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special needs

How finding the right physical therapist for my son made all the difference

Eight-year-old with his physical therapist playing with an indoor plastic basketball hoop
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Each time Mark came for a session I saw Henry through a different lens. By Jaclyn Greenberg

May 11, 2021 Family, Parenting Challenges

Raising a Rare Girl: an author Q&A

Raising a rare girl book cover
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This book is a meditation about what unconditional love offers both recipient and giver. By Sarah Buttenwieser

January 28, 2021 Books, Parenting Challenges

Why I don’t want to tell my 14-year-old the truth about Santa

Wrapped present with made in Santa's workshop label
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With an IQ of 70, I don’t think he has the capacity for figuring it out on his own. By Laurie Foos

December 23, 2020 Parenting Challenges

Finding out your baby has special needs during a pandemic

black and white mobile of teddy bears
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Shelter in place has become a cocoon where our family has slowly let this diagnosis of Down syndrome sink in. By Maggie Shafer

April 15, 2020 Culture, Family

My preoccupation with sick kids on Instagram

Sketch of premature baby drinking bottle
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Maybe following these accounts is a form of penance for the guilt of being one of the lucky ones who got to take her baby home. By Justine Feron

February 11, 2020 Family

The irony of my love of language

baby lying on his back holding a stuffed dinosaur
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I breathe words like oxygen. They are everywhere. Except in the mouth of my child. By Leah Moore

January 22, 2020 Parenting Challenges

Helping my son grieve the loss of a friend

Blue dragonfly on a green leaf
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How exactly could I break this news to a kid who already went to bed every night scared of death to the point of tears? By Tanya Mozias Slavin

October 10, 2019 Parenting Challenges

The friends I made in the waiting room

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We don’t want our boys to be “cured.” There is no cure; autism is a chronic state, like arthritis, or love. By Elizabeth Michaelson Monaghan

October 7, 2019 Parenting Challenges

How siblings help my son with autism thrive the most

One boy looking on as another kid hangs on to a swing with arms with autumn leaves on the ground
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Is there any better teacher of life for a kid on the spectrum than a brother or sister? By Marya Markovich

August 29, 2019 Parenting Challenges

Seeing my daughter in a new light at the preschool dance show

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There’s Cooper, she’s at least a full head shorter than every other child on stage. This causes both attention and confusion. By Carina McLaughlin

July 25, 2019 Parenting Challenges

What happens when my son is with me in the ladies restroom

Mom smile while holding arm of adult autistic son in backyard of home
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Why in the world had I even brought the kids to the store? I just wanted to go home, have a good cry and forget about autism for a while. By Jennifer Jones

February 28, 2019 Parenting Challenges

Yes, I know what it’s like to have a child with a delay

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We can try to compare miseries, heartaches, injustices but, in the end, it becomes impossible. By Diana Kupershmit

February 19, 2019 Parenting Challenges

When your child’s birthday is complicated

single red balloon floating through a gray sky
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Eighteen years later, nothing has changed. All the firsts I had been praying for never came. By Shauna Actis

March 20, 2018 Parenting Challenges

The day my daughter told us her disability is love

Love painted in white lettering on wooden panels
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I’m terrified that my teenager, who has Down syndrome, won’t ever find real love—and also that she will, but that it won’t be the right kind. By Amy Silverman

January 17, 2018 Parenting Challenges

Why I have a problem with the word disabled

old traffic light signaling green while hanging across a blue and cloudy sky
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I was raised to believe that my differences didn’t have to limit or set me apart. But the world disagreed. By Meg Zucker

November 2, 2017 Parenting Challenges

Is it my fault when my kids get sick?

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Are we to blame for our children’s frailties? The easy response is of course not. The honest answer is yes and no. By Nan Mooney

November 1, 2017 Parenting Challenges

The day I learned to accept my son’s rare kidney disease

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I held his illness deep inside me the way I would hold shame. In the dark, it rotted and grew. By Laura Leffler

October 24, 2017 Parenting Challenges

Chased by a tiger: my son’s ADHD diagnosis

painting of a tiger walking
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My son’s fight or flight mechanism often shut out his ability to function. I was devastated I had not been able to help him. By Jill Dyer

October 12, 2017 Parenting Challenges

For my Facebook friend who is in pain

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We connected through the magic of the internet. Her son was in crisis. Could I help?
By Brianne DeRosa

September 6, 2017 Parenting Challenges

How I embrace my son’s language of numbers

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I learned to meet him right where he was, which was on the floor, counting.
By Rachel Turner

July 27, 2017 Parenting Challenges

The length of the pause

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One day my son was a typically developing, albeit shy, three-year-old. The next he wasn’t able to say a word in public.
By Tanya Mozias Slavin

October 31, 2016 Parenting Challenges

The early days of an autism diagnosis

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Nowhere in my plans was talking to a stranger about teaching basic social skills. Nowhere in my plans was autism.
By Katie Read

September 27, 2016 Parenting Challenges

My son doesn’t smile for photos

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Her son never wanted to be in the picture. Then he discovered himself behind the camera.
By Debbie Urbanski

September 12, 2016 Parenting Challenges

Measuring the baby’s ears

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My unborn kid had a 1 in 214 chance of having Down syndrome. Those seemed like pretty good odds.
By Amy Silverman

August 30, 2016 Books, Parenting Challenges

My son is quirky, and sometimes it scares me

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I wonder in which direction of social acceptance Charlie’s drum will lead.
By Sara Petersen

August 1, 2016 Parenting Challenges

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