Blog

As we approach Thanksgiving celebrations here in the U.S., I'm reposting this to remember the power of celebration with students, particularly those living with challenging circumstances. Not counting leftovers, I had 3 full Thanksgiving dinners last week, and not just because I like turkey. As an educator working with students with different special needs (I’m an administrator in charge of a program for students with autism, and another for students with depression/anxiety),

I’ve had the honor of supporting Boston University Hubert H. Humphrey fellows, mid-career professionals from developing countries, for the past five years, making some very meaningful friendships and visiting several in their home countries. So, when I heard the news of the impending Russian invasion of Ukraine, my thoughts went to Svitlana Taran, a 2018 fellow from Kyiv. I reached out and we began messaging, including the night the bombing began, while I watched the horrors

Most of us are stressed around the holidays and all of us probably know a family with a child diagnosed with autism, or depression/anxiety, as both these disorders have disproportionately increased in recent years. The CDC reports that autism diagnoses more than doubled since 2000, and depression among teens rose at quadruple the rate of the general population from 2005-2015. With the media showing unrealistic scenes of holiday bliss with intact families celebrating abundance