Special Needs Archives - Page 11 of 22

Skipping To The Beat Of Her Heart

May 28 2014

She rarely walks now. She prefers to skip. Sometimes she even skips in a purple tutu. It took her a long time to learn to walk. Less than two years ago she still wore a helmet on the playground, in case she fell. Now she’s running, jumping and skipping. And when she skips, her strides are only slightly smaller than the grin on her face. She’s proud of herself and with good reason. I wish I could take credit for her reaching this physical milestone—one that a child with significant gross motor delays might never achieve. Her EAs at school have been working with her on this for months, and it finally paid off. How amazing are they and how lucky are we? I’m so grateful…I could literally skip. Here are 35 seconds of super skipping stupendousness, LIVE and in technicolour. Caution: This video skips, but in a good way. 🙂

May 03 2014

This post is about how to ease the blow when your child isn’t invited to the party… My daughter excitedly joined in to sing a boisterous happy birthday to her friend at school this week. She’s all about the good times. It’s an apple-falling-not-far-from-the-tree sort of thing. She went straight up to the birthday girl (who is a sweetheart) and asked, “It’s your birthday! You having a party?” Making an awkward situation even more awkward (another apple-tree situation) my daughter continued her line of questioning with, “I can come to your party?!” Talk about putting this poor girl on the spot. She is having a small party—only one child from the class was quietly invited. This is totally cool and completely acceptable. But my party girl just couldn’t understand this and she couldn’t let it go. For the rest of the day she kept bringing it up, stuck in a loop of disappointment. Classmates began stepping in to say gently but firmly, “Avery, you’re not invited. Okay?” On the way home from school my girl burst into tears, explaining about the party and that she couldn’t go sobbing, “Why can’t I go toooooo?” sob-sob-snot-bubble-cry All parents have these dagger[…]

May 01 2014

She is perfectly able to dress herself in the morning. Well, pretty much. Buttons and zippers can still be a challenge. Yet I can’t seem to stop myself from “helping.” Since I realize she needs to learn to do things on her own, I’ve been laying out her clothes and allowing her to get dressed on her own, no matter how long it takes (and sometimes it takes forever). I need to take this a step further by letting actually her choose her own outfits. But it’s a tough one. For me, not her. She loves picking out her clothes. (This is where the control freak in me starts to really squirm.) Today I was running late so I let Avery put together her own outfit for school. Oh how I wish I had video of her jumping through her doorway out into the hall, arms overhead, legs outstretched in a victorious V-stand, grinning from ear-to-ear exclaiming, “Tah-dah! I dressed!” Halloween t-shirt, underwear on backwards and inside-out, one long black sock, one short white sock, no pants. She was ready for school. We have a strict “you must wear pants in public” rule so I suggested she put[…]

Apr 23 2014

My daughter’s genetic make-up is unusual in many ways and I suspect her DNA also includes a unique elastic gene. The girl lives to flip, jump, roll, climb—basically anything that results in her body leaving the ground for any length of time. Avery was first introduced to gymnastics by her cousin — it was love at first back bend and we knew we had to sign our little monkey up for a local program. By “happy-stance” I met Canadian Olympic Gymnast Jessica Tudos on Twitter and she recommended a gym for us. She said it would be a perfect fit. She was right. Though Avery has developmental and physical challenges, Schlegel’s Gymnastics Centre is fully inclusive. Avery is just another active kid in a leotard climbing a rope. Can I just say how thrilled this makes me?? Several years ago Avery attended a play gym and because of her special needs she was placed in a program with kids half her age. There was poor Avery out on the mat with toddlers. This didn’t do anything to develop her physical or social skills. We quickly pulled her out. Schlegel’s focuses on each child’s individual strengths and needs. It’s non-competitive[…]

Mar 05 2014

Last year in the school yard, children repeatedly asked my son if his sister was retarded. When he finally told me about it I was ready to bang some heads together. Luckily my child is more mature than his hot-headed mother. He chose to take action by making this VIDEO to present to his peers resulting in meaningful conversations and a greater understanding about what it’s like to have a sibling with special needs. The fact is, children follow so it’s our job as adults to be kind, educated, moral leaders. When adults don’t set a good example we end up with a new generation of ignorant, intolerant adults. Out for dinner recently an adult at our table joked about something retarded they did at work. I was shocked, but I didn’t say anything. How is this still happening in 2014? If I stay silent I’m part of the problem. This frustrates me. As the parent of a child with special needs am I expected to police the internet and the world around me like an R-word detecting watch dog? I’d really rather not. You might think that retard(ed) is merely a word and that we—the people who love[…]

Category - Special Needs

Skipping To The Beat Of Her Heart

Tears Sting Even When They’re Not Yours

All Dressed

Gymnastics — Inclusive, Fantastic and Elastic!

You’re Not Still Using The R-Word Are You?