Yesterday, I wrote about my concerns with the idea that "reading makes us more human." Today, my friend and colleague Karen Swallow Prior, who wrote a post for the Atlantic (How Reading Makes Us More Human) about this topic, responds to my concerns:

AJ: I resonate with your point ...

I love reading. I've always loved reading. My mom says I taught myself to read, as if language fell out of the sky and into my head in the form of the English alphabet. I devoured books as a kid, priding myself on reading chapter books from beginning to end more than once, challenging ...

We were on vacation last week, so I missed my weekly tweeting post, but I want to recommend the following articles:

"We made sure our son was not born only to suffer" ow.ly/mlewd "My #Abortion, at 23 Weeks" @nytimes #Pregnancy#PrenatalTesting

A woman's refusal to dye her gray hair ...

For those of you who prefer listening to books to reading them (or for your friends in this camp), you can now pre-order A Good and Perfect Gift as an Audiobook. It will be released next Tuesday. I haven't heard the whole recording yet, but I listened to the sample and she did ...

A few weeks ago, I accompanied Penny's class on a field trip to the zoo. We piled onto the school bus with its high-backed seats and bumpy ride and we cracked the windows to let some cool air flow in. I was responsible for Penny and two other little girls as we strolled the ...

Let me just share our day today as an example of life for a family with a child with Down syndrome. I awoke to all three kids at 7:30 (we're on vacation). Penny stood at the side of the bed, glasses askew, hair poking up, lips puckered for a kiss. She spent the following hour ...

We celebrated our fourteenth anniversary a few weeks ago. Peter took me out to a lovely dinner. We each drank a glass of champagne and toasted the gift of this relationship. We talked about the surprises of the past decade or so, and we spent some time thinking about what we've ...

For your reading pleasure this weekend:

 "What Happens to #Women Who Are Denied #Abortions?" http://ow.ly/m19Xi @nytimes #TurnAways

"My #LifeIsForeverChanged because of one night, one decision and one monumental lack of understanding." http://ow.ly/m41NO@emmasaylor

"My brother ...

Today's post includes my final installment of answers to George Estreich's questions. These center around family and education. And I'll mention here that the drawing to win a free copy of George's memoir, The Shape of the Eye, will happen on Friday, so comment on my interview ...

A continuation of my conversation with George Estreich:

George Estreich: In both your book and on your blog, I've been struck by your wish to take on difficult subjects relating to Down syndrome, prenatal diagnosis and abortion among them. A few questions:

–Can you talk ...

Last week, I posted two series of questions for George Estreich, author of The Shape of the Eye (A Doorway to New Life and Questions for George Estreich). Not only did George craft thoughtful answers to my questions, but he also returned with a series of his own questions about ...

A few years ago, I came to a totally new understanding of a passage from the Bible in Mark 4 when Jesus falls asleep in a boat and his disciples wake him up when a storm comes. I wrote about it then, but it has been reposted on Not-Alone.org (a site I recommend for anyone who ...

So my plan going forward is to offer a post every Friday that includes articles I've tweeted this week. I know I did this on Tuesday of this week, but from now on, Fridays are the plan. As it happens, this week I also had an interview on WordFM. Here's the corresponding tweet ...

I have a new essay on the Washington Post's "On Faith" blog. It begins:

Every pregnant woman has decisions to make about prenatal genetic testing, and it's not as simple as sticking out your arm for a blood draw.

According to the American Congress of ...

Yesterday I began a conversation with George Estreich, author of The Shape of the Eye, about writing and family and Down syndrome. Today, the interview continues as George writes about medical ethics, culture, and inclusion, among other things:

When I wrote A Good and Perfect ...