Search Results for: blog why special needs applies to you too

Will Changing Attitudes Toward Disabilities Affect the Future of International Adoption in China?

My last blog featured another profile of an elite athlete who was adopted—Jessica Tatiana Long, who was adopted from a Russian orphanage at 13 months of age, and had her legs amputated below the knee when she was 18 months old. She competed last week in The Paralympic Games in Beijing. These Games have brought changes to China, in both infrastructure and attitudes toward the disabled. Last May I wrote a blog about Chinese people applying to adopt earthquake orphans. This also represented a big change. Traditional beliefs in many parts of China included the importance of a pure bloodline, … Continue reading →

Scents and Sensuality

Do you wear perfume? (Or, if you’re a man, cologne?) Did your husband pick it for you? (Or your wife? If that applies.) If you picked it yourself, did you pick a scent you hoped your significant other would find alluring? Or did you simply pick something you found appealing? I don’t remember how long ago it was, but once upon a time I saw a report on a TV show about scent preferences. It could have been months, it could have been years. Most things are a blur these days. However, it was about a study of perfumes and … Continue reading →

How a Positive Attitude Affects Your Relationship

Since October is Positive Attitude Month, I thought it’d be a good time to reflect on our attitudes and how they affect our marriages. Because they definitely have an impact. Mirror Effect In our household we live by the “you get what you give” motto. It’s basically the same principal as the Golden Rule: treat me how you expect me to treat you back. I’m currently reading The Secret in which this principle is emphasized time and again. I first came to know of it, though, in a different manner (what you think upon grows) courtesy of Dr. Wayne Dyer’s … Continue reading →

Gospel Doctrine: Manifesting The Works of God

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This week’s Sunday School lesson in John 9 focuses on the healing of the blind man. After the disciples asked whether the man or his parents sin caused his handicap, Christ answered that the cause of the affliction was “that the works of God should be made manifest in him.” In an October 1984 General Conference talk, James E. Faust taught several ways that the works of God are shown in the lives of the handicapped. As neither I nor anyone I care for at present suffers from any physical struggles, he taught a lesson that affected my life. As … Continue reading →

And the Winner is… Keeping Up With Roo!

Approximately every two years, a very special award is presented to an author and illustrator of a children’s fiction book which portrays persons with disabilities in a positive, appropriate way. A little about the Dolly Gray Award… This award, called the Dolly Gray Award for Children’s Literature, is the combined effort of several important groups established for the benefit of children with disabilities: The Division of Developmental Disabilities (DDD), the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and Special Needs Project. The winner is selected based on the sensitive portrayal of a character with a developmental disability, and the quality of both … Continue reading →

Are Some Children Destined to be Disabled?

For a few months now I’ve been pondering a big question. Since there are many minds and readers here at Families.com, I would love to tap into your differing religious viewpoints and personal philosophies in search of answers. My question is bigger than the earth and the cosmos. It’s a question that cannot be answered with any scientific certainty. And from this one question, many others are born. So here it is: Are children with disabilities given these challenges for a divine purpose? For example, are children with Down syndrome given this special condition by a wise and knowing creator, … Continue reading →

ADHD: Myths and Parental Guides

In the ongoing process of understanding ADHD and it’s effects on our children, I have encountered much opinion and fact. Discerning the two can be a real dilemma. Because there is so much conflicting information out there, it can be a challenge to decide what is legitimate. Factoring in personal experience with two ADHD boys, valid medical data, psychiatric and therapy consultations, assorted opinions of experts in the field, and personal experiences documented by parents of ADHD kids, I have compiled a list of some of the myths and parental guides I believe to be accurate. FIVE ADHD MYTHS: 1. … Continue reading →

Mainstreaming: The Special Needs Child Goes to School

The kindergarten through elementary school years are crucial, formative years for your child both educationally and socially. There are things you can do as a parent to make these years more beneficial and enjoyable for your child. What is mainstreaming? Mainstreaming means that the special needs child attends a regular classroom along with students who are his or her actual (not developmental) age. Mainstreaming means that the child is not kept isolated in a special class, away from peers, but is included just like everybody else. Adaptations are made so that the child’s special needs are met, while still being … Continue reading →

“If Only We Had Known…” Couples Sue over Wrongful Life

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Is having a special needs child worse than death? Apparently for some parents, it is. A number of couples are now suing their obstetricians for not informing them about testing procedures available during their pregnancy, which would have exposed fetal conditions such as spina bifida. In other words, they lost the opportunity to make an informed choice about continuing the pregnancy. According to the law in many states, physicians must inform expectant couples of all their prenatal testing options. Personally, I don’t blame parents for wanting to know about the health of their unborn child. And prenatal testing can provide … Continue reading →