All Blog Posts (132)

Hi, my name is Liz, & I am new to this group. It was introduced to me by another parent of a special need's child. My husband, Louis & I, & our two girls, Emily & Leah live in Texas. My daughter Emily is 6 yr. old, & was diagnosed with Optic Nerve Hypoplasia with Septo Optic Dysplasia at the age of 5 mo. She is mostly blind, with what little vision she does have being inconsistent, non functional & not useable. She is our angel girl & it has taken years to finally…

Find out why the most stressful job in America is held by moms in mid life and what you can do to refuel, recharge and reconnect for the long haul!

Children are a magical mix of mom and dad.  The deal is you never know which parts of which parent each child is going to get.  It sure would be nice to pick and choose the best traits to combine.

Jazzy got her overbite and protruding “fang teeth” from my side of the family.  She’s got her Daddy’s darker coloring, but my freckles (which is quite the combo!) I look at her and see that she’s got pieces of both of us. 

But she also got traits from each of us that…

This is such a scary topic to think about!

Autism is prevalent in today's society, we hear about it on the news, we see it in our local communities, there has been an explosion of information on the internet, mothers from all over the world link together.  There are divided opinions, supportive groups, parents sharing their…

I think every IEP season a small piece of me dies. I hate all the pedantic statements and the meaningless numbers that try to quantify the unquantifiable and create the illusion of objectivity. But what I hate most about it all, is how it paints us flat, every one of us, beginning with my son. Although the whole 30-page document is about him (supposedly), how is it that I don’t recognize him in it?  Could it be because there’s no mention of his most notable qualities:…

www.pancakesgoneawry.blogspot.com

Ever since the long-winded and incredibly expensivedevelopmental pediatrician told me that my youngest child has a 1 in 20 chance of being diagnosed with autism (because his older brother has it), I have been…

One of my favorite hobbies is scrap booking. I love it because it gives me the creative freedom to put together my memory books so that when you look at them, it is my story that I am telling. It is the story of life that includes my family, my friends, my daughter's friends. When I look at my moms old black and white photos, they are beautiful, they are treasured, but they are nameless. I don't know if someone in those photos is an…

My daughter sees a tutor. She has had the help of this tutor for nearly two years.  And I can honestly say that it has changed her life. Changed our lives.…

Hello,

I am new to Hopeful Parents.  I really like your website.  Please check out my Blog for Self Care for Parents of Children (any age) with Autism (or other challenge).  

FREE Resource  Self Care for Parents of Autistic Youth

http://selfcareforparents.blogspot.com/

I look forward to getting to know Hopeful Parents!

Dawn :)…

To set the background for my topic today of "How do you explain drama in the family to a child with ASD."  I have to give you a little background into my childhood.  Honestly, I wish I could say that my childhood was normal and that we were a functional family, well that is so not the case.  Don't get me wrong, my mother is one of the most loving and caring mothers in the world, but my father, he was a monster.  I grew up with my two half sisters and my half brother, I was the youngest and…

In November of 2010 my 11 year old son Jacob was diagnosed with PDD-NOS, he is lower functioning that Asperger's level in his daily activities with a maturity of about 5 yrs old and the comprehension of about a 2-3 yr old.  In 1st grade he was diagnosed with ADHD, but as he grew older we suspected that there was something more going on, he just wasn't maturing as others his age.  Jacob is my little bubba, he has always been my baby and he loves to cuddle and get loves and just be snuggled up…