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A Woman With Down Syndrome Divorces Her Parents
Jenny Hatch, a 29-year-old woman with Down syndrome, had been living in a series of group homes in Virginia. Her parents were content with that arrangement. Jenny, however, was not, and had run away...
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10 Back-To-School Things To Be Psyched About (And 7 Parents Dread)
Back-to-school psych! • No more “Mommmy I’m boooored!” • No more endless laundry loads of pool/beach towels, either • Shopping for cute fall clothes • New crop of teachers to inspire child to...
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Be Cool: Don’t Make Fun of Special Needs (Thanks Again, Drake)
Outrage erupted earlier this summer over offensive lyrics in rapper Drake’s Jodeci Freestyle, featuring fellow rapper J. Cole. “I’m artistic, you n–as is autistic, retarded,” he intoned. Parents,...
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Should This Teen Have Been Banned From The Paralympics?
The 2013 World Paralympic Games ended yesterday. Noticeably missing from them: a champion swimmer who was banned for a shocking reason. Seven years ago, Victoria Arlen suffered a rare neurological...
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Making Family Summer Memories: A Trip To Ocean Edge
My favorite childhood memories are of summer road trips with my family: Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Pennsylvania Dutch Country. Dad loved exploring new places, and instilled that wanderlust in me....
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Holding Students With Special Needs To A Higher Standard: YES!
Students with intellectual disabilities should be held to the same standards as their peers: So says The U.S. Department of Education. The agency is planning to eliminate a rule that allows states to...
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It Takes A Village To Build Stuff For Special Needs Kids
If there’s one thing special needs parents know for sure, it’s that raising our children is a group effort. Our kids wouldn’t thrive without the joint efforts of teachers, therapists and doctors,...
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Why Your Child May Not Be Safe During A Disaster: A New Report
Some 68 million children are separated from their parents every workday. Should a tornado or hurricane strike, or violence rear its head, there’s a chance a whole lot of kids in child care and schools...
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What To Expect Of Friends When You’re A Special Needs Mom
This guest post is from Andi Sligh, who blogs at Bringing the Sunshine. A mom to two kids with special needs, she says “We live with my adventurous husband,a wild Westie, a rescued Schnoodle and a...
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Baby Prince George Raises Awareness For Down Syndrome
Duke and Duchess William and Kate are purchasing a painting from an established British artist for Prince George’s nursery. That wouldn’t be such headline-making news except the very talented artist,...
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How To Be A Good Friend To A Special Needs Mom
This is the second guest post from Andi Sligh, who blogs at Bringing the Sunshine. She recently published There’s Sunshine Behind the Clouds: Surviving the Early Years as a Special Needs Mom, a free...
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The Word That Ruined A Whole Book For Me
The selections my book club chooses are often hit and miss. So I was happy to dig into what seemed like some good chick lit, This One Is Mine, about a cast of characters in LA. On my train ride home...
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Another Student With Special Needs Left Out Of The Class Photo
Look closely at this photo of the 2014 graduates of Nederland High School in Texas. Can you tell what’s wrong? Hint: See the teen on the right, in the wheelchair. His name is Brannon, and he is...
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5 Signs of Communication Disorders Parents Often Miss
This guest post is from Patricia A. Prelock, PhD, CCC-SLP, a speech pathologist who is the 2013 President of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA). She is also dean of the College of...
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Don’t Pity Me, Says A Teen With The Aging Disease
Meet Sam Berns, the subject of the powerful new documentary Life According to Sam. Sam is into the Dave Matthews Band, like his dad. He’s a master Lego builder. He enjoys sleepovers with friends. He...
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Is The Church Failing Kids With Special Needs?
One third of parents and other caregivers of kids with special needs polled say their church does not have a Sunday school program for their children. While it is heartening that 60 percent of the...
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Autism Research: One Fail, One Exciting Finding
A year ago, an Australian study was published in the journal Molecular Psychology claiming that a test could spot patterns of genetic variation that differed between people with autism and ones...
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Learning Not To Obsess Over My Kid’s Costume
The first time Max wanted to be Lightning McQueen (the lead character in the movie Cars) for Halloween, I thought it was super-cute. I bought the costume, he wore it. Easy. And did I mention cute? The...
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Roll Model: A Woman On Wheels Aces Marathons
I recently exchanged tweets with disability advocate Nic Steenhout, who mentioned that he couldn’t stand the term “wheelchair bound.” As he once wrote on his blog, “The expression evokes images of...
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Better Plane Travel For Kids With Special Needs
Soon after US Airways got a $1.2 million fine for failing to provide proper wheelchair assistance to fliers, news came out that the U.S. Department of Transportation will make flying more accessible....
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