Savant Syndrome an Example of the Topic Health Essays by

Savant Syndrome Savant syndrome is a barely understood phenomenon that occurs in certain inpiduals. When people hear the word savant, they usually think of someone with outstanding and untrained abilities in math or music, like Rain man. However, this is just one form of savant syndrome. There are actually many types, and many different people can experience it in different ways. It is also highly correlated with people with autism, something that is actually very true. Need essay sample on "Savant Syndrome" topic? We will write a custom essay sample specifically for you Proceed Autism is a brain disorder with no known cause, although there are currently theories. Genetic predisposition is one theory; environmental causes (including vaccines) is another. However, regardless of cause, autism is a well-documented mental illness with many different therapies. Autism is usually diagnosed in children between the ages of 18 months and 4 years. It comes in many forms and severities, and is usually diagnosed along a spectrum. Mild autism is called Aspergers syndrome, and usually affects children primarily in their social development. Severe autism can cause children to function at very low levels, including no speech, unable to toilet train, and have violent outbursts. Everything in between is also normal. For an unknown reason, boys account for about 80% of autism cases, although girls can be more severely afflicted if they do have it (Cohen 1998). :I'm not in the mood to write my essay online. I want to spend time with my girlfriendProfessional writers recommend:Get Academic Writing At Reasonable Price With UsBuy College Papers Online Affordable Papers Review Cheap Writing Service Reviews Cheap Reliable Essay Writing Service Some of the unique features of autism include a high level of receptive language and a low level of expressive language. That is, children understand far more than they can say for themselves. This is one reason why echolalia (speech in which children repeat what they hear, speak in stilted ways, or use incorrect pronouns, such as Do you want juice instead of I want juice because they do not know how to process and use language in a normal way) is prevalent among some autistic children. Theories on this include that the brain is scrambling the messages somehow, or that there is so much sensory input occurring at any given time that children cannot make sense of all the information at once. Autism is heavily a sensory-processing disorder (Cohen 1998). What does this mean for savant syndrome? A savant is a person who has one area in which they are gifted, even if they function below average in all other areas. Savantism may take one of three different forms: splinter skills, where a person experiences a specific skills in relation to their disability; talented savatism, where a person experiences a high level of talent in one area in comparison to their disability; and prodigious savant, where a person experiences a high level of talent in comparison to the average person. The final type is the most commonly known version, and it was what people think about when they hear savant syndrome (Hiles). Savants can come to happen in a number of ways. First of all, about 50% of known savants are autistic. The other 50% are from CNS head injury patients or people with other developmental disabilities (Hiles). An overwhelming majority of people with autism have savantism in comparison to people in other categories. About 10% of people with autism are savants compared to less than 1% in other groups (Edelson). This is why the correlation between autism and savantism is so strong. Although a high number of people have a form of savantism, only 50 cases of prodigious savantism are known about at this time (Hiles). True savatism is quite rare. There are certain abilities that savants can have; savantism occurs only in six different areas. These areas are fantastic memorization, the ability to calculate numbers, musical talent, artistic talent, and ability of easily learn and remember languages (Hiles). The most memorable of these are memorization, calculation, and musical talent. There are stories about autistics who can remember which day of the week any particular date fell on, dating back fifty or a hundred years, and also going several decades into the future. Scientists have described these people as its as if they have memorized a calendar. Some stories center around people who can multiply large numbers in their heads without even seeming to think about it. And still other stories center around people with no musical training who become amazing pianists, and who can memorize and perform a song after hearing it only once. Such stories have been feature in books, movies, and television shows frequently and always with fascination. Dr. Hiles shows an example of a savant named Tim. Tim is over 40 and lives in a group home, where he has been for some time. He is deaf, cannot speak, and shows autistic-like qualities. Tim is only able to communicate through a special form of sign language that he has recently learned. Prior to learning this communication system, Tim was often violent with others, likely because of his frustration with his inability to communicate. Now, Tim is very friendly and initiates conversations with others. Although it obvious that Tim is below average in many areas, Tim is an excellent artist. He can draw well from life and from memory, and can reproduce images months after he has seen them. Dr. Hiles classifies him as a talented savant, and possibly even a prodigious savant, because he does so well in this area. Daniel Tammet of Britain is another savant. There are several areas in which his functioning is poor. For example, Tammet cannot drive, or even walk, because his coordination is very poor. He says that spatial relations are difficult for him, and that he has to pay attention carefully to how his body is moving so he can walk without falling. However, he also has some amazing abilities. He is good with numbers and knows pi to over 22,000 decimal places by heart. He is also amazing at learning languages (the rarest form of savantism), and learned Icelandic, one of the most difficult languages in the world, in only seven days. His case is certainly extraordinary, just like many others (Moran and Bourin). While scientists do not know exactly how a person becomes a savant, they do have some theories. Dr. Edelson believes that it is impossible to know why it is caused, and that scientists will never understand it. He does, however, have this to say about it: these inpiduals have incredible concentration abilities and can focus their complete attention to a specific area of interest. This means that inpiduals with savant syndrome can completely focus on their gifted area without any distractions at all. It would be as if they could not perceive anything from other senses while they were absorbed in the activity at hand. This means that for children with autism that they learned to block out all of the conflicting sensory information. Of course, there are children with autism who are sensory-avoiding (meaning that they are getting too much sensory information from their environments and they are overly sensitive to it) and children who are sensation-seeking (meaning they are not receiving enough sensory information from their environments and so they are looking for more). It is likely that the latter type would be more likely to fall into the savant category. Other theories include that since all of the types of savantism are processes located in the brains right hemisphere, that savantism results partially from a weak left hemisphere. From studies with epileptic patients, where brain damage can occur as a result of repeated seizures, doctors know that the undamaged parts of the brain can take over for the damaged parts. In a few cases of severe epilepsy, doctors have cured it by doing a hemispherectomy that is, removing half of the persons brain (Sabbatini). Scientists think that a similar explanation may be why savantism occurs. If parts of the savants left hemisphere are damaged, then the right hemisphere may become stronger to make up for these parts. This stronger right hemisphere may then result in the ability to learn or understand things far beyond what a person could ordinarily do. It is a possible explanation for savantism, but again, scientists simply do not know what really causes it. There is more support for the theory that mixed-up or damaged brains play a role in savantism. In one documented case, a little girl named Nadia could draw extremely well. However, as soon as she learned to speak, she lost her ability to draw (Hiles). It is possible, from this example, that when the brain must focus on more things that it loses the ability to concentrate heavily enough on the savant area in order to maintain the talent. There is other research that has suggested when a person with brain damage has had surgery to remove damaged parts of the brain so that the brain can regenerate, the savant ability was also lost. Such a case was featured on the hit show House in a recent season. Sensory perception issues may all be related to savant syndrome, another reason why autism is so heavily correlated with it. In addition to the usual sensory problems that people with autism have, autistic savants can have synesthesia, which is an involuntary joining in which the real information of one sense is accompanied by a perception in another sense. That is, if a person hears music, he may see a certain color. Or, as a person is touching something, he may hear a certain sound. These sensory perceptions are not real, but are manufactured by the persons brain. This ability may play into an artistic savants abilities, because s/he can perceive art in a way that most people cannot (Steen et al). Savantism primarily remains a mystery, and a fascination to most people. Cases will continue to crop up, and people will continue to watch. Savants have been featured on news programs several times, like Daniel Tammets story, above. Scientists will continue looking for reasons for savant syndrome to occur, but the fact is, we may never know. Savants have drastically different perceptions on the world that other people cannot imagine or truly understand. The same is true for autism. Perhaps in time, scientists will find a way to crack the code of what makes someone so different, but the likely truth is that the scientists brains just dont work in the right way to allow them to understand the perceptions and thought processes of savants. For now, savants will remain a mystery, and people will continue to watch in awe. Sources Cohen, Shirley (1998). Targeting Autism. University of California Press: Los Angeles, California. Edelson, Stephen M., Ph.D. (1995). Autistic Savant. Center for the Study of Autism. Hiles, David (2002). Savant Syndrome. Wisconsin Medical Society. Moran, Terry; and Bourin, Lenny (2005). The Extraordinary Abilities of an Autistic Savant. ABC News. Accessed December 6, 2007. Website: http://abcnews.go.com/WNT/Health/Story?id=830166&page=2 Sabbatini, Renato M.E., Ph.D. (2002). Epilepsy Affect Neural Circuits. Accessed December 6, 2007. Website: http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n16/question/epilepsia.html. Steen, Carol et al (1997). The Synesthetic Experience. MIT. Accessed December 6, 2007. Website: http://web.mit.edu/synesthesia/www/.

Free Essays on Homosexual Mariages

Gay Marriages A battle has been in progress for years over whether equal rights and equal protection against discrimination should be extended to homosexuals. Recently this has expanded into the area of marriage. The topic of homosexual marriages is a prevalent issue today. Even in the nation's capital, representatives are finding ways to make this alliance unlawful. This topic has been debated bringing up many valid points, but the fact of the matter is that homosexual marriages are wrong and we, as a country, should not condone such acts. Marriage is the institution whereby men and women are joined in a special kind of social and legal dependence for the purpose of founding and maintaining a family. Although some same sex marriages may be capable of coping financially, the negative influence on children raised in their household has been statistically proven. Not only would same sex families deal with negative connotations in terms of their children, but most religions in North America frown upon the union of same sex relationships and restrict marriage to one man and one woman. Many people hold opposing views, arguing that same sex marriages harm no one and that to deny them the right to marry is unconstitutional. First and foremost, we as a society must think of our future when an issue such as homosexuality comes in to play. In no way can one change someone's sexual orientation, but it is proven that homosexuality in the household can be detrimental to a child's upbringing. Debra Busher, an expert on child psychology, says: "Sexual orientation of a parent is critical to the upbringing of a child. Society is based on the ideal of having heterosexual parents, and it goes against values for same sex parents to raise children. Having homosexual parents is also a major stressor for a child due to society's norms and values. It can cause embarrassment and abnormal feelings. Children who are raised in ‘alternative famil... Free Essays on Homosexual Mariages Free Essays on Homosexual Mariages Gay Marriages A battle has been in progress for years over whether equal rights and equal protection against discrimination should be extended to homosexuals. Recently this has expanded into the area of marriage. The topic of homosexual marriages is a prevalent issue today. Even in the nation's capital, representatives are finding ways to make this alliance unlawful. This topic has been debated bringing up many valid points, but the fact of the matter is that homosexual marriages are wrong and we, as a country, should not condone such acts. Marriage is the institution whereby men and women are joined in a special kind of social and legal dependence for the purpose of founding and maintaining a family. Although some same sex marriages may be capable of coping financially, the negative influence on children raised in their household has been statistically proven. Not only would same sex families deal with negative connotations in terms of their children, but most religions in North America frown upon the union of same sex relationships and restrict marriage to one man and one woman. Many people hold opposing views, arguing that same sex marriages harm no one and that to deny them the right to marry is unconstitutional. First and foremost, we as a society must think of our future when an issue such as homosexuality comes in to play. In no way can one change someone's sexual orientation, but it is proven that homosexuality in the household can be detrimental to a child's upbringing. Debra Busher, an expert on child psychology, says: "Sexual orientation of a parent is critical to the upbringing of a child. Society is based on the ideal of having heterosexual parents, and it goes against values for same sex parents to raise children. Having homosexual parents is also a major stressor for a child due to society's norms and values. It can cause embarrassment and abnormal feelings. Children who are raised in ‘alternative famil...

Examine the Importance of Corporate Governance on Bank Risk Management Essay

Examine the Importance of Corporate Governance on Bank Risk Management - Essay Example It is also a process to maintain proper supervision over the functions of the employees, thereby controlling the flow of information inside the hierarchy. Thus, corporate governance is mainly utilised by various organisations in order to endorse corporate equality, transparency and responsibility among the members, which helps to enhance their motivation and morale, thereby improving the efficiency of an organisation. Moreover, it also ensures that proper management information is transmitted among the employees in order to maintain uniformity and justice in the organisation. This would be beneficial both for the organisation and the employees. Thus, with the help of corporate governance, proper control mechanisms can be ensured in order to maintain the business operations in a systematic and effective way. Hence, it can be depicted that the framework of corporate governance is also utilised for retaining an appropriate balance among the members of an organisation (International Fina nce Corporation, 2010). ... It can be observed that the penetration of corporate governance increased by a considerable extent in this recent era in order to condense the corporate scandals occurring in global markets (The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited, 2002). The paper mainly describes the importance and the benefits of corporate governance in organisations. Along with this, it also highlights the significant impact of corporate governance in managing the risks associated with banks. Importance of Corporate Governance on Bank Risk Management Corporate governance is the system by which business conglomerates are directed and managed in order to attain business objectives. Moreover, in modern times, corporate governance is implemented in most of the organisations as a strategic policy in order to handle the threats in a challenging way. The prime objective behind this approach is to eradicate financial and other risks. Corporate governance is unswervingly related with risk management of any financial organ isation, thereby acting as an umbrella to protect its perspectives (Colley, 2003). Risk management in financial institutions is most common as compared to other sectors. This is due to the fact that it mainly deals with fiscal instruments, thereby controlling both market and credit risks in a tactful way. It is so because financial risk can lead to economic downturn along with recession in the whole economy (The Economist Intelligence Unit Limited, 2002). Hence, corporate governance is extremely important in banks as it would enhance public faith and confidence, which is very essential for their efficient running. Thus, poor corporate governance in banks may lead to operations failure, which might cause considerable

What movie and answer questions and your personal reactions Review

What and answer questions and your personal reactions - Movie Review Example The similarities in all the children is the undying love that they receive from their parents and the parents’ desire to raise healthy and happy children. All these children live in an environment where raising children is focused on making sure that they get enough sleep, that they get enough amount of food to eat, and that they fit in with the older siblings. In all the scenarios, it is clear that babies learn from their surrounding environment. They learn from what they see, for example, a baby seeing people eating from one communal pot or seeing people slaughtering a goat from the dirt gets to learn how life works in his surroundings. In all the scenarios mothers are seen to be primarily in charge of child care. For example, the documentary shows the US mother busy in the kitchen and the Mongolian mother milking. The documentary also shows the mothers engage more with their offsprings while doing something else. When looking at the four children, they are raised in very different social-cultural environment where in the case of Ponijao, he is raised in a dirsty village. His family lives in log hut that has clay roofs. They do not have any carpets of any form of barrier between bare bottoms and the dirt. He lives in an environment where people sit on the ground. The culture in this community is where women have the primary role of taking care of the children and doing the daily chores of the homes. The women tie their babies on the side or on their back as they do their work. Men do not play a big role in rearing children on a day to day basis as it is seen in this documentary. Older children are the once who take the responsibilities of acting like the role models and teach them on how they can fit in the society. This is clearly seen in the opening scene of the documentary where an older Ponijao is seen seated next to an infant grinding rocks on a

Acquisition Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Acquisition Analysis - Essay Example Such factors as internal and external market environment as well as Adobe priorities were examined, and it was found that acquisition is profitable for both companies. The three templates were designed to analyze broad, specific and other issues necessary to evaluate the risk and profitability of the project. It was supposed that the company IAP will invest about $ 1000000 from internal cash funds. Financial analysis proves that fact that the rate of return will be high if IAP invests $ 1,000000. Such calculations as WACC, risk assessment, CAPM, foreign currency translation effect, cash flow analysis have been madeThe initial assessment of markets conditions involves screening foreign markets to discover the potential of different countries. This process includes consideration of rates of growth of economies, new developments such as opening up of markets in developing and emergent economies, technical changes that are creating new opportunities to sell and identification of long-ter m economic and demographic factors that are altering demand patterns.With the globalization of the world economy, companies like IAP Company Limited are growing by merger and acquisition in a bid to expand operations and remain competitive. The complexity of such transactions often makes it difficult to assess all risk exposures and liabilities, and requires the skills of a specialist advisor. Four main types of assessment for companies considering acquisition beyond their national borders should be undertaken: political and legal conditions, economic conditions, cultural conditions, competitive conditions. USA-based company Adobe operates in the stable political situation, which has high rates of economic growth. Acquisition policy is undoubtedly the most radical growth strategy open to management in that it represents a deliberate attempt to change the nature of the business. Acquisition policy can be classified into backward, forward and horizontal integration. Acquisition policy occurs when the new business is related in some way to the old one. (Zolkiewski, 1994). Template 1: IAP Company Limited will be reluctant to enter countries that have high political risks unless the potential returns are high or when countries with high political risk are providers of raw material that are in short supply. When the overall market is growing or can be induced to grow, it may be relatively easy for companies with a small market share, or even new entrants, to gain share. This is because the absolute level of sales of the established companies may still be growing; and indeed, in some instances, those companies may be unable or unwilling to meet the new demand. Import penetration into some industries can be traced back to the early 1990s, when companies were unable to supply the peak demand occurring during booms and their customers had to seek alternative sources overseas (Benito, Gripsrund, 1992). Once established with overseas suppliers, many UK users were reluctant to revert to UK sourcing. When the boom was over, the importers held on to their market share. The size of the investment required by a business wishing to enter industry will be an important determinant of the extent new entrants. Acquisition with Adobe allows IAP Company Limited to subject to a complex regulate framework whereas others are less so. Still, even if it is possible to predict the needs of customer there are some threats and new opportunities, which should be taken into consideration. American administrative and legal environment is very favourable for acquisition with Adobe. There are no specific regulations governing the goals and structures of the industry, there is

Health and Nutrition of Developing Nations

Health and Nutrition of Developing Nations Timothy Lee It may seem as an overwhelming task when attempting to understand the factors that are related to the health and nutrition of many, if not all, of the developing nations around the world. There is though one reoccurring factor that is constantly mentioned no matter where you begin your research into the issue, poverty. The mentioning of the term â€Å"developing nation† has become synonymous with the term poverty in my own mind. The issue at hand is how to turn these nations from developing to developed, which in turn would also contribute to the improvement of proper health needs and adequate nutrition standards for all. From malaria stricken nations to malnourished nations across the developing spectrum poverty plays a role. It is becoming more difficult now though to just blame poverty since there has been such a large influx in foreign aid to these developing nations[LL2]. Help is being offered, and it is upon the citizens of these unhealthy nations to take full advantage of these benefits, even if that means teaching the local populations the benefits of say sleeping under a bed net or feeding your children proper nutritional meals even on the low income budget that they have, as a few of the Millennium Development Goals have referenced. Source[LL3]: http://ih887.pbworks.com/w/page/5284039/Micronutrient%20Deficiency One of the biggest health related diseases that impacts such a large number of people and yet can be prevented is that of Malaria. In the case of providing bed nets to all families of developing nations to help in the prevention of malaria, the cost of providing the nets is very small and are in rather ample supply[LL4]. The benefits from using the bed nets, those being less infected citizens, stronger workforce due to the advancement of the individuals’ health, etc.., greatly outweigh any monetary cost[LL5]. The individuals that would use the bed nets would get sick less often, be able to work harder, and the overall income gains would easily cover the initial costs plus more. There are two sides to the argument of providing these simple bed nets for free. The first being that in developing nations where malaria is rampant, the poverty trap is so deep that they are to the point where they can’t even afford to purchase the necessities for the prevention of the disease, thus people like Jeffery Sachs suggests that if we were to finance malaria eradication for these developing nations then they would end up on the right side of his S-shaped curve on the road to opulence. The other side of the argument is that skeptics are not positive that malaria is the actual cause for that countries poverty and that maybe it is because of a corrupt government for their failure to eradicate malaria, and if that is true, then getting rid of the disease wouldn’t help. In my opinion, both arguments make valid points. It is reasonable to assume that a country is poor because of the health of its citizens and if health improved then so to would its economy[LL6]. That being said, it could also be seen as being naà ¯ve to think that the health of a nation would be the only factor in that nation’s economic well-being[LL7]. Despite the size, governments of all countries play an enormous role in their citizens well-being health wise, economic wise, and etc. b ut to look at a poor country and determine that one cause, that being malaria in this case, is the reason for that nation’s poverty, in my opinion, would be a misinterpretation of the causes of poverty as a whole. Note that Malaria is not the only disease that is rampant and plaguing developing nations but is by far the easiest example to point to and say, â€Å"It can be done†, the â€Å"it† being the prevention of the disease, the repossession of several million able body workers into the workforce, and ultimately the building of a weak economy. The next step for a developing nation would be to tackle the nutritional standards of its population and ensure that those needs are being met in a way to guarantee that the population stays healthy. â€Å"Just as micronutrient deficiencies can lead to increased susceptibility to infectious diseases, infectious disease can also contribute to micronutrient deficiencies since the body requires increased micronutrients when combating disease. Worldwide, between 140 and 250 million children suffer from Vitamin A deficiency (VAD[LL8]).Primary VAD is usually caused by prolonged dietary deprivation, in particular lack of vegetables and animal products, and is particularly endemic in areas where rice is the staple food (Muller Krawinkel, 2005).† The absence of adequate vegetables and animal products cannot be blamed on the average citizen but rather on the lack focus on the ecology, the economy, and the culture of the regions being observed[LL9]. Sachs view on the health of developing nations is that we should begin â€Å"scaling up† our efforts on the international side and support community health workers. While in previous Sachs arguments, that being about the poverty trap, I would’ve agreed with his views, but when it comes to providing educational matters related to health, or providing all the tools to a nation to improve their own health care system then when would that nation become self-sufficient and no longer need aid, educational help regarding nutrition, or their basic needs be met? [LL10]How long would we as the international community stand by and continuously pour money into these nati ons? In conclusion, there is without a doubt a definite need for foreign aid when it comes to the health and nutritional standards of developing nations[LL11]. These countries are in a rut, also known as â€Å"The Poverty Trap†, and can only climb out of such trap when the proper ladder is offered to help bring them out from the hole they find themselves in as Sachs explains it. This doesn’t however excuse these developing nations from all responsibilities involving their population and the providing of proper education, food, and economic well-being for its citizens. When a nation [LL12]has so called â€Å"low-hanging fruits† available to them but doesn’t or won’t take full advantage of these â€Å"fruits† even after the international community has exhausted its capabilities to educate, influence, and integrate proper health and nutritional standards then in my opinion said nations should be coerced [LL13]into following the protocol that other de veloping nations are following by having some sort of aid reduction policy implemented so that countries would feel obligated to begin doing for themselves what they should be doing all along[LL14], and until they show evidence of taking advantage of the â€Å"low-hanging fruits†. Works Cited[LL15] Banerjee, Abhijit V., and Esther Duflo. Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty. New York: Public Affairs, 2011. Print. â€Å"Micronutrient Deficiency.† Ih887 /. Web. 25 June 2015. Muller, O., Krawinkel, M., (2005)Malnutrition and Health in Developing Countries.CMAJ, 279-286. Sachs, Jeffrey. A Call to Scale-Up Community Health Workers. The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com. Web. 25 June 2015. [LL1]Nice job Tim. Organization needs a little more work though. It’s a little hard to tell if your focus is on aid or health, or both and you’re missing a few opportunities to apply more critical analysis. Esp. conclusion seems a bit abrupt and doesn’t seem to link closely to your intro. It’s a bit short of the word count laid out in the syllabus, and a bit short on analysis and discussion in a few places. Otherwise, a nice project. Grade: 80 [LL2]Can you develop this more? How does the influx of aid make this more difficult? [LL3]Need to discuss/explain/introduce this graphic as part of your discussion. This is a bit choppy. [LL4]Need to cite these two claims. [LL5]According to who? So why don’t more people use them? [LL6]Develop this argument a bit more. [LL7]Good point. [LL8]Citation? And why is this bad? [LL9]Can we blame any other factors? Why are there fewer elephants in Kenya than in Zinbabwe? [LL10]I think I get your basic point, but the wording /structure is making it hard to follow you. [LL11]Not sure you’ve established this point†¦ your intro seemed to suggest that you saw merit in the idea that aid might hurt more than help†¦ [LL12]Do you mean the government/members of government or the population at large? [LL13]By who? We should send in the army? [LL14]Need to develop this idea a bit more in the preceding paragrphs†¦ what are some things that can be done, and what are the advantages and disadvantages of these proposals? Do they seem reasonable to you? Etc. [LL15]Works cited doesn’t seem quite uniform

Existence of Reality in Christopher Durangs Beyond Therapy and Edward

Existence of Reality in Christopher Durang's Beyond Therapy and Edward Albee's Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf? Growing up, I always assumed that my parents would grow old together. I fantasized about introducing my future children to their still-married grandparents and attending, if not personally planning, my parent’s fiftieth anniversary celebration. Although my parents fought and struggled with areas of perpetual disagreement, somehow things always worked out and in my naivety, I believed they always would. However, as time progressed, the unresolved, and in some cases unspoken, issues that had plagued my parent’s marriage since its conception festered and ultimately reached intractable proportions. As a messy divorce loomed, each parent explained his version of the events and â€Å"irreconcilable differences† engendering a separation. Although the facts presented in each account matched, my parent’s respective interpretations of the facts differed greatly. As I listened to my parent’s rationalize their inability to get along, I realized that although my parent’s stories did not match, neither party was actually lying. Each parent simply presented to me his or her version of the reasons for divorce. I knew that somewhere hidden in the subtext of my parent’s explanations laid the truth. As I sifted through the slightly convoluted information, I began to wonder, â€Å"Is reality a relative concept?† After reviewing my personal experience, Christopher Durang’s play Beyond Therapy, and Edward Albee’s Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?, I reached the conclusion that, as inherently paradoxical as it seems, reality exists as a relative concept. Ostensibly, in the complexities of a divorce, the true reasons necessitating a permanent... ...xtremes of denial and testifies to the true relativity of reality depending upon mindset. After overcoming her denial and admitting that no son exists, Martha lies prostrate as George asks her, â€Å"Who’s afraid of Virginia Woolf?†(242). Martha wearily replies, â€Å"I†¦am†¦George†¦.I†¦am†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (242). In other words, â€Å"Who’s afraid of the truth?† My parents, Stuart of Christopher Durang’s Beyond Therapy, and Martha and George from Thomas Albee’s â€Å"Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?†. Ceasing to rationalize reality to suit one’s needs entails dealing with the truth and experiencing pain. Therefore, it stands to reason that many smart, reasonable people fall victim to the allure of denial. However, as Martha demonstrates, the walls crumble eventually, and one feels the pain as acutely as ever. So, who’s afraid of the truth? The more appropriate question is who’s not afraid of the truth?