BAC Rutland

The new science of measuring happiness has transformed self-help. Now scholars suggest it could transform society.

IF YOU WERE given the choice, and you wanted to reduce human suffering by as much as possible, would you cure blindness or back pain? It seems a silly question. The thought of losing one’s sight is, to most people, as frightening as it is depressing: we would no longer be stirred by sunsets or landscapes or the expressions on the faces of our loved ones. Everyday chores would become more difficult, crossing the street perilous. Many sports and pastimes would simply be off-limits, and we would lose a good deal of our independence.
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Columnist Jane Glenn Haas writes in the Orange County [CA] Register that a new survey reveals caregivers for people with disabilities “are facing escalating financial and emotional hardships that are rarely, if ever, addressed in national debates about funding health care.” Some 44 million Americans are responsible for the care of a spouse or parent.
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CHICAGO — A small but provocative study suggests that at least 10% of children with autism overcome the disorder by age 9 — most of them after undergoing years of intensive behavioral therapy.

Skeptics question the phenomenon, but University of Connecticut psychology professor Deborah Fein is among those convinced it’s real. 
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President Barack Obama’s budget proposal for fiscal year 2010 includes increased funds for employment assistance for people with disabilities as well as autism research and awareness, among other programs.

The White House released full details of the president’s approximately $3.5 trillion budget proposal this week, which includes $17 billion in cuts. The budget must now pass through Congress before going into effect October 1.
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MONTPELIER – When Carrie Foster of Cambridge, one of the more than 300 state employees slated to be laid off over the next few weeks, came to the Statehouse to explain her predicament to lawmakers this week, she had to do more than rearrange her schedule.
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In April 2008, Rebecca Haden lost her job when the small store she managed went out of business. A year later, she’s working as many as 40 hours a week and earning much more than she did before — even though she still doesn’t have a job. Her formula? Freelancing her Web skills.
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Sarah Allen Benton is hardly your stereotypical alcoholic. She has a master of science degree from Northeastern University and is a licensed mental health counselor at Emmanuel College in Boston. In recovery from alcoholism for the last five years, she has written an enlightening new book about people like herself, “Understanding the High-Functioning Alcoholic” (Praeger Publishers).
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