Of What Sould We Be Aware, and Why?

Sparkling Squirrel is, at its best, a place for personal storytelling (and, at its typical, a place where I post photos of my kids so that my in-laws don't think I care only about books and plants), so I feel silly typing up a post about pediatric stroke awareness in general, when I know full well that any of you is capable of clicking on the CHASA link and reading their fact sheets.
I also know that most of you aren't going to read through the fact sheet, and also feel silly blogging up a streak to raise awareness for pediatric stroke without every directly addressing that awareness.

So, briefly:

Of what should you be aware:

• that kids have strokes, and especially right before and right after birth, at fairly high (but still unknown) rates.
•  that pediatric strokes are associated with a suite of other physical, behavioral and cognitive issues (more on these with my personal storytelling later in the month).
• that hand preference in children under two is not normal and should be investigated.
• that, while there is no cure or treatment for (and few known causes of) pediatric stroke, survivors of pediatric stroke may respond very well to therapy, particularly if started early.
• that pediatric stroke; causes, prevention, best practices and even basic rates of occurrence, is very poorly studied.

And why you should be aware of these things:

• because you are an inquisitive person.
• because you care about Aster and our family.
• so that you can respond more knowledgeably and compassionately to pediatric stroke survivors and their families (and perhaps to all people of different abilities).
• so that you can alert others to the signs of pediatric stroke.  Among parents of pediatric stroke survivors, a common theme is that observed delays or unusual hand preferences were not taken seriously (by doctors, relatives, or the parents themselves) and that therapies were delayed because of it.
• so that you can donate to CHASA knowing that the support network is provides is an invaluable service (more on that later in the month).

Back to my grading then gardening.  Have a great day.
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