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.
I have two sons and have met dozens of people with Down syndrome. The one thing I know to be true about all people with Down syndrome is this.
When I think of autumn and what the cooler weather means for my disabled son, I worry about what might go wrong. But his adaptability never ceases to amaze.
As parent and primary caregiver of a complex child, you know your child best. Trust your gut and question the professionals when you need to.
As parents of a child with special needs, we all know it. That fear we all fear when our support system fails and we are parenting alone.
For my family, balance is not a reasonable aspiration. Instead I’ll seek to triumph in the highs and rebound from the lows of this teeter totter life.
The birds and the bees …oh geez, do we really have to go there? Yes, we do. Our children with special needs are still kids who are hungry for information.
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.
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.
When it hit us, it hit hard and fast. I don’t know if there’s an actual name for it, but I call it therapy burnout. We called it quits for a year.