'm thinking a long walk or rollerblade, and then homework for the afternoon. One of the 2nd years told us that this program is like "undergrad on crack" and she's totally right. You do twice as much stuff (if not more!) in the same amout of time. This morning it took a green tea, a coffee, and a diet Pepsi to get me through! I had to go the bathroom every 12 seconds, but I was awake, dagnabit!
And now I'm off. I need to finish my laundry before Al comes to get me. Later days, dudes!
Elizabeth
On Wednesday, our Child Language Development class was talking about the prevalence of autism, and our prof told us that 1/165 people have autism. A colleague of mine raised her hand and asked what location that was based on; North American, Western Europe and NA, worldwide??? Our prof said that it's a NA and Western European figure; not much is known about autism elsewhere. Another person asked about autism in China and India, which still makes sense: they're very different culturally from us, and I believe that autism has some aspects of a social construct, since it's a wildly heterogeneous population. Then things got weird. The problem with being an academic (as much as I LOVE being student!!) is that we sometimes get a little disconnected from, oh say, reality. This became apparent when yet another peer inquired about the state of autism research in Africa. Ummm... somehow I don't think that autism is a really relevant issue in Africa right now. Your child behaves awkwardly in social situations? Autism, or the fact that he's starving, or she has AIDS? We live in the REAL WORLD people!! THINK! Use your COMMON SENSE. Megan and I just stared at each other... and now (in the vein of black humor) tend to kid each other about doing research on African Autism. *sigh*
Also, a friend of mine sent me an email about dating. He's not much of a writer, so I don't really expect his communications to be flawless, however... I totally bust a gut over this one. He was complaining about the traits he doesn't like in women, and was especially frustrated with those of the fairer sex who are cereal daters. No kidding! It drives me nuts when the guy I'm seeing insists on Fruit Loops every Friday night. ;)
Finally, I've already told you that Meg and I worked through the cadaver lab together on Friday. As we were checking out brainstem bits, Meg picked up a piece that was prosected (pre-dissected) to show us the thalamus and related structures. As she was slowly turning it to study it, it slipped from her fingers... and bounced onto the tray, splitting a bit! That dude's going to have trouble moderating his homeostasis! Uh oh ... The TA who was right there, got this shocked look on her face, which was beaten only by the look of pure horror on Meg's. "Oh dear, Meg," I said "guess you're going to have to replace that. Just lie down over here, and I'll get the scalpel...." :)
This weekend has been nutty so far. After my lab yesterday, I went to our department's research fair, where I heard about some of the other work going on. Nothing caught my attention more than my current plan for my thesis, so I'm taking the appropriate steps now to pursue that. Cool! Then it was off to the Doctor's for my annual thyroid check, and then to Safeway for groceries. Despite having a ton to carry home, I still managed to forget cucumber AND peppers. Crap! After dinner, I went over to Meg's to watch a movie... and we ended up watching both Rent and Narnia. She very kindly offered to drive me home, and I crawled into bed at 1!
Then it was up at 7.30 so I could get ready to go to the OASIS conference today. Melissa asked me "isn't it Saturday" while I was getting ready... I think she thought I was so on my school routine that I was getting ready for class! The sessions I attended were awesome. The first was a voice therapy class taught by a voice coach/actor, and it was phenomenal. If you want to learn some really good, relaxing ways to breathe, let me know. I'm hoping to get a group of us together... he said if we did, he'd be happy to come and teach us more! Then I went to a session on working with the hearing impaired (but not deaf) population. Despite being the largest disability group in Canada and North America, it isn't widely recognized as a real issue, and there's almost no funding available. Do you know that despite the fact that the average person with hearing loss has it in BOTH ears, most insurance companies will only give you $500 for ONE ear? And that the cost of ONE hearing aid starts at around $1500? So it costs you a minimum of $3000 for two, and your insurance will give you $500??? As the speaker said, how do you choose which ear gets to hear? Would you wear glasses with only one lens?? Clearly reform is desperately needed in this area.
Tonight I'm going to Al's house for a girly night of hanging out and playing of games. Yay! Then I'm coming home to crash. :) Tomorrow I'm either going to sleep waaaaaaay in (I need a little extra rest) or I'll go to church. My ride's out of town at the mo., and I know that God knows I love him, so maybe I'll sleep in. Then I'm thinking a long walk or rollerblade, and then homework for the afternoon. One of the 2nd years told us that this program is like "undergrad on crack" and she's totally right. You do twice as much stuff (if not more!) in the same amout of time. This morning it took a green tea, a coffee, and a diet Pepsi to get me through! I had to go the bathroom every 12 seconds, but I was awake, dagnabit!
And now I'm off. I need to finish my laundry before Al comes to get me. Later days, dudes!
Elizabeth
posted by Elizabeth @ 17:33
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