Well, it looks as though Mr. Linky has jumped ship yet again. sigh. So just add your link in the comments section below and we’ll add them to Mr. Linky when he’s back up.
I think if you could ask a parent of a child with special needs what they would like others to know about their child, they would tell you that a child with special needs is first and foremost a child.
Just like any other child.
Just like your child.
Children with special needs have hopes and dreams, just like their typical peers.
They want to be invited and accepted, just like their typical peers.
And while they may do things a bit differently than your child, they still love the same kind of stuff as your kids do.
Surprised? That’s okay.
Building bridges between those with differing needs and those without is a learning experience.
On both sides.
But if we work together we can build not only bridges, but a new way of thinking.
And here’s your first assignment:
Got a kid that LOVES ice cream?
Parker, who is mostly g-tube fed, will put his oral feeding skills to work when there is a bowl of ice cream in front of him.
And the joy on his face shows that the reward was totally worth the effort.
What will YOUR kid do for ice cream? And what kind of joy does it bring?
And what better way to celebrate the joy of ice cream we all share then with a photo contest?
Parker signing ‘ice cream.’
Blue Bunny® Ice Cream, the sponsor of this celebration will be offering the following prizes:
- Grand prize winner: Ice Cream for a Year coupon booklet (12 coupons each for a carton of ice cream), 4 Blue Bunny® bowls, and 1 Blue Bunny® ice cream scoop (Approximate Retail Value $100)
- Second prize winner: 5 Bunny Bucks, each redeemable for a carton or novelty pack where ever Blue Bunny® products are sold (Approximate Retail Value $7)
- 10 Runner Ups: $1 off coupon for Blue Bunny® Ice Cream (one per runner up)
Remember our theme is Joys Shared. Show us the joy your child experiences diving into a bowl of ice cream? Or what he’s willing to do for the sweet reward of ice cream. The child or children in your photo can be of any age or ability.
HOW TO ENTER:
- For the next two weeks, we will accept entries. Entry deadline is Monday, July 27.
- If you are a blogger, post your photo on your site and then come back here and add your link to the Mr. Linky. In your post on your blog, you can explain that it is a part of this contest and link back here.
- If you are not a blogger – you can still play!!! Just email us your photo, with the subject line JOYS SHARED Photo Contest, to 5minutesforspecialneeds @ gmail dot com. (Please add your image into the copy of the email so that we do not have to open attachments.)
- Please enter only one photo in the contest.
- We will post the finalists on Monday, August 3rd.
- Important Note: We will select up to 20 finalists to enter the final stage of voting. We will be influenced by comments on this post… so it is FAIR GAME to ask your friends to leave a comment here on this post recommending we select your photo as a finalist.
- We will use Democracy Poll for readers to vote on their favorite photo. Please Note: Democracy Poll only allows one vote per IP address.
- If you are selected as a finalist, feel free to announce it on your blog, facebook, twitter, etc and get your friends to vote for you. That is fair game. But please play fair and do not use proxy servers or other black hat methods of increasing your votes. If we do discover unfair practices, we will have to disqualify the parties involved. Remember the spirit of our site and play nice!
- Voting will end THURSDAY, August 13th at 12:00 p.m Eastern. We will announce the winner the same day!
- This contest is open only to US shipping addresses.
- Please see our site’s Terms and Conditions of Use for a complete list of our contest and giveaway rules.
We want to let everyone know that it is fair to do that and we will be influenced by those comments, but the final selection of finalists will be a subjective selection of photos that we think best fit the theme.
You can also find Tammy and Parker hanging out at their other blog, Praying for Parker and on Twitter where they are known as ParkerMama.