This is a nice short article by a father of a child with autism.  The title says it all: Try reason, Not “Everything”

I spent a lot of time staring into my son’s eyes when he was born, and that’s how I noticed his left pupil was bigger than his right pupil. In dim light, the left pupil was more dilated. In outside light, there was no difference between them. I wasn’t really alarmed, until I mentioned it to my doctor, who said he should see a pediatric ophthalmologist, just to rule out a “growth.” Um, what? Did you just say my baby might have a brain tumor?

We had to wait a month for the appointment. But it wasn’t a growth; it was a normal variant. My son has physiologic anisocoria, which basically means one pupil is bigger, it’s genetic, and it’s no big deal. Apparently this affects tons of people. I’ve read ten percent and even twenty percent estimates. But I had never, ever met anyone who had one larger pupil. Or so I thought.

The day I took my son to the ophthalmologist, I came home and was telling my husband about anisocoria, and we were sitting in the dim light of our living room. I have known my husband since we were in college, but for the very first time in a couple decades, I noticed that his left pupil is larger than his right pupil. The proof is in the photo above.

Genetics, man.

duncan @ five minutes

By Dean Cameron

This past August 1, 2009 at 10:45am, my son, Duncan Huxley Cameron was born.

Not only is he quite a bit bigger now than he is in that photo, his ability to melt me with a look, has increased.

We are raising him as rationally as possible. Obviously, he’ll make his own decisions about how to interact with his world, but we’ll tell the truth as we see it and let it go. There’s plenty of woo out there for him to encounter and deal with on his own, so we don’t need to burden him with more at home. It’s going to be intersting as, even before he was born, people I consider rational were saying really weird and irrational things.

» Continue reading “Guest Dad Post – HAVIN’ MY BABAY”

Skepdad compiled a fantastic list of blogs, book recommendations, and other links:

These are sites I read, books I reference, documents I consult, or information I find otherwise useful and interesting. I’ve put it here specifically to be a central hub of information (hopefully useful for others) for all things skeptical, science, parenting, educational, or otherwise tangential to that.

Check it out.  You will be reading for days and days.

Hi skeptical parents, and welcome to the sixth edition of skeptical parent crossing! Sit back and get ready for a healthy dose of parental skepticism as parents like you question common wisdom and other claims. » Continue reading “Skeptical Parent Crossing #6″