Our family just went on vacation to Garden City Beach in South Carolina at the end of May. It was the first time we traveled out of state and on a plane in seven years. My husband Steve and I have three children, ages 9, 7, and 6; so two of our kids were toddlers…
Social stories are a great tool to introduce a new experience to a child using a story format that includes personalized images and child-friendly, encouraging language. Social stories are especially useful to help children who might struggle with anxiety surrounding new experiences and could benefit from learning what to expect ahead of time. They are…
Mental Health Awareness Month is upon us, and those of us who struggle with our own or care for a child with mental illness might feel like we have to expend a lot of energy, more than we have to spare, on explaining and raising awareness. Whether it’s PTSD, depression, anxiety, OCD, or a cluster…
As the spring flowers emerge and flannel sheets are taken off the beds, it is exciting to get back outside and enjoy the warmer weather. With my son in a walker, I am always looking for outdoor play ideas or events in the local and extended community thatchildren of all abilities can experience together. I…
Each year, I find myself wanting to observe and bring Holy Week into our home. Each year, I find myself feeling I’ve come up short with what I’ve accomplished. This year, I put together my ideas before Lent started. This way we could start using them not only during Holy Week, but throughout our Lenten…
I know how scared you are. When it comes to signing your special needs child up for sports, you find yourself imagining your physically disabled child falling, or drowning, or being bullied, or <insert some other worst case scenario here>. You know your child won’t be able to run as fast, or swim as well,…
As the mom of an autistic little boy I’ve spent hours searching for helpful visual aides for everything you can imagine. Visual schedules and graphics for disabled children tend to be generic at best and downright ugly at worst. When it comes to the delicate business of teaching the faith to our kids there are…
Lent is a season of forty days leading up to Easter during which we try to strip away the distractions in our lives so we can focus on deepening our relationship with God. Catholics often mark this time of year in three ways: fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. I am sharing a few ways our family…
Going to Mass and making it the entire way through the service may seem impossible, especially if your child has special needs. You may wonder if you’ll ever be able to attend Mass as a family without a meltdown. But there are steps you can take to help your child learn to sit through, understand…
Winter brings cold weather, hot drinks, and extra blankets. If your family is like mine, winter also means trying to limit our exposure to the plethora of viruses that circulate the population this time of year. Efforts to keep healthy, however, can mean limiting public outings and gatherings. Keeping the “winter blues” away sometimes requires…
