A few weeks ago Lisa Copen, founder of Rest Ministries, a website for chronically ill adults, asked me to participate in her Invisible Illness Week Web Seminar. She wanted me to encourage chronically ill parents who have special needs kids. I felt a little funny addressing those parents since I don’t have a chronic illness. But since my dad was chronically ill, and my son had special needs,...

Life as a parent is wearing. Life as the parent of of a special needs child is especially wearing. The specter of life as a perpetual care give and decision-maker can be overwhelming. But the parents I interviewed for A Different Dream for My Child lived joyfully despite their circumstances. Many parents of special needs students I worked during my teaching career. Over the next three days, I’ll...

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...