There are several different types of special needs that seem to run in my family. Add this to my background in education, and the result is that I have found myself checking my sibling’s children for signs that they have a special need. If I had children of my own, I’d be checking them for signs, too. I’ve always heard it said that becoming a parent changes your life in ways that aren’t always so easy to articulate to those of us who are childless. For example, I have had someone tell me that after you become a parent, you … Continue reading →

Recently, I was sent a booklet of information that included several changes that had been made to my new health insurance policy. One of those changes is excellent news for parents of kids who have autism, and who live in California. Soon, insurers are going to be required to cover ABA! As of July 1, 2012, California law requires all individual health insurance plans to provide coverage for certain behavioral health treatments for pervasive developmental disorder or autism. My insurance company recently sent me a booklet that included information about this change to my health insurance coverage, (as well as … Continue reading →

Parents that suspect that their child may have allergies have two choices. Their child’s doctor may suggest a blood test, or a skin test. New information suggests that the skin testing may not be as accurate as it once was believed to be. I am someone who has tons of allergies. When I was a teenager, I was given a blood test that was used to determine some of the things that I am allergic to. Later, my allergist suggested that I take what was called a “skin test”, because it was considered to be a better diagnostic tool. I … Continue reading →

For Christmas, my husband and I bought a gift card for my brother. Yesterday, my brother called me and was extremely upset because the gift card did not work. He has Asperger’s Syndrome, and this unexpected problem was more than he could handle. My brother is an adult, but he still lives with our parents. I think my brother might still have a job, but I am not entirely certain of that. He is brilliant, but, due to his Asperger’s Syndrome, does still need someone to watch over him from time to time. Yesterday, I got a phone call from … Continue reading →

When I left my office job I ended up taking a year off of work and then was offered a job tele-commuting for a company I had previously worked with and it worked out great for the next 3 years until the economy took a hit and I was laid-off. I was only laid off for about a week before another company offered me the same deal where I could work from home to take care of the kids if they needed me to. Well last month I was laid off from that job after 4 years and the reason … Continue reading →

Have I mentioned that I was recently laid –off. Well I was just last month and it really made me think and a tad bit annoyed to be truthful. See for the last 7 years I have been working from home, tele-commuting for 2 different employers which worked out great. When I quit my last office job it was because between neurologist’s appointments for my sons and taking our daughter who was diagnosed with failure to thrive to what seemed like an appointment or test at least every other week it was just too much but I made it work … Continue reading →

Warm weather means there is a lot more pollen in the air than we were exposed to a few months ago. If your child has severe environmental allergies, then you probably have noticed that he or she is suffering from symptoms right now. Unfortunately, there isn’t a cure for allergies, but there are some devices that you can use to help make your allergic child a bit more comfortable this allergy season. One of the most useful things I have found that really helps my allergies is an air cleaner, or air purifier. These devices clean the air in your … Continue reading →

If your child has allergies that are extremely severe, your doctor may have prescribed an epi-pen. Obviously, you should listen as the doctor instructs you how and when to use this lifesaving device. However, after you leave the doctor’s office, you may find yourself with some questions. There are many things that a parent should know about epi-pens. Just to make things absolutely clear, when I use the phrase “epi-pen” I am referring to a device that has also been called an epinephrine injector, or an EpiPen auto-injector. The device itself looks very similar to a thick pen, hence the … Continue reading →

I took my second child in for genetic testing a couple of days ago. My oldest child has cystic fibrosis, and although my two-month-old had a normal newborn screen and a normal sweat test, her doctors and I still felt we should do the genetic testing for CF for that final, more definitive answer. While I was speaking with the genetic counselor, I learned something that I hadn’t known before. When it comes to genetic disease, at least with CF, there are numerous gene mutations that can cause the disease. In the case of CF, there are over 1600 possible … Continue reading →