Due to talk at the Transverse Myelitis Association Thursday 17th May

I have been asked to reflect on my recovery from Acute Transverse Myelitis at the Transverse Myelitis Association meeting next week, and it is troubling me. Me, who can talk under water and never gets nerves. We have discussed reading bits from chapters from my book. But which chapters do you choose? Should I choose those that might resonate with other sufferers - the struggles to come to terms with being handicapped, the awfulness of being a cypher in the system? Or should I choose those that are about my recovery. I suspect there will be people there who may not have had the supports I have had, have not been able to access Acupuncture, or were just more serious at the beginning. I don't want to offend. Mmmm, what a lot of dilemmas.

What exactly is a Random Act of Kindness?

As it says, a RAK is something spontaneous and unplanned. You are in place at a time when another human needs a small amount of help. You respond without really thinking, and go on your way. You may reflect on it later, or you may forget that you ever gave a helping hand. Your soul will never forget, and the person who received the Random Act of Kindness may never know your name, and never have the opportunity to repay your kindness, but they are also unlikely to forget.
It takes seconds of your time, costs next to nothing, but leaves a glow.
Join a Facebook discussion group about Random Acts of Kindness. Contribute to the group; change a bit of your world. Remind yourself to be aware enough to offer something when needed.

Random Acts of Kindness Facebook Group.

An Overview of Resilience in working with children

This is a very nice overview of the construct of resilience, from researchers at the Australian Institute for Family Studies. Describes the history and the complexity when considering working on resilience with children and young people.
Sometimes we think we know what we are talking about, and we tend to throw terms around as if everyone has the same understanding. But there are always complex underpinnings, and relationships or overlaps with other ideas. A good introduction.

http://www.aifs.gov.au/cfca/pubs/papers/02/cfca02.pdf

Caregiving Environments and Self-harm

Another honours student of mine is doing a research project on caregiving environments and deliberate self-harm. If you had 20 minutes and felt like helping, she would appreciate completion of her on-line questionnaire at


http://exp.psy.uq.edu.au/emotionsselfharmemotionsselfharm

Perfectionism and Self-injury research project

One of my students is investigating perfectionism and self-injury for a 4th year Honours in Psychology project. If you felt like contributing and had the time, I am sure she would appreciate your responses to her questionnaire. Totally anonymous of course...


http://exp.psy.uq.edu.au/pser

Self-injury radio interview

As far as I know this is the first time that self-injury has been explored on radio with a self-injurer and a professional sharing the same interview. It makes for interesting, if uncomfortable, listening.

http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/allinthemind/all-in-the-mind-2942012-i-hurt-myself/3968842

Taking Charge: The final chapter

I have just added a final chapter to the book 'Taking Charge' - 'Getting on with it'. You can access it at
http://child2100.blogspot.com.au/p/taking-charge-17.html

Now that we have this we can prepare the book for publishing. It may be ready for sale within the next month. Woo Hoo