Parents of children with autism have played a prominent role in controversies surrounding this condition. Parental voices were critical in challenging the "refrigerator mother" theory and more recently have attracted public attention for claims that autism may be caused by childhood vaccinations and that "unorthodox biomedical" treatments may…

This paper is about mothering, young learning disabled people, their sexualised and relationship lives and normalisation--not through the lens of the disabled person, but via a mothers perspective and theoretical discussion. As a mother who has a learning disabled daughter, a feminist and an academic my own mothering experience, my Ph.D. research…

This review addresses peer group influences on adolescent smoking with a particular focus on recently published longitudinal studies that have investigated the topic. Specifically, we examine the theoretical explanations for how social influence works with respect to adolescent smoking; discuss the association between peer and adolescent smoking;…

What enables one student to persist in the face of adversity while another chooses to quit? To answer this question, I captured the lived experiences of 3 female and 3 male postsecondary students who self-identified as either gay, lesbian, or bisexual, all of whom were successfully completing their undergraduate degrees. Utilizing a life history…

Recent debates regarding same-sex marriage and gay and lesbian adoption highlight the role of schools as sociopolitical institutions. Accordingly, teachers operating within social norms have considerable influence through their interactions with students and their families. Previous research points to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT)…