Inclusion of People with Intellectual Disabilities is Important

Does someone in your family have an intellectual disability (ID)? A survey shows that inclusion helps people who do not have intellectual disabilities to accept people who do have them. Personally knowing someone who has ID helps people to move past old stereotypes. A survey was done by Harris Poll on behalf of The Special Olympic International World Games, and in partnership with Shriver Media. The survey was conducted online between July 13 and July 15 of 2015. A total of 2,021 United States adults (ages 18+) took part in the survey. Out of this group, 1,103 were identified as … Continue reading

Special Tours at the Disney Parks

The Disney Parks are just so big that it seems like there will never stop being things to learn about them. New features and attractions are added all of the time.  Today we’re going to take a look at one unique aspect of the park: tours.  Disney World offers all sorts of special year-round and seasonal tours, but it also has something called the VIP tour. The VIP tour isn’t what it might immediately sound like: it’s not a special behind-the-scenes, comprehensive look at Disney World.  Instead, it’s a service that will transport you around the park to the attractions … Continue reading

Random Offers from Annie’s, IHOP, Gorton’s, and More!

Every so often, I clean out my inbox and find all kinds of deals and “limited time offers”. This time, I also found some information about contests and sweepstakes. Here is a collection of random deals and offers that are going on right now. IHOP is doing the “IHOP Melt Away, Getaway Sweepstakes” right now. When I think of IHOP, the first thing that comes to mind are pancakes, not a vacation. However, the sweepstakes is connected with Grand Pineapple Beach Resorts, “the Authentic Caribbean Vacation for Everyone”, so there really is a vacation to be had! There are two … Continue reading

What’s it Like to Parent a Child who has Special Needs?

All children are unique. This means that your parenting experience will have some aspects that are different from what other parents may be doing. Sometimes, people will ask a mom or dad who has a child with special needs what it is like to parent their child. There isn’t a “one size fits all” answer to this question. Here’s a quick roundup of the answers given by some parents. NR Today has a post titled “Jemelene Wilson: Raising a child with special needs”. She is the mother of two children. One of her daughters is grown, and married. Her youngest … Continue reading

Some Insightful Viewpoints on Special Needs

Often, when parents go online to find information about the special need, or health condition, that affects their children, they are seeking facts. This is perfectly reasonable. Sometimes, it is good to read some opinions, or blog posts, written by other parents or therapists that state their views of situations regarding children with special needs. Here are a few interesting ones to start with. The Huffington Post has a article that was written by Sean Bean. It is titled: “My Son Had Autism. Then He Did Not.” He discusses some of his son’s early behaviors that indicated that he appeared … Continue reading

Keep Calm And Potty On

After a few weeks of relatively smooth sailing as far as potty learning is concerned, Dylan has started to regress. I think that this started some time yesterday, and there were quite a few accidents today. As tempting as it was to tell him that little boys who treat their underwear like diapers will wear diapers, I resisted. Instead, I decided that I would do some research on potty learning regression. The first thing that I learned about regression is that it is quite common. That does not take the frustration away, but it reassures me that this is not … Continue reading

Aniston Gets Engaged and Pitt Gets Married?

Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston divorced nearly seven years ago and yet their names are still often tied together in the tabloids. This seems especially true lately. If you believe what you read, Brad and fiancée Angelina Jolie are always trying to rain on Aniston’s parade as far as the headlines go. Pitt and Jolie announced their engagement in April after seven years and six children together. At the time, I think the tabloids were accusing Pitt and Jolie of ruining Aniston’s possible wedding plans by upstaging her. Now, it may be Aniston that upstaging Pitt and Jolie. Rumors were … Continue reading

Illinois Mom Abandoned Special Needs Daughter in Tennessee

A mother from Illinois drove to Tennessee specifically so she could abandon her daughter there. The daughter is nineteen years old, and has some severe special needs. Legally, the mother was no longer officially the guardian of her adult daughter, and so, cannot be charged with a crime for abandoning her. Eva Cameron is a mother who lives in Algonquin, Illinois. She has three children: a daughter who is sixteen years old, a son who is seventeen years old, and a daughter named Lynn Cameron, who is nineteen years old. Lynn has special needs. She has diminished mental abilities, and … Continue reading

FHE with Small Children-Showing Support

This past week, we had a good and simple family home evening lesson. This time, we used the Friend magazine for our story. I used this one. The beauty of this little story is that it fit my kids perfectly because it was about an older sister and a younger brother. So, while I was reading it to them, I substituted my kids names for the kids in the story. They always love it when I do that, and I have found that it helps them pay more attention too! The story was all about an older sister who was … Continue reading

Special Needs Blog Week in Review – April 8-14, 2012

The Special Needs Blog Week in Review is a great way to keep up with everything that has been posted on the blog in the past week. It gives you a brief description of each one, so you can quickly find something that you are interested in reading. What did you miss last week? The Special Needs Podcast Roundup went up on April 9, 2012. This week, I’d like to point out an episode of “Hold the Gluten” podcast, which is called “Help With Celiac Research”. The episode featured Dr. Daniel Leffler of Beth Israel Medical Center, who discusses a … Continue reading