What is it like growing up in the areas of Africa that have been ravaged by the AIDS epidemic? A traveling exhibit visiting Santa Rosa this week supplies some first-hand answers.

To reserve times and tickets for the free exhibit while it is in Santa Rosa, click here. Reservations are not required, but they are strongly encouraged. Mike Griffin explains that’s for more than one reason.

The organization behind the exhibit, World Vision, is hardly a household name, but Griffin believes that they do good work.

Use this link for more background information on the  the Experience AIDS tour. The phorograph below is an overhead view of the walk-through display area.

While the Disney animation studios were churning out hit films like Who Shot Roger Rabbit and Beauty and the Beast, there were backstage battles between artist and management, backbiting executives, and other industry intrigues playing out. Those stories are told in the new documentary, Waking Sleeping Beauty.

Although their relevant experience had been in animation, Schneider (sen at left in his Disney days) says it was not a big stretch to create a documentary.

Disney has gone on to further animated success since 1994, but Schneider says that segment of the film industry looks a lot different—and a lot more populous—now.

Producer Peter Schneider will answer questions about Waking Sleeping Beauty  following the 7 pm screening on May 20 at the Rialto Cinema’s Lakeside.  See the trailer for the film below.

The incidence of autism is growing, now around 1 in every 110 births, a burgeoning epidemic that also carries huge consequences for the parents of those children.

Like many children diagnosed with autism, four-year old Peyton Price, shows few outward signs of the condition, which is most often expressed through unusual or unpredictable behaviors and difficulty with verbal communications. (Thanks to his mom, Jill, for sharing this photo.)

The CATS program at SSU offers several direct benefits to parents—trained child care, informational seminars, a directory of resources—but another asset is their opportunities to simply talk with one another, and learn from each other’s experiences. This father, who asked not to be identified, credits another mom with guiding his family into the complex world of specialized services for kids with autism.

With or  without huge medical bills, the demands of caring for a child with autism often require one parent to give up a job or career. And as these children grow older, their aging parents must also reconsider their own plans for retirement, a situation that now confronts Beth Farrar.

The following links offer additional information about autism:

The Autism Society of America

Autism Speaks

The Centers for Disease Control

The National Institute of Neurological  Disorders and Stroke

Even in the controlled environment of a hospital, human error is always a danger, too often a fatal one. That’s what Sorrel King is fighting to reduce.

As the mother of four young children, Sorell King was involved in every step of her daugther’s care when 18-month old  Josie was badly burned by a faulty water heater. Even that wasn’t enough to prevent the breakdown in communications that resulted in a fatal dose of methadone, the tragic mistake that abruptly turned King into a determined advocate for increased patient safety and better hospital procedures. It’s that painful personal experience, she says, that makes the medical personnel hear what she has to say.

King has documented her own first-hand experience with this wrenching issue in her book, the autobiographical Josie’s Story, which in turn led to the creation of the Josie King Foundation, through which she pursues her advocacy work. It’s a role she hopes to be able to pull back from sometime, but that day doesn’t appear to be coming any time soon.

Sorrel King believes that the number of near misses, when potentially fatal mistakes are caught just in time, or corrected before they have tragic consequences, is far higher than the actual number of deaths that occur. So she pushing hospitals to adopt procedures to report and track those near misses, too.

The seventh annual Gene and Evelyn Benedetti Leadership Award celebrationn honors Nancy Corda (right)  at  6 p.m. on Friday May 7 at the Sheraton Petaluma. Proceeds will be used to purchase a mobile ultrasound machine for Petaluma Valley Hospital. Information: 778-2796.

The roots of violent behavior can be traced back to the earliest stages of childhood, even before birth. But steps to shape positive development can also start just as early.

Robin Karr-Morse and her co-author, Meredith Wiley, are now at work on a new book, The Monster in the Closet, that takes a deeper look at the physiology of infant brain development. A key part of the process, Karr-Morse explains, is the gradual maturation of the cortical brain.

When a child’s development is impaired, whether through neglect, abuse, poor diet, exposure to drugs or any other sources, the consequences can sometimes be countered or mitigated if positive interventions become available. But Karr-Morse says their effectiveness varies so widely, it becomes virtually impossible to generalize about outcomes.

Robin Karr-Morse was the featured speaker April 28 at the the annual Blue Ribbon lunch for Child Abuse Prevention month in Sonoma County, an event co-sponsored by the California Parenting Institute and Prevent Child Abuse, Sonoma County.