I’m finding out things about my daughter every day. Since Peyton ended her daily chemotherapy treatment this month, the changes in her are remarkable. She EATS! I thought she had a pretty normal appetite before, but I was WRONG! I don’t know that I realized how little she really ate until she didn’t have the…
Category Archives: Day In And Day Out
Am I Selfish?
Again, in celebration of the 2008 National Adoption Awareness Month, the following is an article I wrote for Richmond Magazine. It published in November 2007, and was one of several stories celebrating adoption. Someone asked me the other day if I thought it was selfish to adopt children with special needs as a single parent….
The Friendship Station: A Special Needs Ministry
Last week, I shared about some of the challenges we have had with church attendance since our son Michael was diagnosed with autism in December of 2004. Many of you shared your own stories, both uplifting and heartbreaking, in the comments, and I appreciate your openness on this difficult topic. Over the last year, we…
The Invisibility Clause
It’s an invisible illness, this immune deficiency gig. There is nothing obvious about the girl to signal that she is different from her twin, her sisters, the kid standing next to her. Sure, she is a little small and she’s sometimes pale but generally she looks just like your run of the mill (almost) three…
Barrack Obama and the normalcy of difference
When the US Declaration of Independence was drawn up, it stated: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness” But George Washington, even as he signed this, was…
Sticks and stone and all that
Recently I had the opportunity to spend time with an autistic child. Does that seem like a strange thing to say on a special needs blog? Perhaps….but I don’t know that I’d ever had the chance before, or at least, I’d never been aware of it. If I did, I’m sure their symptoms came across…
The signs are everywhere, or are they?
I was walking through the mall with my children, just laughing at their crazy antics and enjoying the window-shopping. I stopped at one particular window, admiring a pair of shoes that I would never purchase and my eyes dropped to something that took my breath away. A little boy lay completely relaxed, blissfully asleep in…
Parker Loves Rachel……..A Giveaway!
Parker turns four this month. Yeah. He’s a little short for his age. But his heart is huge. And he’s already in the throws of his very first crush. With an older woman. A much older woman. And she’s taller too. She’s teaching him how to express himself. Through sign. Signing ‘grass’. Oh, yea. This…
Going to Church
Many families with special needs children struggle with the issue of church attendance, and we are no different. Going to church has been a big part of my life since I was five years old, and my husband and I have been attending our current church for over 10 years now. Although it is a…
Snake Oil? I Hope Not.
Last week, an article titled “Reaching An Autistic Teen” appeared in the New York Times. As the mother of a 16 year old diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, my interest was piqued. I made it through the long, multi-page article, and then re-read it two more times. And now, I would like your opinion. The article…