Are you scrounging for thankfulness this holiday season? Holidays can be a challenge for those walking through hard days. Perhaps you feel like you've been handed the short-end of the stick; your child is struggling, you’re exhausted and it seems like everybody else has life with a bit more gravy. It’s easy to focus on our circumstances, take stock of what we have and where we are and end up feeling completely void of thankfulness. Is there a cure for this?
I first suspected I had ADHD as a teenager, but finding the right professional to take me seriously was much harder than I expected. Previous attempts only ended in frustration and tears.
Enjoying the holidays with a food allergy sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it? After all, eating together is an integral component of the holiday season. I looked forward to making our traditional holiday foods until I was diagnosed with a dairy allergy in 2012. What was to enjoy about the holidays when the foods associated with it were off limits to me?
It was a short, ten-minute drive from the hotel to the residential facility. I maintained composure while I navigated the busy public roads, and then residential streets. I had a whole range of emotions racing through my body, mind and spirit as we pulled into the campus. This was not just a pleasure drive or a routine errand, this was a significant milestone in the life of my son and our family.
While Halloween is a fun time of year for many children, it can be a really difficult time for some, including many children with additional/special needs. For them it can be a confusing, anxiety-inducing, or even utterly terrifying time. But it doesn’t have to be like that. If we stop for a moment to think about the things they might find hard and how to put things in place to help them, children with special needs can safely join in the fun, too. So what are some of the things about Halloween that children with additional needs can find hard?
Summer with my family is a nice break from all the school year hustle and bustle. It’s a time to slow down and enjoy more family time. Then again, summer brings its own challenges. Here are some tricks I’ve learned in the past few years that help me stay mentally in a better place for a peaceful summer day.
When I was in grade school, my older brother told me a secret. “Mom hides the Christmas gifts in a garbage sack in the closet,” he confessed. I don’t have to worry about my daughter with Down Syndrome pulling some of those shenanigans that I once pulled at Christmas. But like me, she loves Christmas, and it is such a joy to experience this time of year with her and her brother.
I started dreaming the day I found out I was having my first baby. As we made preparations for her birth, I enjoyed reading different pregnancy books. By the time we took Jaycee home from the hospital, I had armfuls of pamphlets, books, and resources on Down syndrome. I read as much as I could to find answers to many questions, and here’s where I found them.
