Autism

People usually call it autism (say: aw-tih-zum), but the official name is autism spectrum disorders. Why? Because doctors include autism in a group of problems that kids can have, including Asperger syndrome and others. These problems happen when the braindevelops differently and has trouble with an important job: making sense of the world.

Every day, our brains interpret (understand) the things we see, smell, hear, taste, touch, and experience. But when someone's brain has trouble interpreting these things, it can make it hard to talk, listen, understand, play, and learn.

A kid's symptoms could be very mild, severe, or somewhere in the middle. For example, some kids might be upset by too many noises or sounds that are too loud. Kids who have milder symptoms don't mind loud noises so much. Someone with mild symptoms might need only a little bit of help. But a kid with severe symptoms might need a lot of help with learning and doing everyday stuff.

Kids with autism often can't make connections that other kids make easily. For example, when people smile, you know they feel happy or friendly; when people look mad, you can tell by their face or their voice. But many kids who have autism spectrum disorders have trouble understanding what emotions look like and what another person is thinking. They might act in a way that seems unusual, and it can be hard to understand why they're doing it.

Segregated Prom

After national mockery rained down upon him like a Georgia squall, Mr. Deal finally conceded that Mr. Obama was, more than likely, born in the United States. Still, there won't be any more concessions to reality during his term if he can help it. That's why he has resisted calls to add his voice to the growing chorus of Georgians demanding integration of school prom nights where segregation still reigns.

Although the calendar swears it is 2013, black and white students from Wilcox County High School in the Macon area attend separate proms even though the school has been integrated by court order since 1970-71. Under pressure from white parents who didn't want their kids socializing across racial lines, the school long ago canceled the prom rather than risk white flight. The school has had separate Homecoming kings and queens, too, with no joint photographs of them for the yearbook.

Thus began the Wilcox tradition of white parents underwriting a private, invitation-only prom for whites, held far removed from school property, in a strategy mirrored throughout the South by other public schools. Black parents responded to the snub by underwriting private proms for their kids, although white kids aren't excluded.