Please forgive me for posting twice in one day. But this is breaking news!

About.com Readers’ Choice Awards Finalist

Terri Mauro announced the finalists for about.com’s Readers’ Choice Awards Finalists. And A Different Dream for My Child is a finalist in the best special-needs memoir category!

Can you imagine the little happy dance I’m doing right now?

The competition is tough. A Different Dream for My Child is up against several great books including Braided Cord, Gravity Pulls You In, My Baby Rides the Short Bus, and Schuyler’s Monster.

Cast Your Ballot

Voting in all categories (the others are Favorite Special-Needs Parenting Blog, Best Special-Needs Online Community, and Favorite Special-Needs Children’s Book) begins today. So please go to about.com to vote for your favorite special needs memoir. Once there, you’ll find links to the other categories and be able to cast ballots for them, too.

Vote Every Day

You can vote every day, once a day, from now through March 8. Winners will be announced on March 15. The voting is a great way to raise awareness of special needs, so pass the information along to others.

Ready to vote,
Jolene

Awhile back, I posted an entry about an iPhone app created by FactorTrack to help hemophilia patients manage medications and supplies. The post has been extremely popular. Tiffany Intal, the mom who shared the information during a phone interview, left a comment at www.DifferentDream.com about another app she uses.

imedic8 Personal Caregiver App

Tiffany says, “I also use another app called Personal Caregiver by imedic8 to track Niki’s medications and my own meds too. It can track multiple medications for multiple members in your family and you can include a profile pictures, too! The app alerts you when you’re due for a dose, if you’ve missed a dose, and when it’s time to refill medications. Anyone managing complex medication schedule can use this app.”

Visit PersonalCaregiver.com

At www.PersonalCaregiver.com you can watch an introductory video about the app and read the descriptions of the versions available. Tiffany said her version is free, but the the one’s listed at the website ran from $3.99 to $9.99. Not too much to pay for your own electronic medical secretary!

If you know of other apps designed to help parents of kids with special needs, please leave a comment. And Tiffany, if you can enlighten us on how to get the apps for free, please do.

Longing for a Smart Phone,
Jolene

Caring parents want their kids to get the most out of every school day. As parents, we do simple things to help our kids maximize each school day – be sure they get enough sleep, eat a good breakfast, have a quiet place to do homework, ask about school each day, communicate with teachers.

Terri Mauro’s Back to School Resources

But if your child has special needs, you can do even more. Terri Mauro’s free resources at www.about.com can help you become a proactive parent and a support to your child’s teacher. Here are links to her back-to-school resources.

• Assemble a Teacher Information Packet – This step-by-step how to tells you how to create a packet, whatever your child’s special need may be.
• Test Your School IQ – This quiz will show you what you need to learn to become an informed, caring partner in your child’s education.
• 25 Ways to Make this the Best School Year Ever -  Don’t let the number 25 scare you. This is one of the most doable and comprehensive lists I’ve ever seen.
• What’s Your Biggest Fear this School Year? – Go to this link to confess your biggest fear? Sometimes just talking about it can ease your worries.

About.com

I know I’ve said this before, but you will find a wealth of information at Terri Mauro’s page at www.about.com. Every time I go there, she’s posted something new and usable. So have a look. Then come back and tell us what you liked best.

Jolene