ParentDishhttp://www.parentdish.comParentDishhttp://www.parentdish.com/media/feedlogo.gifParentDishhttp://www.parentdish.comen-usCopyright 2012 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only.Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/Miracle Girl Survives Fight With Rabieshttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/14/miracle-girl-survives-rabies/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/14/miracle-girl-survives-rabies/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/14/miracle-girl-survives-rabies/#commentsFiled under: ,

Rabies

The survival rate for rabies -- unless the virus is attacked early and aggressively -- is practically zero. Credit: Getty Images

An old journalistic axiom tells us "dog bites man" is not news. It's just not extraordinary enough.

Oh really? What if the dog (or cat) has rabies, the victim is not a man but a little girl and (get this) the girl is alive and doing fine?

Then you have more than a news story. You have a miracle.

The survival rate for rabies -- unless the virus is attacked early and aggressively -- is practically zero. And the San Francisco Chronicle reports 8-year-old Precious Reynolds certainly had a rough go of it. She was in a coma at UC Davis Children's Hospital.

Nonetheless, she's alive.

Only three people in the United States can make that claim after facing down rabies, and Reynolds is the only one in California.

Rabies is rare. There are only three or four cases a year in the United States, but the results are usually fatal. The Chronicle reports there have been eight cases in California in the past 11 years and, until Reynolds, no survivors.

Maybe it helps the little girl is a professional wrestling fan.

"I'd tell her that she had a big bad bug inside her, and she had to fight this big bad bug," her grandmother Shirlee Roby tells the Chronicle. "I told her she had to put him on the mat and put him in a half-nelson and pin him. And by golly if she didn't do it."

Rabies attacks the nervous system, damaging and disabling basic bodily functions from breathing to swallowing and eventually going after the brain. Humans get the virus when they're bitten or scratched by infected animals.

A vaccine given shortly after a person is bitten is highly effective at preventing illness. But sometimes people are bitten and don't know it. No one knows how Reynolds got the virus. However, the Chronicle reports, a feral cat she was playing with a few weeks before she became ill is on the short list of suspects.

At first, Reynolds had flu-like symptoms, becoming increasingly weak. Within days, she was on a ventilator at the hospital.

Treatment for rabies is intense. Patients are put into a drug-induced coma, basically to shut down their brains so the virus can't get to it. Reynolds was a in a coma for about a week.

The Chronicle reports she may have suffered some permanent neurological damage from the infection, but she's up and walking around with the help of a walker and able to talk and write. Her doctors tell the Chronicle it is a miracle, one no one should expect to repeat itself.

"These cases are giving us a better understanding of the spectrum of rabies," Arup Roy-Burman, a pediatric intensive care physician at Children's Hospital Oakland, tells the newspaper. "Survival from rabies is likely dependent upon both host, meaning the patient, and virus factors."

Still, he adds, Reynold's case is wonderful. "It's very exciting to see survivors from this disease. We're at least letting people know that it's not necessarily futile" to treat rabies.

As for Reynolds, she's happy to be going home to be with her family and Copper, the family dog.

"I like animals," she tells the Chronicle. "They're nice. Some of them."

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]]>precious reynoldsRabiesrabies survivorTom HendersonTue, 14 Jun 2011 15:00:00 ESTTerminally Ill Teen's Bucket List Inspires Donations Worldwidehttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/10/teens-bucket-list/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/10/teens-bucket-list/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/10/teens-bucket-list/#commentsFiled under: ,



Swim with sharks. Travel to Kenya. Star in a photo shoot. Go whale watching. Get a purple iPad. Get everyone to sign up to be a bone marrow donor.

These are all on Alice Pyne's bucket list, and her recent blog, "Alice's Bucket List," is inspiring folks around the world to help the terminally ill teen with cancer cross them off her list.

Pyne, 15, launched the blog June 6, and already it has gone viral, MSNBC reports, adding that Katy Perry and other celebs have tweeted about the blog, and the hashtag #alicesbucketlist is trending high on Twitter.

"I've been fighting cancer for almost 4 years and now I know that the cancer is gaining on me and it doesn't look like I'm going to win this one :( I'm hoping to write in here as much as I can and I'm also going to show my bucket list which I'm trying to get done before I have to go," the British teen writes. "Hopefully, I'll update as I tick each one off the list :)."

One item she will be able to cross off is seeing Take That in concert. Pyne writes that she's going to a concert by the British boy band this weekend.

"I know I said this yesterday, but I can't believe that so many people have taken an interest in my blog," she wrote on June 9. "... I said that I didn't want any donations because I have most of the things I need, but if anyone wants to donate to something close to my heart, they can support my sister who is running the Race for Life for me this Sunday. I've put a link to her page but this isn't a begging thing, it's just there for those who want to."

Today's update? People have donated more than $16,000 to cancer research.

"We can't go to bed because we're hooked on reading all the messages," she Pyne writes. "I feel so good that with your help we are getting more people on the bone marrow donor list AND now we're putting money into supporting cancer research. Happy happy happy :)."

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]]>alices bucket listtwitterLesley KennedyFri, 10 Jun 2011 11:30:00 ESTGirl, 7, Becomes Famous Artist By Mistakehttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/08/girl-becomes-famous-artist/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/08/girl-becomes-famous-artist/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/08/girl-becomes-famous-artist/#commentsFiled under: ,

leilah poulain

Leilah Poulain holds her painting that is on display at London's Saatchi Gallery. Credit: Adam Gray, SWNS.com

Listen very closely.

You can almost hear a million artists screaming. They would give their left lungs to have one of their paintings exhibited at London's oh-so-exclusive Saatchi Gallery.

Yet, 7-year-old Leilah Poulain has her painting of a penguin hanging in the gallery -- because of a mistake, The Sun of London reports.

Poulain's mother, Rebekah, just wanted to download the penguin picture to a private online folder at home. Instead, she accidentally uploaded it to a public file and automatically entered Leilah in a national art competition.

Two years later, Poulain was notified that she was one the winners. Her penguin painting is now hanging alongside works of famous artists such as Damien Hirst.

"Apparently there were 1,700 entries," Rebekah tells the Sun. "It seems it happened because I'm an idiot. Leilah thinks it's brilliant."

However, the 7-year-old is not quite sure what it all means. "Does this mean I'm famous?" she asks the paper.

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]]>leilah poulainLeilah Poulain Saatchi Gallery London Art Competition Penguin Acsaatchi art galleryTom HendersonWed, 08 Jun 2011 12:30:00 ESTBoy Delivers Motivational Speech After Learning to Ride His Bikehttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/01/boy-delivers-motivational-speech-after-learning-to-ride-his-bike/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/01/boy-delivers-motivational-speech-after-learning-to-ride-his-bike/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/06/01/boy-delivers-motivational-speech-after-learning-to-ride-his-bike/#commentsFiled under: ,

We adore this little boy, who gives hope to any kid who has ever failed at riding a bike with an inspirational speech to rival the best rhetoric out there. A recently accomplished rider himself, he reminds his peers with training wheels to believe in themselves and to keep practicing.

We can't wait to buy a T-shirt that reads, "Thumbs up to rock and roll!"

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]]>boy rides bikeJessica SamakowWed, 01 Jun 2011 16:30:00 ESTKids Answer: What Do Parents Really Do at Work?http://www.parentdish.com/2011/04/29/kids-answer-what-do-parents-really-do-at-work/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/04/29/kids-answer-what-do-parents-really-do-at-work/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/04/29/kids-answer-what-do-parents-really-do-at-work/#commentsFiled under: , ,

On April 28, AOL celebrated National Take Your Child to Work Day in a big way to show kids that work is not just a mythical place where people in suits type on computers all day (OK, so maybe it is that type of place).

We unleashed 7-year-old reporter Aiden on AOL's New York City offices, where he asked kids who accompanied their parents to work that day how they imagine their parents spend time at the office, and, more importantly, how much cash they think their folks are raking in. Hint: If you make more than $200 a year, you're doing pretty well!

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]]>AOLtake your child to work dayJessica Samakow and Damon DahlenFri, 29 Apr 2011 16:10:00 EST'The Girl's Guide to Homelessness' Author Brianna Karp Offers Advice to Young People on the Streetshttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/04/26/brianna-karp-girls-guide-to-homelessness/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/04/26/brianna-karp-girls-guide-to-homelessness/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/04/26/brianna-karp-girls-guide-to-homelessness/#commentsFiled under: , ,

Brianna Karp

Brianna Karp tells the story of how she got off the streets in "The Girl's Guide to Homelessness." Credit: Harlequin

Brianna Karp thought she had it all together. At 23, the Orange County, Calif., executive assistant was employed, making $50,000 a year, and living in a cozy cottage with her mastiff, Fezzik.

But she would soon face a downward spiral.

"I was laid off in July 2008, along with over half of my company," Karp tells ParentDish. "For the next six months, I struggled to stay afloat on unemployment, which didn't cover rent and food. I searched for work every day; I signed up with several temp agencies and took as many opportunities as I could. This was at the peak of the recession, and nobody was hiring."

No longer able to pay her rent, Karp says she attempted a short-term stay with her mother and stepfather, "which really was a last resort, as there's a very toxic history there."

She writes of her family situation in her new book, "The Girl's Guide to Homelessness," (Harlequin) released today, and of how she soon found herself without a home.

ParentDish recently caught up with Karp, now 26, about the book, advice she can offer young people facing homelessness and how she was able to not only land on both feet, but land a book deal, as well. An edited version of the interview follows.

ParentDish: Where did you end up staying, after leaving your mother's house?
Brianna Karp: I ended up living in my deceased biological father's camper in the middle of a Walmart parking lot -- taking advantage of their policy allowing travelers and campers to stay overnight on their lots for free. It wasn't fun, but you do what you have to in order to sort of eke out an existence and try to find a sustainable routine.

PD: You had no electricity or running water.
BK: I showered at a nearby mom-and-pop gym where I purchased a membership for $9.99 a month. If I needed to use a restroom in the middle of the night, there was a 24-hour gas station on the same block. I'd learned from a book I'd read years before that you can boil water on a car radiator to cook food. I purchased a large high-powered flashlight that I shone at the ceiling of the trailer at night, and it would give me enough light to read by.

the girl's guide to homelessness

Credit: Harlequin

There were many other homeless people staying on the lot in campers and cars: a married couple in their 60s, a former doctor, a man who spoke four languages. I was by far the youngest. Many of them had lost their jobs and homes in the recession, as well.

PD: What was a typical day like?
BK: During the day I'd usually sit in Starbucks with my laptop and send out résumé after résumé. I also started an anonymous blog, which was how I began meeting other homeless and formerly homeless people and activists. It had never occurred to me that there would be such a vast, global online network of homeless people.

PD: The idea of a homeless girl with a laptop and cell phone is a new one. How is job hunting different when you're homeless?
BK: Everyday life has become so technology-driven that things like a cell phone and Internet access are essential. Yet, people are still amazed to see homeless people utilizing resources, or conclude that they must not "really" be homeless. Why should a person entering a crisis like homelessness be expected to give up items they may already own, like a cell phone or laptop, which may be their most valuable tools for finding work and digging their way out? Without a laptop or cell phone, I would be without means of accessing job boards in the most efficient manner possible, of sending out résumés and being contacted by potential employers.

Another thing that many are unaware of is that there are government programs providing homeless people with voice mail boxes, cell phones and even used laptops. Often, homeless individuals use public libraries to access the Internet. These tools are invaluable and critical in today's society, and they also allow homeless people a means by which to share their experiences, stories and offer one another moral support or solutions even from long distances apart.

PD: What did you learn about other homeless people from your experience?
BK: It was a topic I'd never really thought about until it happened to me, as I suspect is usually the case for most people. It did force me to take a look at the personalities and stories behind the labels and stereotypes. What I found is that these are really just people, and that there is no basis for the automatic presuppositions that I hear over and over: "Homeless people are all druggies/mentally ill/dirty/lazy/unloved."

I found a warm, supportive network of people that did their best to help one another out, even if all they had to offer was encouragement despite their personal circumstances. In my experience, I've found that there's as many reasons and causes behind homelessness as there are homeless people. No one should be pigeonholed. I believe all homeless people need help. Shelter is a basic human need and right, as far as I'm concerned.

PD: Talk about how your religious upbringing and your mother have affected your life.
BK: I was raised a Jehovah's Witness. I knew early on that I didn't believe what the other Jehovah's Witnesses did, and I also knew that would affect the relationship with my mother. ... My mother has a reputation as a very difficult person and was highly physically and verbally abusive, emotionally manipulative ... which I talk more about in the book. Together, they really made it a very claustrophobic environment to grow up in. It's taken some time, out on my own, to figure out how the outside world and normal human interaction works and it's an ongoing process.

PD: Through your blog you connected with Elle magazine columnist E. Jean Carroll.
BK: I had been reading her column for about nine years, and, on a complete whim, I wrote her a letter explaining my situation and asking for advice. I never expected to hear back and promptly forgot all about it. Several months later, my letter was not only published in her advice column in Elle magazine, but she offered me a three-month, telecommuting internship.

The story ballooned in the media and was picked up all over the world. Suddenly, I found myself in newspapers and on CNN and the "Today Show." It was all very overwhelming, but definitely exciting and quite a thrill. E. Jean is absolutely one of the warmest, most generous human beings I have ever met, and I'm so grateful for the opportunity she gave me and the doors that it ended up opening.

PD: Do you have full-time work now?
BK: A few months ago, I received a call for an interview at South Coast Repertory, a local theatre in Orange County, looking for a marketing assistant. I had applied there, along with hundreds of other assistant jobs in Orange, Riverside and L.A. counties. The interview went great and I landed the job!

I love the company, the people and the culture at the theater. I commute 80 miles round-trip per day, which is about three hours total in traffic. I'm picking up a lot of valuable new skills to add to my repertoire. As it's nonprofit work and wages are not what they used to be, I live paycheck-to-paycheck, like most people these days.

PD: And benefits?
BK: It's the first time since becoming homeless that I've had health and dental benefits. It's taken two years of job searching to reach this point. I tried to keep my residence status and the media attention on the DL at work, but Google never forgets, so pretty soon everybody at work knew about it. My co-workers and bosses have actually been so nonjudgmental and supportive. I feel so incredibly lucky and privileged to work here.

PD: What advice do you have for young people who may find themselves homeless?
BK: As "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" would put it, don't panic. Be as savvy as you can with the resources you have available to you. Technology and social media are your friends, so use them. With them, a world's entire wealth of information is at your fingertips.

Online, you can search for jobs, stock up on survival tips, reach out to others who've been there and might be able to point you towards available resources or programs that can help you. There is an entire community to help you through what you're experiencing. And, of course, take care of yourself and your mind. You are your own most valuable resource right now.

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]]>brianna karpBriannaKarpgirls guide to homelessnessLesley KennedyTue, 26 Apr 2011 11:30:00 ESTBoy, 9, Hailed as Hero After Rescuing His Little Sister From Drowninghttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/04/19/boy-hero-after-rescuing-his-little-sister/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/04/19/boy-hero-after-rescuing-his-little-sister/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/04/19/boy-hero-after-rescuing-his-little-sister/#commentsFiled under: ,



Tristin Saghin, 9, and his family were visiting their grandmother in Mesa, Ariz., when the worst happened: His 2-year-old sister fell into the backyard swimming pool.

According to Mesa Fire Department Spokesman Capt. Forrest Smith, the girl's mother found her floating in the pool on the morning of April 17, and pulled her out, placing her unconscious body on the side of the pool. Tristin quickly started to perform CPR after seeing it done on television.

"I went running outside again and I did CPR on her," the boy tells the ABC affiliate in Mesa. "I knew what I was doing. ... She started breathing a little bit."


While his mother called 911, the 2-year-old started breathing again.

"I couldn't imagine what was going through his mind," Smith tells ABC, "Here he is, in a situation where most of us, if we had a family member in that position, as parents we tend to really panic and be concerned. I tell you, we really give kudos out to him."

Mesa City officials are considering giving Tristin, whose family lives in Las Vegas, an award for his heroic actions, quick reaction and skill, but Tristan says he would do anything for his little sister.

"She's really beautiful and I love her very much," Tristin tells the station.

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]]>boy heroboy saves sisterdrowningMary Kate BaumannTue, 19 Apr 2011 13:00:00 ESTEven a Quick Cat Nap Could be Deadly for 12-Year-Old Boyhttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/04/08/boy-who-stops-breathing/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/04/08/boy-who-stops-breathing/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/04/08/boy-who-stops-breathing/#commentsFiled under: ,

Bedtime stories and soothing lullabies are anything but relaxing for 12-year-old Liam Derbyshire and his parents. When Liam goes to sleep, he has to be hooked up to a respirator in order to keep breathing.

Liam suffers from the rare condition central hypoventilation, which stops the boy from drawing breath automatically. So, without his respirator, Liam might not wake up from some unplanned shut-eye.

When diagnosed, "... doctors told Liam's parents that the boy probably wouldn't make it past six weeks," MSNBC reports.

The miraculous boy who has already defied the odds was featured on "Today" this morning.

"You go from having a child who you believe to be normal when he is born to suddenly realizing that he has quite a catastrophic condition," his mom, Kim, tells the news show.

She says she must always keep an eye on Liam in case he begins to nod off. And, to take precaution, the family "has spent thousands of dollars on electric bills and on the emergency equipment that will keep the ventilator running in case of a power failure."

In addition to this condition, the 12-year-old also has battled cancer and a bowel disease -- medical problems typically not in tune with an otherwise cheerful and spirited boy. But even though Liam's life is at risk daily, he tries to live like every other kid, and is even starring in his school play, "Today" reports.

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]]>boy who stops breathingcentral hypoventilationJessica SamakowFri, 08 Apr 2011 13:00:00 ESTBoy Genius, 12, Has Higher IQ Than Einstein, Developing His Own Theory of Relativityhttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/03/30/aspergers-syndrome/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/03/30/aspergers-syndrome/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/03/30/aspergers-syndrome/#commentsFiled under: ,



Kristine Barnett won't soon forget the "most devastating day in the life" of her son.

Jacob, called "Jake," her then 3-year-old, had recently stopped talking and had been diagnosed with autism. One day, she dropped him off at a gymnastics class, and, when she returned to pick him up, Barnett, 36, says she found all the other students sitting in a circle, while Jake was curled up and cowering in a corner.

"It was the day I knew Jake would never do sports or be like other kids later in life," the day care provider and mother of four tells ParentDish. "My heart broke, thinking he would be trapped inside this forever and never be able to talk to us."

But today, 12-year-old Jake is studying electromagnetic physics at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and has an IQ of 170, higher than that of Albert Einstein. And he's astounding university professors by developing his own theory of relativity -- they're lining him up for a Ph.D research role, Barnett, of Noblesville, Ind., says.

When Jake was 8, he jumped from fifth grade to college after teaching himself all the high school math classes -- calculus, algebra, geometry and trigonometry -- in one week and testing at college-level mathematics, Barnett recalls.

Recently, the boy has embarked on his own expanded version of Einstein's theory of relativity. Barnett sent a video of his theory to the renowned Institute for Advanced Study near Princeton University.

She tells ParentDish she fears that because Jake "learns differently than traditional students," he will become bored with university-level courses and says she hopes "someone will take him on as an apprentice."

Barnett, married to Michael Barnett, a store manager for T-Mobile, says she drives her pre-teen son 50 minutes each way to the university. He calls her from his cell when it's time to pick him up at the end of the school day.

"We knew he was gifted, but we never realized to what a degree," she tells ParentDish.

Jake's classmates also marvel at the scrawny little kid in the front row of the calculus-based physics class he's taking this semester, the Indianapolis Star reports.

"When I first walked in and saw him, I thought, 'Oh, my God, I'm going to school with Doogie Howser,' " Wanda Anderson, a biochemistry major at IUPU, tells the newspaper.

Barnett says the journey has not been an easy one.

By the time Jake was 1 1/2, he was reciting the alphabet backwards and forwards and calculating the volume of his cereal box in his head, she tells ParentDish.

But soon after, at 18 months, she says he completely stopped talking and withdrew emotionally. A battery of physicians diagnosed him with autism, and later Asperger's syndrome.

Barnett says it was then that the family settled on a mission: "to help our son and to help other kids like him." The Barnetts held a small fundraiser in a friend's garage and founded MyJacobsPlace.com.

The Barnetts and MyJacobsPlace supporters have turned a dilapidated building into a recreation center, where children with autism and their families gather for movie nights, parent support groups, social gatherings and other events. The foundation has helped hundreds of families across Indiana and Ohio through its awareness and sports programs.

"We were so afraid Jake would be withdrawn from us forever, and so we set out to find out what was the spark that could light him up," Barnett recalls.

For Jake, that spark turned out to be astronomy. As a 3-year-old, Barnett says, he loved looking at books about stars, and so the family spent a lot of time at a nearby observatory and planetarium.

"He could teach himself to read, but couldn't answer a simple question like 'What did you do today?" she says. "But he loved the planetarium and astronomy, so I knew I had to figure out how to build on that. I called the university and practically begged a professor to let Jake audit a class and sit in the back. I was so afraid that he would lose himself in the autism. I was desperate."

That determination paid off.

So far, Jake is the only member of his immediate family to have these rare abilities, Barnett says.

"But my family and my husband's extended family all are quirky," she tells ParentDish. "My grandpa was an inventor and my sister was a child artistic prodigy, and everyone is entrepreneurial on my side of the family. We've never had normal desk jobs."

Looking ahead, Barnett says she doesn't know what the future holds for Jake, but she has learned some valuable lessons for other parents when it comes to focusing on "what your child can do, instead of what people tell you he can't."

"I'm thankful that Jake has become the person he is and feel that, for all children with autism, we need to find the place where there is a little spark inside them," Barnett says. "If we had listened to all the people that told us our son would always be in special ed, and would probably never escape the isolation of autism, how sad would that be?"

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]]>aspergers syndromeiqIQ testjacob barnettMary Beth SammonsWed, 30 Mar 2011 06:00:00 ESTBoy, 10, Honored for Saving His Baby Sitter's Lifehttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/03/29/boy-saves-baby-sitters-life/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/03/29/boy-saves-baby-sitters-life/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/03/29/boy-saves-baby-sitters-life/#commentsFiled under: ,




Baby sitters are supposed to protect young children, but in the case of two Connecticut youngsters, the situation was reversed.

Tucker and Nina Stoops of Darien, Conn., will be honored March 31 at their local library for heroic actions that may have saved their baby sitter's life.

MSNBC reports the baby sitter, Naida Maldonado, was taking care of 10-year-old Tucker and 7-year-old Nina on Jan. 26, when Maldonado suddenly had problems breathing and became unresponsive. Nina told her brother something was wrong.

Tucker called 911.

"She's making a strange noise," he told Sgt. Jeremiah Johnson, the dispatcher. "I don't know if she is OK."

Johnson told Tucker to stay on the line and asked him for medical information.

"I know she'd had some medical problems before, but I'm not sure if it's with her breathing," Tucker replied.

MSNBC reports Tucker not only provided the medical information emergency personnel needed, but he was also exceedingly polite.

"Thank you for your help, sir," Tucker told emergency crews as they arrived. "The policeman is walking inside. Thank you for your help."

According to MSNBC, emergency room physicians told the Christina Stoops, the children's mother, that Maldonado might have died without Tucker's prompt action.

However, Johnson tells MSNBC Tucker refuses to take credit for saving his sitter's life, crediting Nina for alerting him to the problem. Maldonado, who has worked for the Stoops family for the past 10 years, is expected to fully recover.

"When you listen to the chilling audio of the phone call, it is evident that Tucker is nervous but amazingly never loses composure," Darien Police Department spokesman Jeremiah P. Marron Jr. says in a press release quoted by the local Darien News. "The Darien Police Communications Center receives calls similar to this on a regular basis, but rarely do the callers remain unruffled. Tucker and Nina Stoops are true heroes and are to be commended."

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]]>911amazing kidsboy calls 911boy saves babysitterConn.DarienTom HendersonTue, 29 Mar 2011 12:30:00 ESTAnnouncing ParentDish's KidVid of the Week!http://www.parentdish.com/2011/02/22/announcing-parentdishs-kidvid-of-the-week/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/02/22/announcing-parentdishs-kidvid-of-the-week/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/02/22/announcing-parentdishs-kidvid-of-the-week/#commentsFiled under: , ,




Justin Bieber was discovered on YouTube, and we're thinking with a set of pipes like these, this kid is next!

Over 10 million people have viewed her version of Lady Gaga's "Born This Way." Does your kid deserve the spotlight, too? If so, send us your videos!

Starting this week, our newsletter that is distributed to thousands will feature a new kid -- and yours could be the star!

This isn't a talent contest, so if you have a hilarious or adorable video of your little one, send them in!

To submit a video:

1. Subscribe to the ParentDish weekly newsletter.

2. Once you receive your first newsletter, press reply, or email us at newsletter@parentdish.com with a link to your video.

3. Spread the word and tell all of your friends to subscribe so they don't miss out if your kid is chosen!

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]]>Mary Kate BaumannTue, 22 Feb 2011 16:29:00 ESTRobot Allows Sick Boy to Attend Schoolhttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/02/17/robot-allows-sick-boy-to-attend-school/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/02/17/robot-allows-sick-boy-to-attend-school/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/02/17/robot-allows-sick-boy-to-attend-school/#commentsFiled under: ,

For the past year, 15-year-old Lyndon Baty has been forced to stay inside because his immune system is so weak that even the smallest germ could kill him. The teen received a kidney transplant when he was 7 because of his rare disorder, polycystic kidney disease. But, in 2010, "his body started to attack the transplanted kidney, then his immune system was supressed to stem rejection of the organ," the TODAY show reports.

Lyndon began homeschooling and says he had no other social interaction besides his parents. That is, until a life-sized robot called "the Baty Bot" came into the picture. The robot is equipped with a video screen and speakers so that Lyndon can participate in class and socialize with his peers. The Baty Bot sits in class while Lyndon receives the bot's signals on his laptop.

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]]>Jessica SamakowThu, 17 Feb 2011 12:08:00 ESTSixth Grader Creates Accurate Snow Day Predictorhttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/02/11/snow-day-predictor/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/02/11/snow-day-predictor/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/02/11/snow-day-predictor/#commentsFiled under: ,

snow day predictor

David Sukhin has bever been wrong when predicting when his school would get a snow day. Credit: Associated Press


On the next snowy day, don't wait for the official announcement to find out if your child's school will be closed. Just visit the Snow Day Calculator, which was created by David Sukhin when he was in sixth grade.

Yes, sixth grade. David, who lives in New Jersey and is now 16 and in the 11th grade, according to Boston's WBUR.org (via Huffington Post), checks the site every time it snows and it has never once been wrong about his own school being closed.

Not. Once. Know any TV weather folks who can say the same?

So how does it work? Users enter various bits of data, which is then compared with information from the National Weather Service.

An interesting twist is that users don't just enter quantitative data such as ZIP code and number of snow days so far this year. They are also asked about the "Leniency of Administration" (Easy, Okay or Harsh), whether or not there is a special event happening that day, and even a 0-3 "Hype" rating, where zero is "No One is Talking About the Storm" and three is "Administration Is Talking About It Too!"

Sukhin won't reveal exactly how his site works, but he tells WBUR via email, "The calculator digests hour by hour information from weather.gov and extracts what time the storm will start, the time it will end, the probability of precipitation and the average strength (inches per hour) of the storm. Using that information it calculates the amount of inches expected to give a raw prediction."

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]]>David SukhinDavidSukhinsnow daysnow day calculatorsnow day predictorSnowDaySnowDayCalculatorSnowDayPredictorBrett SingerFri, 11 Feb 2011 17:33:00 ESTWake Forest Baseball Coach Donates Kidney to Playerhttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/02/10/wake-forest-baseball-coach-donates-kidney-to-player/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/02/10/wake-forest-baseball-coach-donates-kidney-to-player/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/02/10/wake-forest-baseball-coach-donates-kidney-to-player/#commentsFiled under: ,

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy



Wake Forest baseball coach Tom Walter has donated a kidney to a freshman player who suffers from a disease that can lead to kidney failure.

Both Walter and outfielder Kevin Jordan were recovering Tuesday in an Atlanta hospital one day after the transplant was performed.

"For us, it's almost like it's been divine intervention," Jordan's father Keith told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Tuesday from Atlanta.

Dr. Kenneth Newell, the lead surgeon on the team that removed Walter's kidney, said in a statement issued Tuesday by Wake Forest that he expects Walter and Jordan to recover fully.

The school says the recovery time for both the 42-year-old Walter and Jordan is expected to be several months. Walter said it will be two months before he is back to normal. Keith Jordan says his son could swing a bat again in 6-8 weeks, and he expects Kevin to enroll in summer school in June and prepare for the fall semester.

For now, though, he said the priority for his son is the early stage of recovery, which includes taking short walks in the hospital Tuesday and making sure his incision doesn't become infected.

"I think he's feeling great, outside of he's still got a couple of tubes hanging out of him," Keith Jordan said.

Keith Jordan said he isn't worrying about when his son, a 19th-round draft pick of the New York Yankees last June, may return to the field.

"One of the things we do know for Kevin is, he's going to want to go do stuff right away," Keith Jordan said. "He's going to have to take care of himself. ... His intention is to get back on the field, so I'm sure he's going to do whatever it takes to do that."

Walter said the "best-case scenario is that Kevin and I just lead a normal life" but added that the great story will come when Jordan "makes it back to the playing field."

Jordan had trouble shaking the flu last winter as a high school senior in Columbus, Ga., and lost 20 pounds. Doctors at Emory University Hospital in Atlanta discovered his kidney was functioning at only 15 to 20 percent.

He was diagnosed last April with ANCA vasculitis, a type of autoimmune swelling disorder caused by abnormal antibodies. When those abnormalities show up in the kidneys, they can cause blood and protein to leak into the urine and could result in kidney failure.

He wound up on dialysis - three days a week at first, and then daily. Family members were tested to see if any were a possible match for a transplant, and Walter was tested in December after it was determined that his relatives weren't compatible.

Walter found out Jan. 28, during the team's first practice of the spring semester, that he was a match. He told the team three days later, and said the players greeted the news with "stunned silence followed by a round of applause."

"A lot of things had to come together for it to happen," Keith Jordan said. "Everybody wants a feel-good story wherever they can get it."

Copyright 2011 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. This article was written by Joedy McCreary,AP Sports Writer. All active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.

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]]>wake forestWakeForestAssociated PressThu, 10 Feb 2011 13:00:00 ESTBoy, 3, Saves Family From Firehttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/19/3-year-old-boy-saves-family-from-fire/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/19/3-year-old-boy-saves-family-from-fire/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/19/3-year-old-boy-saves-family-from-fire/#commentsFiled under: ,






We teach our kids from a very young age what to do in case of a fire, and we pray that they will never have to put that knowledge into practice.

Three-year-old Christopher Cooke from Staten Island, N.Y., did have to use his fire safety skills, though, and now he's being hailed a "little hero" for notifying his family about a fire in the basement of their home, NBC News reports.

Christopher, who learned about fire safety in school, awoke his sleeping father after seeing smoke coming from behind a clothes dryer on December 30.


After screaming "alarm, alarm, alarm," Christopher's father, Steven, woke up and extinguished the flames, which, after reigniting, had to be put out by the FDNY.

At a ceremony on Tuesday, Fire Commissioner Salvatore Cassano says its amazing that Christopher was able to do what he did at such a young age.

Christopher earned the title of junior firefighter at Tuesday's ceremony.

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]]>Mary Kate BaumannWed, 19 Jan 2011 16:00:00 ESTCrowd Chimes in to Finish an 8-Year-Old's National Anthemhttp://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/14/crowd-chimes-in-to-finish-an-8-year-olds-national-anthem/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/14/crowd-chimes-in-to-finish-an-8-year-olds-national-anthem/http://www.parentdish.com/2011/01/14/crowd-chimes-in-to-finish-an-8-year-olds-national-anthem/#commentsFiled under: , ,



Although this National Anthem singer sounds like a seasoned professional, she is only 8 years old. While wowing the crowd at a minor league hockey game, her mic suddenly cut out, Morning Express reports.

She appeared nervous and embarrassed until the entire crowd started to sing along to help her out. They were not going to let a technical difficulty get in the way of this outstanding performance.

Talk about team spirit!

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]]>Jessica SamakowFri, 14 Jan 2011 14:50:00 ESTAmazing Kid: Jessica Markowitzhttp://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/25/amazing-kid-jessica-markowitz/http://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/25/amazing-kid-jessica-markowitz/http://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/25/amazing-kid-jessica-markowitz/#commentsFiled under:

Jessica Markowitz started raising money to help send Rwandan girls to school when she was just 11 years old. Credit: Lori Markowitz


Amazing Kid: Jessica Markowitz
Age: 15
Grade: 10th
Home Town: Seattle
School: Garfield High School, Seattle
Favorite Ice Cream: Cookie Dough

Why Jessica is Amazing: When Jessica was just 11 years old, she founded Richard's Rwanda-IMPUHWE, a nonprofit organization that helps girls in Rwanda receive the education they deserve. To date, IMPUHWE has raised $80,000 to help support 22 Rwandan girls in their educational pursuits, supplying them with shoes, school fees, uniforms, lunches, insurance and school materials.

Jessica tells ParentDish she was inspired to help the girls after meeting a Rwandan man, Richard Kananga, who stayed with her family while he was visiting Seattle in October 2006. Jessica was deeply affected by the stories Richard shared with her family about the horrific 1994 Rwandan genocide, during which at least 800,000 people were killed -- especially tales of children orphaned by the genocide.

"That was the first time I had really heard about the genocide," Jessica tells ParentDish. "Hearing that there were young kids, and especially girls, who couldn't afford to go to school anymore really shocked me."

Before Kananga left, Jessica asked him to let her know how she could help. He connected her with 22 girls who had lost their parents and really needed the support with schooling. From there, Jessica started a club at her middle school with 10 other girls, and that's where Richard's Rwanda-IMPUHWE began. (Impuhwe means compassion in Kinyarwanda.)

That summer, Jessica travelled to Rwanda to work with the girls IMPUHWE has been supporting, and she has continued to do so each year since. This past summer, Jessica and the 11 founding members from various Seattle high schools traveled to Rwanda to teach English literacy to impoverished high school girls in the rural district of Nyamata. They also worked to strengthen their partnership with FAWE (Forum African Women Educationalist Girls School), a girls' boarding school in the capital city of Kigali, which started an IMPUHWE chapter to help support their Rwandan sisters.

The cross-cultural trip was so successful that it has now become an annual program.

Jessica and the IMPUHWE chapters raise money through individual donations and grants, as well as bake sales, apparel sales and various organized fundraising events. In addition to buying school supplies and helping the girls afford to go to school, they are now looking at building a library in Rwanda so the girls, and their community, can have access to books and computers.

"People are really surprised when they hear that it takes just $40 to send a girl to primary school in Rwanda for a year," says Jessica, "which is very little compared to what people spend $40 on here in the U.S."

Recent Recognition: Member of 2010 Parade All-America High School Service Team; UNICEF 2009 World of Children Founders Award; Martin Luther King Jr. Peace Award 2008; Introduction of Nobel Peace Prize winner: Dalia Lama April, 2008; Presenter CARE International conference 2008; Introduction of Nobel Peace Prize winner: Archbishop Desmond Tutu May, 2006

Jessica's Advice to Kids: Don't think you have to go out in the world and create a huge organization in order to make a difference. It's really about the small impact that you can make as a youth, so just go out in your world and see how you, individually, can make a difference.

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]]>africaamazing kidsAmazingKidscharityeducationJessica MarkowitzJessicaMarkowitzrwandarwandan genocideRwandanGenocideHoney BerkSat, 25 Dec 2010 09:00:00 ESTAmazing Kid: Olivia Boulerhttp://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/24/amazing-kid-olivia-bouler/http://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/24/amazing-kid-olivia-bouler/http://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/24/amazing-kid-olivia-bouler/#commentsFiled under:

Olivia Bouler sits at her desk drawing birds to raise money for the Gulf of Mexico. Credit: Nadine Bouler


Amazing Kid: Olivia Bouler
Age: 11
Grade: 6th
Home Town: Islip, N.Y.
School: Islip Middle School, Islip, N.Y.
Favorite Ice Cream: Chocolate Chip Birthday Cake Dough ("A weird, crazy mix I did once.")

Why Olivia Is Amazing: If you tuned in to the news last spring surrounding the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, odds are you heard mention of Olivia Bouler, 11. The then-fifth-grader who turned her artistic talents into badly needed money to help care for the birds of the area after the disaster.

Olivia, a bird-lover and aficionado, was so upset after hearing about the spill and the resulting threat to birds that she wrote a letter to nature conservation organization Audubon offering to draw pictures of birds and donate the proceeds to the group.

"It was just so heart wrenching," Olivia tells ParentDish. "I couldn't just sit there, so I wrote a letter to Audubon saying I wanted to help. It really moved Audubon's hearts so they decided I would do 500 original drawings."

And, so, Olivia's momentous "Save the Gulf" campaign was launched, garnering tons of media attention and an incredible number of sales and outright donations which, to date, total about $200,000.

With that feat under her belt, Olivia is now involved in another project -- she is working on "Olivia's Birds," a book with Sterling Publishing, which is a collection of about 100 of her bird drawings, representing all different species and including facts about each of them.

The book will be released in April 2011, to mark the first anniversary of the Gulf oil spill and in honor of Earth Day.

As for the future, Olivia seems to have a pretty solid plan in place.

"I want to go to Cornell (University) and I want to be an ornithologist and work for Audubon," she says. "That would be awesome."

Recent Recognition: ASPCA Humane Awards 2010 Kid of the Year; Animal World 2010 Youth Leadership Award; 2010 People magazine Hero; honored as a 2010 AOL Artist; named a Disney Friends for Change spokesperson; named a Hometown Hero by New York Congressman Steve Israel; honored by Islip, N.Y. town board; profiled as one of CNN's Breakthrough Women.

Olivia's Best Advice to Kids: Anything's possible, and I'm here to prove that you can make a difference. If you dream and believe in yourself and you don't get deterred by little problems in the road, you can really ride the road to opportunities.

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]]>amazing kidsAmazingKidsaudubonbirdscharityconservationGulf of Mexico oil spillgulf oil spillGulfOfMexicoOilSpillGulfOilSpillwildlifeHoney BerkFri, 24 Dec 2010 09:05:00 ESTAmazing Kid: Austin Gutweinhttp://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/17/amazing-kid-austin-gutwein/http://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/17/amazing-kid-austin-gutwein/http://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/17/amazing-kid-austin-gutwein/#commentsFiled under:

Austin Gutwein Picture

Amazing Kid Austin Gutwein has raised millions of dollars for charity, using his favorite sport to make a difference. Credit: Courtesy of Hoops of Hope


Amazing Kid: Austin Gutwein
Age: 16
Grade: 11th
Home Town: Mesa, Ariz.
School: Gilbert Christian High School, Gilbert, Ariz.
Favorite Ice Cream: Vanilla

Why Austin is Amazing: When he was just 9 years old, Austin started Hoops of Hope, the biggest basketball shoot-a-thon in the world, which has to date raised over $2.2 million to benefit children who have been orphaned by AIDS. Inspired to action by the story of a little Zambian girl named Maggie who had lost both of her parents to AIDS, Austin knew he had to do something to help. So, he began shooting baskets to raise money, using his favorite sport to make a difference.

At his very first event in 2004, Austin set a goal to shoot 2,057 free throws to represent the 2,057 children worldwide who would be orphaned during his school day because of AIDS (there are about 6,000 children orphaned worldwide during an entire day). Starting small, he asked people locally to sponsor him and donate toward his cause. After that first year, he felt like he was being called to have more kids do it with him, so he just started spreading the word, with the help of radio and other media. Today, Hoops of Hope has about 40,000 kids worldwide that shoot baskets throughout the year.

One hundred percent of what the organization raises goes to fund projects, including a school and two medical clinics in Zambia, a water system in Kenya, two Orphan Hope Centers in Swaziland, bicycles and mosquito nets for caregivers in Zambia, earthquake relief in Haiti, and more. Further, they are currently building a school in India and an orphanage in Kenya.

In looking ahead, Austin tells ParentDish: "We've never had a game plan for Hoops of Hope; we've just continued to make a difference year after year. So I don't really know, but I'm excited to see what the future holds."

Recent Recognition: Caring Institute 2009 Caring Award; 2008 Build-a-Bear Huggable Heroes Award; 2007 State Prudential Spirit of the Community Award; 2007 Gloria Barron Prize for Young Heroes

Austin's Advice to Kids: I would encourage kids to really get out there and make a difference. So many times we think we should wait until we're an adult to do something, but we -- teens and kids -- can absolutely change the world ... It's really just about starting small; just starting with that one elderly lady in your neighborhood or that homeless guy on the side of the street that you want to make a difference for.

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]]>africaaidsaids in africaaids orphansAidsInAfricaAidsOrphansamazing kidsAmazingKidsbasketballcharityindiaorphansHoney BerkFri, 17 Dec 2010 14:30:00 ESTAmazing Kid: Brianna Carthttp://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/16/amazing-kid-brianna-cart/http://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/16/amazing-kid-brianna-cart/http://www.parentdish.com/2010/12/16/amazing-kid-brianna-cart/#commentsFiled under:

Brianna Cart Picture

Amazing Kid Brianna Cart sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas. Credit: Maryanne VanBurger




Amazing Kid: Brianna Cart
Age: 16
Grade: 11th
Home Town: Owego, N.Y.
School: Homeschooled
Favorite Ice Cream: Rainbow Sherbet

Why Brianna is Amazing: Brianna started Angels Over Iraq, a non-profit organization that sends care packages to soldiers serving overseas in all branches of the U.S. military. Though, initially she just wanted to send packages to a few soldiers selected at random from website AnySoldier.com, Brianna has sent over six tons of boxes, valued at about $40,000, to more than 1,000 soldiers since 2005.

Out of the first group of 32 recipients, one soldier from Texas was so grateful for Brianna's care packages that he actually flew to her home town in upstate New York to thank her personally. He later returned overseas to a company with 100 men, but Brianna still wanted to support him since he was so nice and obviously really appreciated what she was doing. So the program grew from there, and then just kept getting bigger and bigger, with people sending her names of friends and families who were serving overseas.

To raise funds for these much-appreciated care packages, Brianna -- with the help of 15 of her friends -- hold donation drives at supermarkets; conduct garage sales and car washes; serve coffee at veterans' motorcycle runs; and appear as many other events as they are invited to, so they can do as much as they can to get their name out and raise funds.

Today, Angels Over Iraq sends out eight to 10 boxes every week or so, with each box costing around $25. Originally, most of the packages were going to Iraq, but now they're sending mostly to soldiers in Afghanistan. The boxes contain things the soldiers ask for are basic needs such as food and snacks -- they send a lot of soup and drink mixes -- as well as some hygiene items, books and magazine. They also send items that help in other invaluable ways.

"We've also sent Beanie Babies over because they hand them out to the kids," Brianna tells ParentDish. "The kids in return have told them if they knew where bombs were hidden in the road, so they could go dig them up so nobody would get hurt."

Recent Recognition: 2010 Prudential National Spirit of Community Award; Rotary Club 2010 Paul Harris Fellowship

Brianna's Advice to Kids: Even if you don't think you can do something, if you don't think you can start a project, as long as you just try, get some help and believe, you should be able to do it and turn it into helping a lot of people.

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]]>afghanistanamazing kidsAmazingKidscharityiraqmilitarysoldiersHoney BerkThu, 16 Dec 2010 16:30:00 EST