The problem with diagnosis is…. It puts people, individuals with likes and dislikes, quirks, needs, abilities and disabilities in a box. Cutting out their very individuality that makes one person differ so entirely from another. The differences between them no longer seen. In essence treating one person with an ability within a diagnosis the same…
Tag Archive: special needs
Living with Hypotonia
One of the ways that Precious’ disability presents itself is through her low muscle tone, also known as hypotonia. When Precious was first born, her hypotonia showed itself through her general floppiness, and in the way she laid on her back with legs and arms akimbo, like a frog. She was really hard to pick…
Summertime and the Living is Easy
Around here, we have 2 months off every summer. Well, the kids do, anyway. The first two weeks of summer, the girls were home with a teenager from two doors down. They went to swimming lessons everyday and got lots of attention from the babysitter. The third week of the summer, Precious went to her…
Raising Cheerleaders
I am about as introverted as people come. I am also chronically clumsy, and average looking at best. I was never cheerleader material. I wasn’t even interested. It never mattered until a couple of years ago when my husband and I were blessed to sit in on a behavior management class, which we desperately needed….
The Leap From Here to Acceptance
This week, I travel across the country to She Speaks, to press into my dream of writing a book. In the program, we’ll each share our story. This is part of mine – and I’m excited to share it with you, my fellow parents-in-the-trenches of special needs. ———————- “Curiosity is …another name for Hope.” ~Augustus…
Do you still follow your dreams?
Do you still nurture your own dreams? I’m headed across the country to She Speaks in North Carolina next week. It’s the next step in my journey toward a dream. In preparation, I’ve been thinking a lot about dreams and purpose. Hours have passed writing a book proposal, working on talks for the speaker evaluation…
Preparing for the Election
Other than the time I ran for a seat in the student association of my university, I’ve never been more engaged in an election before. In Ontario, Canada, there is a provincial election coming up. Since the provinces manage health, education and social services, the government that gets formed this time will more important to…
Would you let your child scale a mountain?
She grabbed the rock above her and pulled herself up. The water rushed cool and quick over our soaked shoes. Steadying herself, my 5 year old reached for the next rock a few feet above her. In the high altitude, we both breathed hard, but her determination pushed us farther as we climbed the waterfall…
School’s Out for Summer
School’s out for the summer. Precious had her last day of kindergarten on Thursday. For the next two weeks, the girls will be babysat at home by a local teenager and will got to swimming lessons every morning. Precious will be starting at the summer ‘camp’ of her brother and sister’s daycare in the third…
One-on-one
Precious has been getting one-on-one therapy since she was very young. She’s has a lot of attention focused on her over the last 5 1/2 years. She went to a special needs’ preschool for two years where there were 4 children with two teachers. The next year, she went to a private kindergarten with one…