I Love the Sunday New York Times & its Special Needs/Palin Coverage (and the Style Section, too!)

I love The New York Times!

In fact, there's little I love more than settling in with a big mug of hot tea on a Sunday morning with a real newspaper, one filled with well-written, well-research, thought-provoking articles that I usually can't read all in one sitting. 

Okay, I admit I also love reading the Style Section (thus, my fashionista photos above-forgive the crocs), complete with all those detailed wedding announcements highlighting fancy pedigree, impressive ancestry and cool jobs.  Plus, all those creative Madison Avenue layouts for high-end purses and shiny trinkets that I can't afford in ads that leap off the page help motivate me to work harder on Monday through Friday.  

As if.

But I reserve my biggest kudos for the newspaper's on-going, intelligent coverage of special needs issues and heated, emotional, political debates, especially when they involve special needs, i.e.Down syndrome & Ms. Sarah Palin.  

So much more important than scoring pricey bags and dazzling diamonds, don't you think?

In today's paper alone I found the following special needs literary words worth my time:

Bypassing the Roadblocks of Autism by Jane Margolies details various travel options for families of children and young adults with autism, including cruises at sea.  Yes, families of children with special needs want and need leisure time travel, too.

The Bipolar Kid: What Does it Mean To Be a Manic-Depressive Child?  by Jennifer Egan.  This New York Times Magazine cover story is a tough read, one that left me with renewed appreciation for the big challenges facing families who must address the harsh daily realities of their children's mental health issues.  I was pleased to see such major coverage on another important diagnosis besides autism.  Autism coverage is important and I support such detailed, on-going coverage.  But I also believe the challenges facing millions of other special needs families with a wide range of diagnosis deserve detailed media coverage, too, attention often sorely lacking.  

You might also want to take advantage of the paper's invite to visit its website www.NYTimes.com to view the video From Solider to Athlete, special coverage from the Paralympics in Beijing- worth the time and inspiration.

Finally, I believe it my civic duty to suggest that anyone who cares about intelligent voting at the polls (we do care about that, right?) read the excellent cover article, Once Elected, Palin Hired Friends and Lashed Foes: Governor's Style of Politics Is Highly Personal, by Jo Becker, Peter S. Goodman and Michael Powell before heading out to vote in November.  It's eye opening and a bit alarming to say the least.

You can find all this and more at www.nytimes.com.

Well worth your time, and mine.

JudyWinter.com

Breakthrough Parenting for Children with Special Needs: Raising the Bar of Expectations