Kids and sidewalk chalk go together, don’t you think? But throw a wheelchair or a walker into the mix, and it becomes almost impossible for some kids to enjoy this childhood delight. Now, thanks to Dwayne Szot, children with disabilities can enjoy sidewalk chalk and a whole lot more. Dwayne Szot Dwayne is the founder of Zot Artz studio in Bayfield, Wisconsin. He’s also the inventor of...

In Part 1 of this series, you met Julie Papievis, a woman who miraculously survived a near fatal brain stem injury. In that post she shared five positive ways her injury and recovery changed her.  In Part 2 of the series, she shared seven valuable tips about how parents can support their brain-injured (or special needs) child. In Part 3, the final post in the series, Julie provides some facts and...

In the first post in this series, you read about Julie Papievis, a woman who survived and recovered from a severe brain stem injury. In that post, Julie shared five positive ways the accident changed her. In this one, she gives advice to parents of children with brain injuries. I think it applies to a broader audience. See what you think. Education Educate yourself about what’s happening to your...

Julie Papievis was a dynamo before the car accident that changed her life. Now, more than a decade after her brain stem was so badly damaged the EMTs were sure she would die, she’s a dynamo again. In the months and years between her injury and recovery, which was remarkable but not total, she struggled with depression and grief for the woman she used to be. Recently, I had the opportunity to interview...

A few weeks ago Claire Shackelford, one of the women who’s part of www.ChristianMilitaryWives.com, interviewed me about A Different Dream for My Child. While we talked, I thought about the double whammy military wives with special needs children deal with every day. My only desire was to encourage the moms as they care for their kids. But as Claire listened to our son’s story, she recognized...

The other day I was exercising, trying to distract myself by listening to one of my favorite radio shows, Splendid Table with Lynne Rossetto Kasper. It wasn’t working. Enter J. J. Goode But when her guest, food writer J.J. Goode, read his essay about single-handed cooking, I stopped exercising, captivated by his story. He spoke with eloquence and honesty about life with a disability, addressing...

How do you respond when you hear the date September 11? Do horrific images of the Twin Towers falling and people fleeing in terror flash through your mind? Does the destruction and loss of life at Ground Zero overwhelm and sadden you?  Are you angered by the way our country has changed because of the attack? Meet Billy When I think of 9-11, I remember Billy, one of my fourth grade students. He was...

If you’ve read my book, A Different Dream for My Child: Meditations for Parents of Critically or Chronically Ill Children, you know about Nic. He’s the young man who was diagnosed with neuroblastoma at age three. But if you don’t know Nic, let me introduce you to him and his medical condition. What’s Neuroblastoma? Neuroblastoma is the medical name for a type of childhood cancer...

When a child survives a serious illness, life is good again, right? Of course it’s good, but most likely it isn’t perfect since raising a survivor comes with a number of potential challenges. In this post, we’ll identify some of those challenges and the typical ways parents respond to them. Future posts will discuss each one in greater depth and point you to available resources. Challenge...