Speech-Based Activities to Do with Your Kids with Apraxia at Home and in the Community
MoreSpeech-Based Activities for Kids with Apraxia
Nutritional Assessment for Special Needs
Nutrition therapy for children with special needs varies greatly and must be individualized for each issue. Swallowing difficulties, positioning and nutrient deficiencies are just a few of the variables that can have an impact on your...
MoreBook Review: Gifts
Gifts: Mothers Reflect on How Children with Down Syndrome Enrich Their Lives is a collection of stories edited by Kathryn Lynard Soper that portrays the lives of mothers caring for their children with Down syndrome.
MoreThe Voice of Success For Your Child
Augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) leads many children to success in school and life. It is generally associated with electronic speech-generating devices resembling laptop or hand-held computers, which young people may adopt as a...
MoreGirl with Down Syndrome Signed as Model
Urban Angels, an elite UK child modeling agency, opens their books only twice a year in search of new talent. Little Taya Kennedy was one of 50 children chosen out of 2,000 applicants. The fact that she has Down syndrome “did not enter the...
MoreSpecial Needs App of the Day: Turn Taker
Turn Taker teaches sharing using visual and audio cues to children with Down syndrome, autism, ADHD, and other special needs. Sharing is a key skill for growing and maintaining social relationships, which in turn promote an improved use of...
MoreHelping Child with Special Needs Through Yoga
My son, Miguelangel, is 3 months old. He has Down syndrome and was born prematurely. I started him on a daily yoga practice when he was a month old, and I am pleased with the results.Many families with special children are embracing alternative...
MoreSpecial Needs App of the Day: Going Shopping
Some children with special needs react with difficult behaviors like tantrums when going into a store. Going Shopping Social Story is an app that focuses on things that can be fun while shopping. Because children with special needs such as Down...
MoreSpecial Ed Kids Go to Space Camp in New Film
A Smile as Big as the Moon is an inspiring story about a class of special education students who dream of going to Space Camp. What began as a memoir written by real-life special education teacher Mike Kersjes has now been made into a Hallmark...
More4 Paws for Ability Gives Service Dogs to Kids
Karen Shirk is the founder and executive director of 4 Paws for Ability, a nonprofit organization that places service dogs with people rejected from the big service dog agencies. These include children with special needs. When Shirk found out...
MoreProtecting Marriage When Your Child Has ASD
For years, parents of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) have mistakenly passed along the erroneous statistic that 80% of marriages of such parents will end in divorce. This myth also has been perpetuated by professionals and the...
MoreTeen with Down Syndrome Wows Basketball Team
David Andrews, age 18, wears number 40 on the Germantown High School basketball team, just outside of Memphis, TN. Much like the Knick’s Jeremy Lin, Andrews spent quite a bit of time warming the bench during his team’s games before ever getting...
MoreMusic & Special Needs: Cooper Plays the Piano
Ten-year-old Cooper is teaching his twin brother to play Hot Cross Buns on the piano. Cooper, who has Down syndrome, has been playing the piano since he was 8 ½ years old. I ask him how his brother is doing. Cooper says: “I showed him how...
MoreTake a True Vacation with Autism on the Seas
Imagine taking a vacation with the whole family–a real vacation. And on that vacation, parents can rekindle their relationship, siblings can go on adventures, and kids with special needs can be themselves and have fun doing things like ice...
MorePushing the Limits
As a pediatric nurse practitioner, I remember frequently telling my parents that they know their children better than I ever will. Now, as a mother of a little girl with Down syndrome, I know that to be true. I will always know my...
MoreDifferent, Not Less
I saw this quote the other day and thought about how it applies to my daughter Kayla, who has Down syndrome, and people who have disabilities. The quote is “Different, not less.”
MoreJune Cleaver I am Not
There are many, many times I feel I am a substandard mom, and I hold June Cleaver personally responsible. Well, her, Carol Brady, Marion Cunningham, Cliff & Clair Huxtable, Elyse and Steven Keaton and maybe even Marge Simpson.
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