A few days ago, I blogged about Barb Dittrich and her ministry’s website which Twitter helped me locate. Today’s post is about another Twitter find, Special Needs Parenting Magazine. Special Needs Parenting Magazine The magazine is an online publication which comes out six times a year. It was founded by Chantai Snellgrove who is the parent of a special needs child. The premier issue was...

If you’re the parent of a child diagnosed with special needs, you know how hard it is to remember stuff. You need to remember doctor’s appointments and recommendations, medication dosages, reactions to medications, food allergies, behavioral issues and a whole lot more. Care Notebook But sleep-deprived, stressed parents can’t remember all that the stuff without help. And that’s...

If you were to ask me to recommend one resource for parents of kids with special needs, Terri Mauro’s site at About.com would be it. About Terri Mauro According to About.com, Terri is the mother of “two teenagers with special needs: a 19-year-old with language-based learning disabilities and a 16-year-old with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, both adopted from Russia in 1994.” ...

A few months ago I met Brenda Nixon, author of The Birth to Five Book, a tremedous resource for parents of young children, whether or not they have special needs. The Parent’s Plate Brenda is a speaker and hosts a parenting show called The Parents’ Plate. She knows how easy it is to overfill a parent’s plate and provides simple strategies to help you empty it. If you’re looking...

Recently I sat by a little boy at our church potluck. He has some special needs, especially in the area of communication. For years, I wondered if he would ever overcome them. Our lunch together reminded me of a maxim I followed during my teaching years: Every child can learn, given enough time. EParent.com To read the whole story about what my potluck mate learned because someone gave him enough...

Though I’m not a natural at Twitter (as compared to Facebook which is my kind of social networking), the service has been a great way to find other people who assist families of kids with special needs. Using the prescribed 140 characters or less, it recently brought Barb Dittrich and me together. Barb Dittrich Charlie, one of the Dittrich’s three children, has hemophilia. So his parents...

In the previous post, you met Jennifer Peter, an Iowa professional learning and leadership consultant. If her explanation of the difference between Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) and 504b plans was helpful, you’ll also appreciate her answer to this question: What advice do you have for parents about how to maximize services for their children with special needs? Services for Preschoolers Jennifer...

In a recent interview with Iowa professional learning and leadership consultant, Jennifer Peter. She explained the difference between an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and a 504b plan. Her explanation was so elegant and clear-cut, you deserve to hear it, too. IEP Schools are required by federal law to create IEPs for any school-aged student who has been tested and identified as needing special education...

The movie, Extraordinary Measures, was released a few days ago. I haven’t seen it yet, but I’ve been reading about the family that inspired the movie. John & Aileen Crowley Two of the Crowleys three children, Megan and Patrick, were born with Pompe disease. At the time of their diagnosis, their prognosis was terminal. Researchers were slowly closing in on a cure, too slowly to save...

As I’ve mentioned in previous DifferentDream.com posts, (PTSD Treatment Can Change Your Child’s Life, PTSD and NICU Parents: What About You?, and Critically Ill Kids and War Veterans Have What in Common?) war veterans aren’t the only people who suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). It also affects children who have endured invasive medical treatment, and  PTSD can affect...