The First Day of School: Not Your Typical Milestone
A few days before kindergarten was set to begin, I gathered up all the school supplies I needed to deliver during my daughter’s Back to...
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A BLOG FOR PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH DIFFERENCES, DISABILITIES, AND DIAGNOSES
Advocacy: How We Help Our Loved Ones Live Their Best Lives
It should come as no surprise that advocacy is a large part of special needs parenting. More times than I can count, I have had to fight...
Germs: Special Needs Families and the Ever-Present Possibility of Illness
As I write this, my family is at the tail end of a long series of illnesses. For nearly four weeks, at least one of us was sick. We...
Hope: Waiting for A Cure for Rett Syndrome
Before I had JJ, I never thought much about hope—at least not in any profound way. To me, it was just another verb to slip into...
Is My Child Living a Good Life?
When you are a special needs parent, you are often forced to face a host of heavy questions. What will happen when my child gets too big...
Coping Strategies: More Than Just Finding "Me Time"
I came up with the idea for a post about coping strategies during a particularly difficult period in my family’s life. It was the middle...
(In)Visibility: How My Daughter and I Can Be Both Highly Visible and Completely Overlooked
The world of special needs parenting is full of paradoxes. One of the most unexpected is how we and our children can both be highly...
Breaking Points: How Those Little Everyday Things Can Send You Over The Edge
The first time I became aware of breaking points as a special needs parent was when I was sitting in the dentist chair one month after my...
Intelligence: The Ways in Which People Measure and View My Daughter's Cognitive Abilities
When we found out my youngest daughter, JJ, has Rett Syndrome, the genetic counselor who helped deliver the news told me that the...
Bodies: How My Views about Bodies and Abilities Have Changed Because of My Daughter
My gym has a bank of televisions placed right above the only line of available treadmills. I’m not a fan of daytime television or local...
Numbers: Parenting Children with Disabilities, By the Numbers
I am a words person. Given a choice, I’ll always show a preference for language and vocabulary over math. But numbers are inescapable,...
Work and Identity: How Our Career Paths and Identities Change When We Become Special Needs Parents
One of my favorite gym songs is Suit and Jacket by Judah & The Lion. I love the way it begins quietly but builds to a crashing crescendo....
Transformations: Things that change after a Diagnosis
Since my daughter’s diagnosis many things in my life have transformed. It’s not only my hopes, dreams, and plans for the future that are...
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