To follow up on last week’s post of what NOT to say to a Special Needs Family, I polled some folks to find out what you SHOULD say. You know, stuff that would be nice to hear? And this is what my special friends told me: What can I do to help? If you don’t…
Category Archives: Advocacy
Too Many Friends?
When Peanut was born, we immediately contacted our local Down syndrome guild. When Peanut was a mere two weeks old, I attended my first Mom’s Night Out with other moms of children with Down syndrome. Very quickly I enveloped myself in the world of parents of children with special needs and found comfort in knowing…
A Coward?
I recently spoke about Let’s Cure CP, here on a post. I’m going to do my best not to write too many posts about the organization but it’s highly likely I’ll write one from time to time. This post is related because I need to ask a question of this community. I believe what we…
5MSN Virtual Christmas Dinner!
Merry Christmas Eve!!! Welcome! Come on in! Let me take your coat…. Here’s a little squirt of hand sanitizer for you…. We have a beautiful dinner laid out for us…serve yourselves and enjoy! While y’all are eating, I thought we could all share a story of hope. After all, that’s what this season is about—hope!…
What Do You Worry About?
Like most Mothers of children with special needs, I worry about doing all that I can to foster the development of my beautiful 5-year-old boys with Down syndrome. For me, worry leads to action and action to change. But lately, there’s been talk in the blogosphere about the usefulness of such worrying. In one post, it was…
Bumper Stickers
Wednesday, I was driving my daughter to swim team practice. At a stop light, I looked up and the car in front of me had about 37 bumper stickers on the back of it. (I am not a fan of bumper stickers. I think it has something to do with the fact that I once…
I Can’t Believe I Said It!
I said it. I can’t believe I said it! The mother of all no-no’s and I used THAT word! I didn’t just use it in a more innocent way when it is directed at an object or situation, but to actually describe another individual. The word hadn’t even completely escaped my mouth when I realized…
The Nail That Sticks Out is Hammered Down
Advocacy is among the most important things a parent of a special needs child can do. Where should we advocate? How can we be more effective? And why does it seem like we battle endlessly against “the system”? Here are some thoughts based on 20 years of personal experience.
Inclusion Runs Deep (Or It Should, Anyway)
For those of you who don’t know my story… yet (and for those who do, sorry, you’ll have to suck it up and read it again), My beautiful Boys are a matched pair who also happen to have an extra copy of the 21st chromosome. Yes, my amazing 5-year-old identical twins have Down syndrome. That…
Best Medicine…
I often call it a worped sense of humor…you know where you can make a joke out of anything? Sort of like “Rosanne” remember that sitcom? I love(d) that show. It to me was as “real life” as I wanted to get. Then my son was born, I would say laughter got us through it all….