For Interested NAMI Members and Friends – If you have a personal interest in the world of adoption, foster care and assisted reproduction, or if you know of someone who has, please consider the following: 

The American Adoption Congress, which is a national association committed to adoption reform and promotion of honesty, openness and respect for family connections, is having its annual national conference at the Grand Hyatt in Buckhead, Atlanta from Wednesday, April 5 through Saturday, April 8.  This is also a unique opportunity to learn about changing public policies and legislation being enacted nationwide for all adopted persons and their birth and adoptive families.  If you have an interest in registering, please go to the AAC website: www.americanadoptioncongress.org and click on the conference link.

Another opportunity to experience the conference is to attend the special presentation of Alison Larkin Live, who is an acclaimed comedienne, award winning audiobook narrator and the bestselling author of The English American autobiography about an English woman who finds her birth mother – and her self – in the U.S.  This occurs on Thursday evening at 8:00 p.m., April 6, at the same venue.  We are not positive at this time as to any cost to attend, but we are working with the conference chair to make this a successful and well-attended event for all to enjoy!  Stay tuned and let Bruce Kellogg, Member of the Board of Directors of NAMI Northside know if you are interested and have plans to attend.  You can email Bruce at bakellogg@att.net or call him at 770-833-6548.  Thank you.

A Diagnosis of Mental Illness Need Not End a College Career

A recent survey reports that 47% of adults living with schizophrenia drop out of college, compared to the 27% college dropout rate in the U.S. overall.  Another study reports that students diagnosed with bipolar disorder are 70% more likely to drop out of college than students with no psychiatric diagnosis.

My son was diagnosed with schizophrenia in his junior year of college. I was devastated by what I perceived to be the loss of hope for his future, but he was determined to return to school and complete his degree. His university, which had been eager to help him withdraw when he became ill, was most unwilling to help him re-enroll after his symptoms were under control. When I called the Disability Services Office for help, a staff member told me, “Your son got in trouble…” I responded, “My son did not get in trouble, my son got sick.”

This kind of negative attitude from a university is tragic. Many young people with schizophrenia or other serious mental health conditions are perfectly capable of completing a college education. There is no reason for universities to discriminate against students living with mental illness—in fact, such discrimination is against the law.

Read entire article at NAMI.org