May 16, 2012 Posted by Jolene

How to Win a Special Needs Book by Jill Kelly

From your comments about last week’s Q & A with Jill Kelly (wife of the Buffalo Bill’s former quarterback Jim Kelly), the series spoke to many of you. Interviewing her was a joy, and I was delighted late last week when a box of her books arrived on my doorstep. Not just one set of her four books, but three sets, along with a lovely note. The note is now in my special memories file, and one... read more

May 3, 2012 Posted by Jolene

Scooping Up Things, Part 2

In yesterday’s post, guest blogger Scott Newport described his practice of “scooping up things” during a recent trip to the Everglades. The practice began three years ago as a means of coping with his grief after his son Evan died. Today, Scott completes the story by sharing how the compassion of  his living son, Noah, allowed him to scoop up a bit of joy. 



Scooping Up... read more

May 2, 2012 Posted by Jolene

Scooping Up Things, Part 1

Guest blogger Scott Newport recently returned from a trip to Everglades National Park. During the trip, he employed a technique to deal with grief over the loss of his son, Evan. In today’s post, Scott explains how he used the practice  of scooping up things during his trip down south. Scooping Up Things: From the Most Irritating No-See-Um to the Greatness of the Full Moon I just returned from an... read more

Apr 3, 2012 Posted by Jolene

Darkness and Light and Down Syndrome

Welcome to Gillian Marchenko, the newest guest blogger at DifferentDream.com. To see what Gillian looks like, visit our guest blogger page and scroll down until her smiling face and bio comes into view. To launch her presence here, she uses a lovely metaphor of darkness and light to describe how she grew to accept and love her daughter who lives with Down syndrome. Darkness and Light My two oldest... read more

Mar 13, 2012 Posted by Jolene

The Welcome to Holland Thing & the Big Bad Thing

A while back I ran across a post at SupportforSpecialNeeds.com, one of my fave special needs websites. At first I didn’t like it much. But, I couldn’t stop thinking about it either, which I always consider a sign of something that deserves more time and inquiry. The Holland Thing & the Big Bad Thing Therefore, I reread the post and pinpointed what rubbed me wrong about the post. The first... read more