October is Dyslexia awareness month. Did you know that Dyslexia can manifest in different ways? My oldest daughter, who is 17, has Dysgraphia…you only see the signs of dyslexia in her writing. When she was younger; letters were backwards, her handwriting was very difficult to read, and her spelling was VERY unconventional. My youngest daughter,…
Category Archives: Conditions and Diseases
Post-IEP Discussion..
Wednesday was Jack’s IEP. Let me give you a little back story here. Jack’s “teacher” is a special education professional, who routinely wears fake hair and loud (loud isn’t the best adjective, but that’s all I can come up with) jumpers/sweaters. We refer to her as The General, because, quite frankly, that’s how she acts. Things…
Anxiety
We attended a special evening story time at our library last week that helped define one of the child’s anxiety triggers. Since her expressive language is still somewhat limited, it is hard to talk about emotional responses like these…especially since she tries to downplay it after the fact. We’ve moved beyond some triggers – like loud…
Special Exposure Wednesday – Rachel Cooperstein
To start off Down Syndrome Awareness Month, enjoy this video of a very special girl. Share what you managed to capture this week. Please spread the comment love around. Thank you, 🙂 *originally posted here
Picture Exchange Communication System Hi-tech vs. Low-tech
I originally posted this on my own blog six months ago. I’ve gotten such a great response online and have had people asking me about our low-tech PECS so often that I thought I would post here as well. Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is something we’ve been working on with Chewy. Since he’s non-verbal…
Helping Kids With ADHD Make Friends
“They don’t want to play with me!” She yells, stomping up the stairs and throwing her book bag down the hall. As is my daily habit, I wait until she blows off steam and it’s calm in her room again. Then I walk in, plop on the floor next to her where she’s creating an…
Getting Included in the Mainstream Classroom Despite SPD
Every school year proves to be different than the one before; this year is no different. This year though has proven to hold an interesting change; J’s teacher wants him. Now, that simple statement is convoluted and confusion. I’m sure some of you might be saying ,”of course J’s teacher wants him” or “does that…
Progress Report
About eight months ago I shared a story about the challenges of my daughter interacting with neurotypical peers on the playground after school (and presumably during school, though I am not there to witness it.) At the time she was trying to master the game of bar tag, and all of the social intricacies surrounding it,…
Beginning to Loath The IEP
As special needs parents, we all find ourselves fighting for our children. (Even ‘typical’ parents do.) Adam and I often look at each other and comment that raising a special needs child shouldn’t be so hard. Why are there so many hoops to jump through? I’m tired just trying to keep up with the girls….
I Went to the Dark Side…
I did it. I went to the Dark Side. All this time, I’ve been super vocal about the difference between being an advocate and being a…. well, you know. Yesterday, all that changed. (To read the whole drama, go here) I felt bad about it all day. I felt like I had worked so hard…