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Category Archives: Special needs
Manscaping Mishaps: Hide Your Razors
When my 15-year-old son started sprouting a baby mustache, his sisters promptly campaigned to shave it. “It’s not a good look mom,” they said, and I agreed. But their brother balked at the idea – until I bribed him with … Continue reading
Posted in Autism, Parenting, Siblings, Special needs
Tagged adaptive skills, autism, parenting, special needs
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New tooth fairy in town: the last true believer falls
“Mom, I know your secret. You’re the gift giver,” my son said. And just like that, I lost my last true believer. Thanks to autism’s innocence and credulity, we had a good 12-year run of Christmas magic. “You figured it … Continue reading
Ghost Boy
Parents see ghosts. My teen-aged daughter sings with her high school choir, and I see the ghost of the baby girl who bounced up and down with excitement in her crib when I walked in her room. My ten-year-old rests … Continue reading
Posted in Autism, Parenting, Special needs
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He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother: 10 strategies for supporting special needs sibling relationships
Like a boulder in a rushing stream, our daughter sat calmly reading on a chaise in the living room, her brother sprawled on the floor next to her, crying and tantrumming. Three adults (me, a babysitter and an ABA therapist) … Continue reading
Posted in Autism, Parenting, Siblings, Special needs
Tagged Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA), relationships, siblings
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Side effects: three strategies for evaluating whether and when to use medication
Have you considered medication? No matter how gently and kindly put, it’s a question that parents of a special needs child wish they didn’t have to hear. Deciding whether and when to use medication for a child is difficult for … Continue reading
Posted in Autism, Parenting, Seizures, Special needs
Tagged ADHD, medication, seizures
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Stupid head, furball, “iniot” and other favorite phrases
One of the joys of raising a child with a developmental disability is a tendency to latch onto and repeat random words or phrases that they hear from TV shows, movies, older siblings or from your-guess-is-as-good-as-mine. And this isn’t your … Continue reading
Posted in Autism, Parenting, Special needs
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Social sheepdogs: nipping and nudging into the mainstream
For several years, our son with special needs has participated on recreational sports teams to develop his social skills and to get some exercise. He has played (and I use this term generously) soccer, basketball and baseball. Coordinated and tall, he … Continue reading
Mom falls asleep monitoring child’s texts: 4 strategies for navigating the new media frontier
Zzzzz… What? Oh sorry. I fell asleep reading my daugther’s texts. A newly minted middle-schooler, she wants a phone of her own, but we think she’s too young. Our challenge – most of her friends have phones, and she feels … Continue reading
4 surprising benefits of interacting with my special needs kid: hint, it makes you smarter
As a mom with a PhD, I love it when research supports my mom instincts. Those instincts tell me that typically developing children and their families benefit from spending time with my special needs child, and science thinks so too. … Continue reading
Seizures and autism: a numbers game
5:30 in the morning. My husband was walking by our son’s bedroom and heard strange noises. He peeked in, and saw our son having a seizure. It lasted for about a minute, and only involved his upper body. After the … Continue reading