Articles
I am a contributing editor at Scientific American and write the Brain Waves blog for Psychology Today (you can find those posts here). My work has also appeared in The Atlantic, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Newsweek, Time, Vogue and many other publications. Earlier in my career, I was on staff at Newsweek, and People, among other places and I’ve included a few of my old favorites from those days.
Brain Changing Games
Playing violent video games can sharpen our focus, reasoning and decision-making skills. But do we really need the weapons?
I am in an overgrown lot leaning against an eight-foot tall shipping container. I look both ways, weighing my options. A man with an assault rifle is looking for me, just as I am looking for him. Hoping for a better vantage point, I run toward the abandoned car to…
Redefining Adventure
When my husband told me he wanted to move from New York to Hong Kong, my first thought was: Really??!! My second thought was: What about Alex? The youngest of our three sons, Alex is almost entirely deaf. He uses a cochlear implant and a hearing aid. At the time,…
Jumping Higher
We had three light-saber-wielding, tree-climbing, rough-and-tumble boys. Everywhere we looked, potential danger lurked. Instinctively, though, we knew we didn’t want Alex to live in a bubble—and I suppose we knew it would be futile to try.
For years, my youngest son, Alex, who is now six, has watched one of his brothers do gymnastics. Jumping on the trampoline and swinging from the high bar looked like a lot of fun. Every time he was in the gym, Alex asked if he could do gymnastics, too. Every…
The Voice Of A Mother
I parent with my voice. Like mothers everywhere, I soothe and cajole, read and sing, teach and explain, reprimand and, though I’m not proud of it, yell. I like to think that whatever wisdom I’ve gained in 10 years of mothering my three boys is displayed in how I talk…
The Sun Has Finally Come Out for Alex
With his new cochlear implant, our son is able to talk and sing. The transformation is miraculous.
My son Alex told me about his day recently. He played cars with Max and Aidan, sang the “Mr. Sun” song and danced–a typical day for a 2-year-old. His report, however, was anything but routine. It was the first real conversation we had ever had. Alex is hearing-impaired. Every word…
The Poison that Hid In Our Home
If you think lead poisoning is just an inner-city-kid problem, think again. Tens of thousands of children nationwide are exposed to dangerous levels of the toxin every year in drinking water, at school, and yes, even in their homes.
When Susan Thornfeldt and husband Greg Dasch moved into their clapboard colonial house, in an old section of Portland, Maine, it was, like most of its neighbors, pretty but run-down. The kitchen of the 180-year-old house was outdated, the wiring ancient, the paint peeling inside and out—but Susan and Greg…