There’s a lot more to a successful invention than just a good idea.

Steve Schneider, (left) the coordinator and sole staff of the Sawyer Center in Santa Rosa has had a hand in a growing list of success stories with clients there. Currently, he's enthusiastic about an idea concieved by a pair of local nurses.

As you might expect, the Sawyer Center itself was the creation of an individual inventor. Steve Schneider recounts its history.

Just over the past 10 years, according to their website, the Sawyer Center has helped over 2,300 clients by providing in excess of 8,900 hours of individual, one-on-one, free counseling. In addition, over 2,570 business owners have attended 108 workshops for close to 13,100 hours of training. This counseling and training has resulted in:

• 114 patents received
• 151 trademarks filed
• 113 copyright applications

A three year cost-cutting deal has closed three west Sonoma County high schools for the day today, and further cutbacks are planned for the next two years, even before the next round of budgetary bad news arrives from Sacramento.

Negotiations to set up the reduced school schedule for the next two years progressed quickly once the concept was on the table. Superintendent Keller McDonald says the talks between the West Sonoma County Union High School District and their employee unions were wrapped up in just two weeks.

Today’s short-notice free day was enjoyed by students, suspects teacher Ed Lynch, a teacher at Analy High (left), but the shorter school year schedule for the next two years will, in some significant ways make a difficult situation even worse.

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

Learning the process of hands-on sheep shearing may not be wild, but it is unquestionably wooly.

Shearing sheep is a physical process, but leverage and technique are more important than strength. Students of all ages can learn—one member of the current class is just 13, and women can shear as well as men, says UC Extension Livestock Advisor John Harper. But it does take the full five days of intensive work to begin to master the task.

Done properly, Harper adds, the shearing process is not a hardship for the sheep, and can be completed quite quickly.

While selling the wool can be a welcome source of income for the sheep rancher, at least when the markets are stronger than they have been the past couple of years, regular shearing is also important for the health of the animals, adds shearing instructor Mike McWilliams.

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.