Tag Archives: disability

Babies in the News – Couple Freezes Their Daughter’s Growth

The following news story that I want to comment on is a difficult one to discuss. While it is not about a baby per se – it affects all of us who have babies. It affects those of us especially who have babies with special needs or disabled infants. In this case, parents of a young girl who is severely disabled mentally are electing to use medical treatments to prevent their child from growing up physically. They want to keep her child sized the rest of her life because she has only the mental ability of a babe of three … Continue reading →

Star Gazing

Ralph Waldo Emerson has said, “When it is dark enough, you can see the stars.” Adversity sometimes feels like it’s surrounding us, darkening our outlook, casting shadows on all that we once believed or hoped. But when we’ve survived enough of it, we are blessed with more and more enlightenment. I’ve always loved star-gazing. Astronomy-buffs know that when you’re really interested in viewing the heavens, you’ve got to go where it’s darkest. Perhaps the mountains, or the desert. You must escape “light pollution,” which is the haze created by the human race–our porch lights, store lights, street lamps, and glowing … Continue reading →

The Pain of Letting Go

I’ve decided that the primary task of motherhood is letting go. It starts with the physical pain of letting go of a tiny human being who has become part of our body for many months. This child has moved within us, been nourished from the vessels inside us, and has grown and developed as part of us. Despite this powerful physical connection, we must set this child free. This tiny son or daughter needs to become independent to survive. The first letting go is birth. It always involves pain. The recovery is difficult. Even the adopted child starts his life’s … Continue reading →

What in the World is an IFSP?

In the world of special education, abbreviations abound. You might schedule an IEP for your ADHD child after EI and obtain OT services in compliance with IDEA, for example. It’s a special needs alphabet soup. I remember as a young mother of a child with a disability, that I often became confused by it all. IFSP is a term most every parent of a special needs child will have to become familiar with. IFSP stands for Individualized Family Service Plan. What is it? The typical scenario is that a doctor will first diagnose your infant or toddler with a developmental … Continue reading →

Grateful for the Little Things

When we parent children with special needs, we must learn to be grateful for the little things. Sometimes we have to step back from the bigger, more overwhelming picture, and celebrate the smaller successes. Even when progress isn’t being made as quickly as we’d like, there are a whole lot of things in our lives that bring us comfort and peace. We only need to remember and reflect. Try to think of ten “things” (not concepts) you’re thankful for—ten objects or sounds you interact with in your environment. Here are some I thought of: I am grateful… …for the sound … Continue reading →

Long-Term Care Insurance Options To Consider

In this series of Blogs we have been looking at Choices, families have when a member is no longer able to care for him or herself. We have looked at the history of Long Term Care Insurance and considered the risky nature of these policies verses the fact this is the only option for insurance families have to cover the catastrophic costs of long-term care for our parents and ourselves in the future. The fact is that more than 70% of those reading this Blog will live to retirement age and will need long term care at some time in … Continue reading →

Don’t Get Frustrated–Take A New Look at Your Child’s Behavior

Sometimes developmentally delayed children will exhibit behaviors which are hard to understand. That’s because the behavior is occurring at an age when we typically wouldn’t see it happening in ordinary kids. For example, if a two-year-old hits another child, as a parent we might say “Let’s not hit,” but we don’t become tremendously concerned. A two-year-old hitting another toddler is normal behavior. But if an eight-year-old hits his peer, it’s more troubling. Most eight-year-olds have learned that hitting someone else is wrong. It’s important to remember that in the special needs child, inappropriate behaviors may have a purpose. The child … Continue reading →

Discovering A New Angle…

I’m not exactly sure when the perspective shift happened to me. But for parents of special needs children, it needs to happen, and hopefully it does before too much time is wasted. I’m talking about the change in viewpoint that brings us to a happier, healthier mindset in dealing with children who have challenges. The reality is that we can’t wish away or hope away the disability. And we certainly don’t want to delude ourselves and live in denial. “It is what it is.” Prior to getting to the point of acceptance, there’s a lot of pain and turmoil. There’s … Continue reading →

“Your kid is HOW old?” Guiding Your Child To Age-Appropriate Behaviors

Children with special needs often have developmental delays which may cause them to be more immature than their peers. Mental retardation, autism, and various learning disabilities can create a noticeable gap between a child’s developmental age and his or her actual age. For example, an eight-year-old girl with Down Syndrome might be fixated on carrying a tattered baby blanket. Or a boy on the autism spectrum who is ten might want to wear a Barney T-shirt. It’s a good idea for parents to help guide their special kids into behaviors which are more age-appropriate. Does “age appropriate” really matter? I … Continue reading →

“My Child Isn’t Normal.”

Parents of special needs children often experience depression and frustration over the idea that their child might not be considered “normal.” They want their son or daughter to have the same abilities and opportunities that other children do. This is certainly understandable. However, I’m writing this blog to encourage parents of special needs children to let go of the concept of “normality.” First of all, I believe it’s a myth. The more we understand about individual differences, the more it becomes clear that there is no such thing as a normal child. But more importantly, children with challenges and difficulties … Continue reading →