Daryl Hannah Reveals Autism Diagnosis That She's Tried to Hide Her Whole Life

donderdag 26 september 2013

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
by Jill Baughman 2 hours ago

Here's some surprising news coming out of Hollywood today: Daryl Hannah revealed she was diagnosed with autism as a child. She also had struggles with "debilitating shyness" as a result of the disorder. Kind of unexpected, right?

Known for her iconic roles in Kill Bill: Volume 1 & 2, Splash, Blade Runner, and Wall Street, she said that she's been able to stay under the radar when it comes to her diagnosis and quietly manage her symptoms. Considering no one has any kind of privacy in Hollywood anymore, the fact she has kept this a secret so long is quite a feat.

Also once making headlines for dating John Kennedy Jr., she admitted to People magazine, "I’ve never been comfortable being the center of attention." You can see the interview in Friday's issue, when she also said, "It’s always freaked me out."

At times that she'd become so shy, she'd rock back and forth constantly. As a teenager, when she started to become famous, she had to hide her autism diagnosis in her professional life and couldn't do promotional appearances or talk shows. She said it was "not because I was above it, but because I was terrified."

Wow, what a brave thing to finally admit after all these years! Especially for someone who confesses that she is petrified of the spotlight. She went on to say, "I’m a grown up now. I’ve learned a couple of things that really would’ve made my life easier if I’d known them 20 years ago .... I wasted so much time scared, self-conscious, and insecure."

It's rather inspiring that woman who enjoyed so much success in Hollywood was once diagnosed with autism and couldn't even go around promoting her own work as a result, which is such a major factor when it comes to a movie's success nowadays. The 52-year-old beauty should also serve as an example that people who are diagnosed with autism or fighting chronic shyness can go on to have amazing careers and fulfilling lives. Good for her for coming out with her autism and opening up about how she was able to overcome her symptoms while still being able to let her guard down and perform in front of a camera and crew.

Now she's enjoying life with her boyfriend of three years, a pig they rescued name Molly, and a farm she's living in near LA. She's also an environmental activist who's been arrested a couple times during protests. Regardless, she's a true inspiration for anyone with autism or battling shyness, and we wish her even more continued success in both her private and public lives.

Are you surprised to hear that Daryl Hannah was diagnosed with autism?

Image via World Travel & Tourism Council/Flickr

Click "Like" for more about parenting kids on the spectrum. ABOUT THE AUTHOR Jill Baughman

is the copy chief of The Stir and geeks out over all the nuances and weirdness of the English language.

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3 Ingenious Fruit Fly Traps You Haven't Already Tried

zondag 15 september 2013

AppId is over the quota
AppId is over the quota
by Adriana Velez 7 hours ago

We had a fruit fly invasion this week at the office. And it was maddening. One Stir staffer spent the day with a squirt bottle of soapy water, shooting it every time anything flew near her. No doubt about it, those little bugs are annoying. How do you get rid of them -- without setting off a toxic bomb of bug spray everywhere?

There's that trick of putting vinegar or something sweet in a jar and covering it with punctured plastic wrap, but that didn't do the trick for me last time I got an invasion. So I'm looking for other non-toxic, DIY fruit fly traps. 

Soda Bottle Trap

Take an empty, two-liter soda bottle and cut off the top third.Fill the bottle with a 1/4 inch of juice, wine, tequila, or apple cider, and squirt in a little liquid soap. The liquid soap is supposed to create surface tension so the fruit flies don't just hang out on the surface of the juice, but actually drown in it.Invert the top of the soda bottle upside-down and set that in the bottle. Seal the two parts together with duct tape.Enjoy as your fruit flies fly in and fail to escape.

Alternatively, you can curl a piece of paper into a funnel and insert that, point down, instead of the inverted bottle top.

Incense

Fruit flies can't handle the smoke. Rather than set your kitchen on fire (in a fury, we understand...) light some incense -- a handful of sticks, maybe more than you'd ordinarily use at once.

Milk and Sugar

1. Combine 1 pint of milk, 1/4 pound of sugar, and 2 ounces ground pepper in a saucepan. Simmer for 10 minutes.

2. Pour liquid into small, shallow bowls in affected areas. Collect bowls after fruit flies fall in and drown.

Destroy Breeding Grounds

Once you've killed off the fruit flies you could see, clean areas where they were breeding with bleach (your fruit bowl, for instance). Fruit flies often breed inside drains and garbage disposals, so pour some bleach down the sink as well.

How do you kill off fruit flies?

Image via John Tann/Flickr

ABOUT THE AUTHOR Adriana Velez

is a staff writer who dabbles in food, parenting, news, entertainment, molecular biology, and anything else that that pops into her head. She lives with her elementary school-aged son in Brooklyn, land of urban farms and artisan everything.  

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Nanny Says Mom Beat Her Up When She Tried to Stop Her From Driving Drunk With Child (VIDEO)

donderdag 18 juli 2013

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AppId is over the quota
by Kiri Blakeley 3 hours ago

A mom of two is accused of beating up her nanny. She allegedly attacked her, grabbed her neck, pulled her hair, threw her to the ground, and tried to punch her. Sheesh, what could cause a mother to go off on her nanny like that? Did the nanny give the kid a juice box or something? Nope. Reportedly, the nanny was merely trying to stop the mom from driving with her 14-month-old in the car -- because she was drunk.

Reportedly, the 20-year-old nanny thought the 44-year-old mom from Long Island, New York, Laura Bowery-Falco, was inebriated and shouldn't be driving. But after the fracas, Bowery-Falco allegedly got in her car anyway and drove away with the kid in tow. Shortly afterwards, the mom was pulled over by cops and arrested on DUI charges. She is also charged with harassment and endangering the welfare of the child.

Her lawyer denies everything.

The mom is a wealthy woman who owns an equestrian stable in the Hamptons, a playground for New York's elite. No doubt she doesn't like being told what to do.

It's not totally clear what happened here, though if she was arrested on DUI charges, I assume there was some good evidence she was driving when she shouldn't be -- but the truth is that nannies put up with a lot. Nannies got a bad rap thanks to the horrific case of Yoselyn Ortega, who allegedly killed her two young charges, but the vast majority of the time, nannies are good people who are in a difficult position. They're in charge of the kids and not in charge at the same time.

I know from my time being a teen au pair that it can be an awkward situation in the extreme, depending on how the mom is. In one of my au pair jobs, I watched the mom make horrible decisions about her kids -- including physically disciplining them in ways I felt were inappropriate -- and yet I couldn't say anything about it. It didn't help that I was in a foreign country. I finally left the house for good one day when she slapped her daughter and I listened to the little girl cry hysterically.

The mom here, if the nanny's version is correct, should have been grateful that the nanny cared enough about her child to step in and try to stop the mom from making a bad decision about her kid. But that's not usually the way it works.

I really feel for this nanny. Hopefully she can find a better family -- or get out of the nanny business, which can be a thankless one.

Have you ever had a nanny or been one?

Image via New York 4/YouTube

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