My Teen with Special Needs/Disability is Interested in Dating Teens are teens, regardless of special needs/disability or not. Puberty hits, sparks start flying and we, as parents, have no idea how to handle this new phase in your adolescent’s life.  Within the special needs community, there is controversy as to whether dating is a good… Continue reading Teen Dating for Adolescents with Disabilities

What a Difference a Decade Makes Ten years ago, our new family of three went on our first beach vacation. Like most Tennesseans, we hit I-65 and headed south and did not stop until we hit the ocean somewhere along the Florida coast. But unlike most Tennesseans, we had a seven-month-old son, Charlie, who was… Continue reading The Difference a Decade Makes

Over the years, I’ve worked with many parents who have children with meltdowns or behaviors that are overwhelming and constant. Parents often come to me with the question of, “How can I change my child?” My answer is usually not that gratifying in that my approach is to focus on what the child needs and… Continue reading Emotions and Parenting: Why Do My Children Trigger Me?

Celebrating Milestone Birthdays with My Special Kid By Jamie Sumner I threw the biggest birthday party you can imagine the year my son Charlie turned one. “Party” is too small a word. It was a bash, a gala, a festival, a jubilee! It was all of this in the most literal sense – an extra,… Continue reading Celebrating Milestone Birthdays with My Special Kid

While all parents celebrate their children’s milestones and major life events, parents of children with special needs also celebrate inchstones - those tiny little milestones no bigger than an inch but every bit as significant.

Parent Alert: The Best Thing You Can Do Is Let Your Child Fail We have become a part of a parenting generation where we do everything in our power to make sure our children are included and they win. We have tried to protect our children from sadness, frustration, disappointment, heartbreak and any other non-positive… Continue reading Letting Your Child Fail

Summer Camp Offerings for Children with Special Needs Summer is awesome! No school! No schedule! No need to be anywhere at any particular time! But also, summer is tough. No school. No schedule. No need to be anywhere. If you have a child with special needs, routine and familiarity are crucial and summer can often… Continue reading Summer Camps for Children with Special Needs

Your Shield HealthCare care team supports your most fragile patients with Enteral+Oxygen Did You Know… In the United States, 1 in 10 births are preterm (born before 37th week of pregnancy). 10% to 15% of all babies born require special care in the NICU. Approximately 3 million children are medically complex. What is a medically… Continue reading Transitioning Medically Complex Children From Hospital Care To Home Care

Anxiety can be a debilitating emotional experience. It has the ability to take a pleasant moment and turn it into a disaster with all of the “what if’s” that could happen.  Anxiety lies and it creates a sense of danger or incredible discomfort in daily life that is exhausting and can be debilitating and limiting.… Continue reading Anxiety in Children: Accommodating Your Anxious Child in School and at Home

I did not grow up on a farm. But I spent all my summers on one in rural Oklahoma. My grandparents turned their plot of red dirt into acres of corn and okra and tomatoes. The garden was sacred. You don’t pull a carrot too soon and you don’t climb the peach tree without permission.… Continue reading Five Life Lessons Gardening Can Teach Your Child