It was another early playoff exit for the Washington Capitals. So what else is new. It has been happening for 30 years now. Will it happen for another 30 years? Anyway, at least the Caps made it to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs before being swept by the Tampa Bay Lightning. There is some good news. Coach Bruce Boudreau won’t be fired, and his wacky commercials for Mercedes-Benz will continue. To read my article on Examiner.com, click here.
Interview with autism advocate Sheila Medlam about son Mason and wandering
April 23, 2011On July 27, 2010, 5-year old Mason Medlam, a non-verbal boy with autism, wandered from his home in Colwich, Kansas and drowned in a pond despite numerous safety precautions. Click here to read an interview with Mason’s mother Sheila.
Mason was one of at least nine children with autism in the U.S. who died after wandering in 2010, all from drowning. So far in 2011, three children with autism in the U.S. have drowned after wandering. On March 30, a child with autism in Victoria, Australia died after being struck by a train. On April 3, a child with autism in Quebec, Canada went missing after wandering and has not been found.
In the eight months since her son Mason’s death, Sheila Medlam has been raising awareness of autism wandering. She has established the Mason Allen Medlam Foundation for Autism Safety and collected more than 100,000 signatures to propose a “Mason Alert” program. The Mason Alert would consist of an alert that would be triggered when a child with autism goes missing, and a registry of children with autism and other disabilities at risk for wandering.
Please click here to read the interview with Sheila Medlam on Examiner.com.
Preventing autism wandering: tracking devices, medical diagnostic code, Amber Alert proposed
April 22, 2011Children with autism are often prone to wandering, fascinated by water, and unaware of danger. Many of these children are also impulsive and nonverbal. This combination of characteristics can be fatal.
In 2010, at least nine children with autism died in the U.S. after wandering, all of them by drowning. Already in 2011, at least three children with autism have drowned in the U.S. after wandering. On March 30, a child with autism in Victoria, Australia died after being struck by a train. He wandered from home. On April 3, a child with autism in Quebec, Canada went missing after wandering and has not been found. The search has focused on a river.
“It’s just terrible to watch it happen over and over again. We relive the loss of Mason each time,” said Sheila Medlam, whose 5-year old son Mason drowned in a pond after wandering away from his house in Colwich, Kansas July 27, 2010.
In an interview with Examiner.com, Medlam talked about the life of her son Mason, the joy he brought her and her family, his tragic death, and efforts to raise awareness to prevent future wandering fatalities.
For more on wandering and autism, read the rest of my article on Examiner.com here.
Washington D.C. sportsradio station ESPN 980 broadcasts Orioles games. Should they?
April 16, 2011
Why is a Washington, D.C. sports radio station airing Orioles games? This view of Camden Yards is from I-95, headed to D.C. Photo by Mike Frandsen.
Should a Washington, D.C. sportsradio station broadcast Baltimore Orioles games? WTEM ESPN 980 does – they have the contract for two seasons. I find it strange because the Orioles tried to prevent Washington from getting a team for so many years. ESPN 980 doesn’t talk much about the Nats except when they have their beat reporter on. They talk even less about the O’s, which is appropriate, but then it seems strange to air the games and never talk about the O’s. I guess my problem is with all the Washingtonians who are O’s fans. Why not be loyal to your hometown team? I interviewed the station’s Program Director, Chuck Sapienza about ESPN 980’s decision to air O’s games. Here’s the interview on Examiner.com.
‘Wretches and Jabberers’ documentary playing in 40 cities in April for Autism Awareness Month
April 3, 2011Wretches and Jabberers: And Stories from the Road is a powerful, moving documentary that follows two men with autism as they travel the world, visiting friends with autism and changing attitudes about disabilities along the way.
The potentially groundbreaking film opens in 40 cities in April to commemorate National Autism Awareness Month.
Many people with autism have extremely limited verbal skills or no speech whatsoever. It has long been assumed by the general public, and even by many parents, educators, and caretakers that scant speech equals low intelligence.
In Wretches and Jabberers, the movie’s protagonists dispel this myth. The two men and the four friends they visit show the world that they are in fact exceedingly intelligent, eloquent in their writings, and charmingly funny. Like Helen Keller before them, the “wretches” in the movie are pioneers, blazing trails for others to follow. The message of the movie is to show the world that there are others like them who are vastly underestimated and whose potential is untapped. It is a message of hope.
The film follows Tracy Thresher, 42, and Larry Bissonnette, 52, both from Vermont, as they travel to Sri Lanka, Japan, and Finland to visit friends during their globetrotting tour who, like them, type independently to communicate.
Academy Award-winning filmmaker Gerardine Wurzburg directed the feature documentary.
Thresher, Bissonnette, and the friends they visit can all type independently. But they first learned to communicate using supported typing (click here for an article about that technique).
The soundtrack was written by J. Ralph, with songs performed by a star-studded group of artists including Judy Collins, Ben Harper, Scarlett Johansson, Nic Jones, Norah Jones, Carly Simon, Stephen Stills, and Bob Weir.
Click here to read the rest of my Wretches and Jabberers article on Examiner.com.
State of Play: Very good movie filmed in Washington, D.C.
March 27, 2011I just saw State of Play for the first time last night. It’s a very good movie set and filmed in Washington, D.C. A lot of the city was shown, and it was nice to see three longtime local reporters get cameos — anchor Jim Vance, reporter Chris Gordon, and former sports anchor and Redskins play-by-play guy Frank Herzog, all of whom have been on TV in D.C. since the early 1980s or even late 1970s. Chris Matthews of Hardball also made it – he’s sort of local but also national. The one gripe I had was that in the Washington Globe’s newsroom they showed a guy wearing an Orioles cap instead of a Nationals cap. True, they filmed several years ago and the Nats had only been around a couple of years, but it’s still a slap in the face to D.C., though there are still O’s fans in Washington. Other than that, they did an excellent job, and more movies should try so hard to capture the scenes from D.C. The movie was probably good enough to crack my top 100 but right now I’m too lazy to update it. I’d definitely also put Inception and possibly Avatar in.
Reggie Miller – try to give Len Elmore some respect
March 27, 2011Reggie Miller is usually pretty good as a color commentator on the NBA, but Len Elmore is a much better college analyst. So when Miller constantly argued with Elmore and stepped on his toes during the NCAA tournament’s Butler-Florida telecast, it didn’t sound too good. Keep Johnson and Elmore together – Elmore is probably the best color guy in the country. He’s good with Mike Patrick too. Elmore is better than Clark Kellogg and Bill Raftery, better than Dick Vitale too. Elmore is as good of an analyst as Jay Bilas but Bilas can be overbearing and little annoying as a know it all.
Having the NBA guys in the studio was a little awkward. Kenny Smith was ok but Charles Barkley didn’t do his homework. Greg Anthony was very good because he’s been doing college for a few years now. Steve Smith is very average.
Miller is pretty good on the NBA but he made himself look bad next to the classy Elmore.
I used to think Gus Johnson was cheesy like Kevin Harlan but Gus’ enthusiasm is real and he actually sounds very good now.
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Kornheiser and Wilbon: sick of hearing about New York and Chicago
March 24, 2011Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon constantly talk about New York and Chicago on Pardon the Interruption. It’s as if they are ashamed of the last three decades that they have spent in Washington, D.C. It’s so weird to hear Kornheiser on PTI say, “I’m a New Yorker” and to hear Wilbon say things like Derrick Rose of Chicago is a hands down choice to win the MVP in the NBA even though others like Dwight Howard, Dirk Nowitzki, and Kevin Durant are equally deserving.
Kornheiser has been in Washington for half his life – 31 years, yet he loves to tell everyone he’s a New Yorker. Both Kornheiser and Wilbon completely ignore the championship history of the Washington Bullets, yet they’re perfectly willing to acknowledge the championship history of the Redskins. Kornheiser is always talking about the 1970s Knicks.
Never once has he mentioned the Bullets. I’m just tired of hearing these Washingtonians constantly talk about their previous hometowns.
Mike Anderson leaves Missouri to coach Arkansas
March 24, 2011
Mike Anderson left Missouri to become the new head basketball coach at Arkansas. Photo by Mike Frandsen.
Mike Anderson has accepted the job as the basketball coach at Arkansas after coaching the last five years at Missouri. He also coached Alabama-Birmingham from 2002 to 2006 and was an assistant at Arkansas from 1985 to 2002. Anderson coached under former Razorbacks coach Nolan Richardson, who lead Arkansas to the national title in 1994.
Anderson’s teams made the NCAA tournament six out of the last nine years including this season, when Missouri lost to Cincinnati in the opening round.
Mike Anderson, seen here coaching Missouri against Cincinnati in the 2011 NCAA tournament, is the new basketball coach at Arkansas. Photo by Mike Frandsen.
Kemba Walker scores 33 to lead UConn over Cincinnati 69-58 and into Sweet 16
March 20, 2011Star point guard Kemba Walker scored 33 points to lead the 3rd-seeded Connecticut Huskies to a 69-58 victory over 6th-seeded Cincinnati in a West Region NCAA tournament game Saturday night at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C.
Walker, a national player of the year candidate, scored inside and out, hitting three 3-pointers and making all 14 of his free throw attempts, most of them after driving into the lane. Walker also grabbed six rebounds and dished out five assists.
To read the rest of my article on Examiner.com, click here.
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