Autism, Caregiving, Challenges, Hope, Special Needs Parenting, Spiritual Growth
Sunita Theiss
Discovering What God Already Knew About Me, ...

I first suspected I had ADHD as a teenager, but finding the right professional to take me seriously was much harder than I expected. Previous attempts only ended in frustration and tears.

Discovering What God Already Knew About Me, Through My Children’s Diagnosis
Caregiving, Challenges, Living Life Daily
Jolene Philo
Enjoying the Holidays with a Food Allergy

Enjoying the holidays with a food allergy sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it? After all, eating together is an integral component of the holiday season. I looked forward to making our traditional holiday foods until I was diagnosed with a dairy allergy in 2012. What was to enjoy about the holidays when the foods associated with it were off limits to me?

Enjoying the Holidays with a Food Allergy
Caregiving, Challenges, Grief, Hope, Special Needs Parenting
John Fela (Felageller)
A New Home

It was a short, ten-minute drive from the hotel to the residential facility. I maintained composure while I navigated the busy public roads, and then residential streets. I had a whole range of emotions racing through my body, mind and spirit as we pulled into the campus. This was not just a pleasure drive or a routine errand, this was a significant milestone in the life of my son and our family.

A New Home
Autism, Caregiving, Challenges, Special Needs Parenting
Mark Arnold
Halloween & Special Needs: How to Make it ...

While Halloween is a fun time of year for many children, it can be a really difficult time for some, including many children with additional/special needs. For them it can be a confusing, anxiety-inducing, or even utterly terrifying time. But it doesn’t have to be like that. If we stop for a moment to think about the things they might find hard and how to put things in place to help them, children with special needs can safely join in the fun, too. So what are some of the things about Halloween that children with additional needs can find hard?

Halloween & Special Needs: How to Make it Fun for Every Child
Caregiving, Hope, Living Life Daily, Marriage, Special Needs Parenting
Joe and Cindi Ferrini
It’s Not Just “Us” 

“While we’ve had many years of travel speaking together on marriage, discipleship, and other topics, we are seldom alone and ‘just us’”Joe & Cindi Ferrini write on the struggle of never truly being along as special needs parents, and the importance of making time “just for us.”

It’s Not Just “Us” 

therapist

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Things I Want My Child’s Therapists to Know About Families Raising Kids with Disabilities

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Things I Want My Child’s Therapists to Know About Families Raising Kids with Disabilities

In a recent viral social media post, Rachel Olstad expressed what she and many other families with children with disabilities would like to express to those who help care for their children.

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When Christmas Isn't Calm and Family Quilts are Torn

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When Christmas Isn't Calm and Family Quilts are Torn

As I've been meditating on the stress in my own family this Christmas, an image of an old quilt rose up in my mind. It hit me how very quilt-like special needs families can be. We're patched together with several different colors and patterns, and our beautifully vibrant family quilts can get pretty messy, especially at Christmas-time.

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Enlarged in the Waiting: A New Take on Waiting for God to Answer Prayer

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Enlarged in the Waiting: A New Take on Waiting for God to Answer Prayer

My husband and I have been in major waiting mode for the past three months. I am growing impatient, frustrated. Mildly depressed. Dare I say, a little hopeless. But God is using this season to enlarge me. In this waiting time, I need to allow more of God’s Spirit to grow within me.

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The Last Visit to My Son's IEP Conference Room

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The Last Visit to My Son's IEP Conference Room

I stood up slowly, and took in that space one last time, grabbed a couple more pictures and said goodbye to therapists I would see many more times, and other therapists and teachers I’d never see again. I waited as my wife finished some conversations. One last quick time, I reviewed the highlight reel in my head of all these meetings here, but more specifically, the hopes and dreams I brought into this room.