Being a parent of a child, or children, with a disability can be an isolating experience. Friends who used to invite you out for a movie or dinner no longer call. New friends are few and far between, and those people who do join your circle of acquaintances usually have a child with a disability…
Category Archives: Day In And Day Out
How Dare He?
The following is a reprint from my personal blog from almost two years ago, and I am still struggling to find appropriate dental and orthodontic care for my daughter with special needs. Have any of you run into something similar – medical professionals who feel your child with special needs has less of a need…
Autism and police cars in the driveway
I’ll never forget the first time I saw a police car pull into my driveway. Matthew was 13 years old, and had wandered from home to a bike trail down the street. Passersby noticed him cutting a large branch with a small but threatening pruning saw and called the police. Luckily, the officer that showed…
Simon Says
Dear Ashley, I’ve grown accustomed to having my sleep interrupted by your nightly desire for a party. Why your party urgings strike at 3:00 a.m., I’ll never know. But until last night, I’ve never had my dreams interrupted by party fever, merely my sleep. Last night, Simon Baker (who played the hotshot lawyer, Nick Fallin…
keep away from these ears!
You know the Beans and Franks guy on “There’s Something about Mary”, right? The one who flips out when someone touches his ears? That’s my Bear. she hates it when anyone touches her neck or ears. she convulses wildly if we try to tickle her. Offenders will be shot on the premises. Why am I…
lists for everything
I am a list maker by nature. Lists of doctors, lists of what I need to make for Thanksgiving dinner, I don’t dare go into the grocery store unarmed or I’ll come home with $200 worth of nothing that makes 2 weeks of meals. Now I have to teach my daughter how to do that…
Lost Privacy
I really had no idea how my life was going to be turned upside down when I adopted a child with significant disabilities. I thought I did, but I was wrong. When I first brought Ashley home, my only parenting experience had come from raising my birth son as a single parent for 5 years….
Of PPOs, DME and AFOs
Looks like we’ll be changing insurances this open season. Three years of hand and foot orthotics have brought us to Bear’s lifetime maximum benefits for durable medical equipment. I hate that they are not covered separately. There is not cap for therapy because she’s under 6, why is there a cap for her therapeutic needs? It’s so frustrating because we really like this insurance company….
We Need Black Jello
Comedian George Carlin said, “You know what we need – black Jello.” Think of the fun you could have if you served black Jello for dessert one evening! Something totally unexpected can add a special brightness to a day. In fact, as human beings, even though we seem to fight change, we also seem to…
The Locker
They sit in rows, one on top of the other, spanning the length of the hallway. They break apart only to make room for a door into a classroom, or maybe a closet. When we first went to a school that had lockers in the hallways, I remember Spiff running his hands over them, almost…