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special needs

The One Word Special Needs Parents Need to Hear More Often

As special needs parents, advocate, independence, and empathy are three vital words to our children’s lives. But I would like to add one more.

Jamie Sumner
social story

Special Needs Parenting: What is A Social Story and How Can I Get One?

A good social story helps us teach our two sons with Down syndrome many of the social nuances that don’t come easily to them.

Alethea Mshar
special needs child

How to Talk to Your Special Needs Child about Catastrophic Events

Depending on the age and disability of your special need child, you may have to limit what you share about catastrophic events.

Dr. Liz Matheis
magic eight ball

Weaning Myself off the Magic Eight Ball

As a special needs parent, I’ve had to train myself to put down that Magic Eight Ball. I’ve had to stop asking all the “what-ifs” over and over again.

Jamie Sumner
special needs

How to Talk to Siblings of Children with Special Needs

My daughter is the only non-disabled child in our family. Her needs may be different from that of her special needs siblings, but they are still very real.

Alethea Mshar
movement

Movement When Your Child has a Physical Disability

I needed movement for stress relief more than ever when my son was born with a physical disability. But how could I go for a run with a child with a trach?

Jamie Sumner
developmental age

Developmental Age: My Child is More than a Number

I'm not the only parent who's fought back tears after a developmental age eval. Learning my son is on level with a 3 year-old was a sucker punch to the gut.

Alethea Mshar
special needs

Your Child with Special Needs: Survival Tips for the Dentist

Taking your special needs child to the dentist or any other appointment doesn't have to be so harrowing. Here are my top three tips for making it bearable.

Jamie Sumner
young boy with medical complexity, sitting in a power wheelchair inside a school or medical facility, facing a young man crouched down to assist.

A Call for Allies for Families with Complex Disabilities

Families with complex disabilities lack a voice. Only by having allies to help us ask for programs and support can our voices be heard and heeded.

Alethea Mshar
compare

When You Compare Your Child to Other Children with Special Needs

Sometimes you can’t help but note and compare the differences in development and progress between your child and other children with special needs.

Jamie Sumner
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