Tag Archives: special needs

Are You Sure Your Child Has ADHD?

A quick google search will lead you to more information about ADHD than you could possibly read. Many parents think that they know enough about ADHD to be able to properly diagnose it in their own children. It’s best to get a formal assessment by a professional health care provider, though. There are many other disorders that share some symptoms of ADHD. Are you sure your child has ADHD? According to the Mayo Clinic, symptoms of ADHD include: difficulty with sustaining attention on a task, frequent failure to follow through with and complete tasks, and problems with organizing. Kids with … Continue reading →

You Are Your Child’s Best Advocate

When you have a child with any special needs you as the parent quickly become the best advocate for your child. Many children with special needs have some educational challenges and this can become a problem. For example if your child has diabetes and has to leave the class numerous times in the day to test their blood sugar, get insulin or just get a snack to keep their blood sugar up they are missing classroom time and they are missing the instruction that is taking place while they take care of their illness. Children with epilepsy may miss classes … Continue reading →

Special Needs Adoption

As you may remember one part of the adoption application was to consider what type of child you would consider. You may think that is an easy question, it is actually one of the most complex questions. When you hear the term special needs adoption you may automatically think of a child who has physical disabilities. While children with physical disabilities are special needs children there is also many other conditions or circumstances that would make the child a special needs child. Some of the other reasons that a child may be labeled as special needs are: • If they … Continue reading →

What Kind of Child Would you Like?

So you finished the major part of the adoption application, now on to the hard questions. There is a section in the application asking what type of child you are looking for. I know this sounds like this would be an easy section but honestly it is definitely one of the hardest. The questions range from what age you are looking for, to will you accept a child with disabilities. You and your spouse should put aside some time and start thinking, praying and discussing what you are wanting. Some of the questions you should think about: Do you want … Continue reading →

Travel Tidbits For Special Needs Travelers

There’s nothing more relaxing than retreating to the woods for some R&R. Especially when a cool breeze sweeps over you as you gaze at a colorful vista of wildflowers bordered by deep green vegetation. Our country’s park system gives us the opportunity to soak in all that nature has to offer, but what if you are wheelchair bound? How do you navigate the windy trails that lace up and down areas such as Vermont’s picturesque Green Mountains? These days it is much easier. A specialized trail there makes the park’s picture-perfect settings much easier to access for visitors with physical … Continue reading →

Your Children Will Find You

Your children will find you. A friend in the online adoption community told me that once. That was long before I even considered adoption as an option for me. She was so right. For the majority of people their children find them through natural means. There are so many children who, for many reasons, are unable to live with the people who created them biologically. That’s where foster and adoptive parents come in. Foster and adoptive parents come in all shapes and sizes just as biological parents do. What foster and adoptive parents can do that biological parents cannot do … Continue reading →

Pets and the Special Needs Child

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When you have a child with a special need, the thought of having an animal to take care of in addition to all of the other work you do can seem like an overwhelming hassle that isn’t worth it. However, children with special needs can benefit in numerous ways from having a pet to bond with and play with. Having a pet teaches every child the importance of responsibility. Your child will learn quickly that the pet needs to be fed, cleaned and cared for. If your child can physically participate in those responsibilities, she should be allowed to. The … Continue reading →

Gaining Perspective

You know it’s going to be a bad day when you spend 10 minutes standing on your front porch trying to figure out why you can’t get into your home before you realize that repeatedly pushing the unlock button on your car’s smart key isn’t going to open the front door of your house. Yes, it’s been one of those days. Actually, it’s been one of those months. One of those months when you can’t seem to catch a break. One of those months when the war against fatigue has you in the trenches. One of those months when your … Continue reading →

Your Gifted Child Needs Support

If your child has been identified as gifted or is currently being evaluated, you might feel a little lost about navigating through the whole thing. How do you determine what is best for your child, where are the resources and support? One thing you will quickly find if you google “gifted resources” or “navigating gifted resources” is that there are a lot of websites to help parents. Unfortunately for those of us in the United States, most of those websites are by and for citizens of other countries. The few ones centered on the Unites States tend to be commercial … Continue reading →

Book Review: The Heart Knows Something Different

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The Heart Knows Something Different is an anthology of writings by teenagers in foster care. These articles were originally published in a bimonthly magazine called Foster Care Youth United. They are an excellent resource for people adopting older children, since they may give a feel for the kinds of situations and feelings many older children experience prior to the adoption. Their stories are also of import to all citizens concerned about the next generation in our country. Many of these youth, though not all, are from New York City. Some of them were with foster families, although many were in … Continue reading →