Glass Half Full with Leslie Krongold, Ed.D.

Are you ready for three days of workshops, adaptive activities, and discovering resources and services to enhance your quality of life? Peruse the agenda, make plans for November 20-22, and register for the free Virtual Abilities Expo . President and CEO David Korse shares the 40+ year history of the annual event in this podcast episode as well as whets our appetite with the impressive lineup of E...

Believe it or not, this episode has nothing to do with the recent U.S. election. We're celebrating the 100th podcast episode of the Glass Half Full . But feel free to celebrate our right to vote in a democracy. All good! If you're a recent Glass Half Full listener, you can now peruse the archives of evergreen content that fall into these categories: Advocacy Alternative Healing Modalities Autoimmu...

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month . Meet Susan Jeremy -- Comic, Actress, Playwright, and Teacher -- and breast cancer survivor. She's also an old friend from my college days. We reminisce about way back when...as well as hear about Susan's unfortunate experience at a New York medical clinic where she was told, " You're over 40, it's a cyst. Take aspirin ." The tumor grew. Susan's diagnosis...

This is part 2 of a conversation with Dalia Kinsey, RD, LD, SNS. We talk about becoming our authentic selves, how trauma impacts our physical and emotional health, and the need for inclusivity and intersectionality in public health messages. This is the most stressful year of our lives. We've got the pandemic going. We already knew about police brutality, but never have we been to a point where ev...

Dalia Kinsey, RD, LD, SNS, chose to be a dietician because she wanted to help people prevent chronic disease; this was before receiving a diagnosis of Graves Disease, an autoimmune disorder that causes an overactive thyroid. In this first of a two-part interview, Dalia shares anecdotes of dealing with a chronic health condition in another country where certain modern conveniences, like continuous...

Are you feeling stressed out? With all that's going on in the world -- pandemic, civil unrest, job loss, hurricanes, wild fires -- it's difficult to avoid stress. Laughter therapy, or laughter yoga, might help alleviate some of the heaviness. It's free. It offers numerous mental and physical health benefits. And it's fun. In the field of psychoneuroimmunology, laughter has been studied and found t...

What do you do as a patient with a progressive health condition that renders you unable to do certain tasks? Do you ask for assistance or find a work-around to accommodate for that situation? Once you ask for help, how does your relationship with your helper change? Learned Helplessness is, according to Wikipedia, "a condition in which a person suffers from a sense of powerlessness, arising from a...

Featured are four people -- with their own unique health conditions -- that are making the best of the quarantine and pandemic. Luda Gogolushko , who has SMA Type 3 and lives in Southern California, continues to write and publish from the safety of her home. Lindsey Kizer , in North Carolina, gets to telecommute for her job and tries to maintain self-care routines to avoid narcoleptic flare ups. J...

People with anxiety, autism, blindness or low vision, deaf and hard of hearing, mobility challenges, chemical sensitivities, or PTSD may face unique challenges visiting a dental office. Now with the additional barrier -- the COVID-19 pandemic -- many people are postponing or cancelling routine dental appointments. Dr. Helena Caballero, a dentist in Northern California, discusses oral health and hy...

That is me; I still have my hands , says the 4-year old girl after waking up in the hospital and being told by her mother that she had lost her legs. The little girl grew up to become Rumba with Tina . Tina Verduzco teaches a Saturday morning online dance class for BORP : Bay Area Outreach & Recreation Program. Tina, along with several other online instructors, help this podcaster maintain positiv...

We're not talking about your financial investments. How much of a health risk are you willing to take during the current pandemic? Do you wear a facial mask when you leave your home? Do you maintain six feet of physical distance from people who do not live with you? Are you avoiding crowds? Postponing health appointments? As our cities and towns gradually open up, will you change your behaviors or...

This month we have both Earth Day and Arbor Day so it's high time to be amongst the trees. Even if you are hunkered down in the safety of your home during the pandemic, you can still derive healing benefits from gazing out of your window at nature's bounty. If your window faces man-made materials, there is science proving that a photograph of trees can impact you in a positive physical and emotion...

If you, or someone you know, has a muscle or nerve condition such as Multiple Sclerosis, Spinal Cord Injury, Amputation, Osteoarthritis, Parkinson's Disease, or a neuromuscular disease (i.e. myotonic dystrophy, SMA, Charcot Marie Tooth, Becker's, ALS, etc.), here's an opportunity to participate in a research study. No trips to a medical center or donation of muscle tissue required. The Department...

It's April Fool's Day so we're mixing things up. One can't be positive 100% of the time. Now is the opportunity to share about all of the weird things people have said about our health conditions -- whether it was a friend, an aunt, or even a health care professional. Perhaps well-intentioned but definitely not insightful nor helpful advice. Most people with some type of chronic health condition h...

A retired nurse, physical and yoga therapist, and mental health professional offer strategies to cope with uncertainty, anxiety, and all those other emotions caught up in this season of the pandemic. Verla Fortier, author of Take Back Your Outside Mindset: Live Longer, Prevent Dementia, and Control Your Chronic Illness , speaks about her experience diagnosed with systemic lupus and the discovery o...

How is the threat of Covid-19 (coronavirus) impacting your life? Beyond fierce hand washing, are you changing how you relate to others? Is social distancing keeping you indoors? Are you second-guessing where you go, what you do, and with whom you spend time? You're not alone. People with chronic illness and/or compromised immune systems need to be vigilant as well as mindful. For a few practical t...

Being diagnosed with a chronic, debilitating disease can certainly bring stress to one's life. In fact, that stress can be significant enough to be called trauma. How one handles this stress varies. Some people have amazing coping capacity and are hard-wired for resilience while others have more difficulty. None of it is easy. How one handles this stress varies. Some people have amazing coping cap...

What is a Patient Advocate? A patient advocate can be an actual patient with a mental and/or physical health condition, a caregiver for someone with a health condition, or a paid professional advocating on behalf of others with a health condition. Andrea L. Klein, of Cleveland, Tennessee, has collagen six intermediate congenital muscular dystrophy. She started a Facebook group, Breathe with MD Sup...

Registered Nurse and proud septuagenarian, Barbara Blaser , was the guest speaker at my Northern California myotonic dystrophy support group . With her healthcare background and deep knowledge of medicinal herbs, she spoke about the use of herbal tinctures, edibles, and lotions to help relieve muscle pain, anxiety, insomnia, gastrointestinal problems, and more. Barbara's nursing career was predomi...

In 2018, a research study found that at least 36% of Americans were sleeping less than seven hours each night. Inadequate sleep can lead to a number of physical and/or emotional conditions. Some common sleep disorders include insomnia, restless leg syndrome, central or obstructive sleep apnea, and sleepwalking. Have you perfected your sleep hygiene behaviors to achieve optimal rest and sleep each...

Two friends from grade school share their stories of a diagnosis of a neurological condition. Marc has Multiple Sclerosis and Steve has Parkinson's disease. I have a form of muscular dystrophy called myotonic dystrophy. It's purely coincidental we all went to the same synagogue; there is no correlation between being Jewish and having a neurological condition. Both Marc and Steve maintain positive...

A family physician talks about ways to avoid the flu, and enhance your immunity, during this peak season for influenza. Plus, you might learn some flu factoids for your next flu trivia contest. Stay on top of flu statistics by following the weekly FluView on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website . If you provide care for someone with a chronic health condition or an elderly...

End-of-life planning is a huge topic. In previous podcast episodes we've covered the donation of body tissue for scientific research and attending a life transitions retreat . With three fascinating guests you'll learn about an annual symposium which brings together healthcare professionals, patients, caregivers and others all "committed to generating human-centered, interdisciplinary innovation f...

Dianna Rowley, diagnosed with diabetes type 1, was a professional dancer. Although she had health issues in her childhood she wasn't diagnosed until her early 20s when she experienced a major health crisis. Her journey to wellness and life balance includes a lot of exercise and movement with setbacks and successes along the way. Today she is a Health & Fitness Coach inspiring others with disabilit...

Practicing Pilates can be done on a mat or with any number of devices such as the Reformer. Shannon Knorr , a yoga and Pilates instructor, talks about therapeutic Pilates to help with body alignment, pain relief, and more. Julia Carver, a Pilates and Movement Therapist, works with veterans who have experienced PTSD and other trauma to help them with neural reconnection. For people with muscle weak...