• Health - Parenting - special needs

    How to Write an All About Me Booklet for Your Special Needs Child

    October 29, 2013 - By 

    This All About Me Special Needs Book is one of my favourite tools for my daughter. I’ve had one for Ainsley for several years now and it is always well received by teachers, coaches and others who work with her regularly. These All About Me Special Needs Booklets work well when your child is young and unable to tell people what he or she needs. We used them often for Ainsley, especially at camp. The idea is that you can use them as a tool for helpers, teachers or support staff when dealing with a child who has medical needs…

  • Health - special needs

    My Family Medical Records Saga #health

    September 30, 2013 - By 

    This is the story of how my medical records got taken for ransom. Well, perhaps that’s a bit dramatic. But last week I got a call from a private service telling me I can buy back copies of my family’s medical records for the Low Low price of $500. So this is what happened next…I  texted, tweeted, messaged, bartered, and complained. Then I wrote a post that got me syndicated over at Blogher.com. Read the full post here on Blogher.com. It’s called That Time I had to Pay $500 for my medical records. If you love me, share the post or…

  • FASD - Health - parenting - special needs

    The Good News/ Bad News Week and #Giveaways

    September 27, 2013 - By 

    Shutterstock images This was an oddball week. A dog’s breakfast really. My kitchen is done. Stay tuned for the reveal. It looks great. So Yay! I had a stager come and look at our house to see what needs to be done. Boo. Not suprisingly she loved the new kitchen. Yay. And hated everything else. Boo. Just kidding. She didn’t really say that. I mean she’d not have many clients if she did, right? So painting and decluttering has become my life. Yay! I mean Boo! I had a pile of giveaways launched and a pile more coming next week.…

  • FASD - Parenting - special needs

    Bittersweet August Algebra #specialneeds

    September 2, 2013 - By 

    August is the strangest month if you parent a child with special needs. Why is that? Patience and I will tell you. August is day camps, if you are lucky, and if you have found a camp that can accommodate a child with whatever needs your child might have. It is cottage and beach and sand and water and full on sensory experiences pretty much everywhere. Swimming, I am told, by a very clever friend of mine is akin to the body receiving a full head to toe hug. The ultimate sensory immersion experience.  My girl has some special needs,…

  • FASD - Health - special needs

    Back to School Shopping with Sears #SearsBTS

    August 23, 2013 - By 

    Five outfits. Two girls. Just over $100.  I Love the math this year!! Yesterday was Back To School Day. We started the day with martial arts day camp, because it is a very busy work week for me, but I pulled my youngest out for a quick school visit to familiarize her with the building and the classroom again. It’s one of those necessary events that happen most years in late August. The visit went really well and it was funny seeing the school so empty and messy still. (Lots of work to do there before Sept. 3rd) Ainsley met…

  • Health - parenting - special needs

    Why I am Relieved: On Autism, #Special Needs and Hate

    August 21, 2013 - By 

    Sometimes I wonder how does hate help anyone? It is a horrible vile and debilitating feeling to carry around as a human being. And it doesn’t help anyone in a minority community, not that hateful people consider that. How is hate allowed to fester? Of that, I have no clue, but it is in fact more prevalent in neighbourhoods and institutions than you’d ever believe. This week we saw that with this horrendous letter that circulated on the news and on line. My daughter last year. Sometimes this is what special needs looks like. By now you have all heard…

  • FASD - Health - special needs - Travel

    A Word Called Inclusion: #Specialneeds at Camp

    August 13, 2013 - By 

    Remember this? Two weeks ago, when I was heading off to Chicago, I was still agonizing over whether Ainsley, my busy, sporty girl with special needs, could handle sleep away camp. I wrote a whole post about children with special needs at camp. Parents of special needs children are used to worrying. We worry about finances, and school, and life when we are gone. We worry our kids may never be able to cope fully, and enjoy, and be supported in the world without us. We worry with good reason, because frankly I have seen systems and systemic failures for children…

  • active family travel - Health - infertility - parenting - Parenting - special needs

    Hoping for Okay: Sending A Special Needs Child To Camp

    July 23, 2013 - By 

    Sending kids with special needs to camp is never simple. You have to vet camps hard to find one that might be capable of handling your children. Oh I know most make mention of inclusive policies and such. But, I have seen how this works in practice sometimes and it doesn’t. So, forgive me while I hold my breath and pray that this camp works this time. This morning, I woke fingers crossed and holding my breath. Today I have both kids at camp. No fires to put out. No demands beyond work. No calls from the camp stating: “What…

  • Food - Parenting - special needs

    What is Unique? #Kindermom and a $250 Visa Contest

    June 9, 2013 - By 

    My girls with their martial arts hero Frank Trejo My kids are fierce. There are other words to describe them for sure. And some days they push me to my limits like any other kids on the planet, but my girls are my heart. Walking around outside my body. In that devastatingly painful way that children do. My girls are hope and pride, memories, passion, love and strength, faith. My girls are smart and kind and caring and loving and compassionate and strong. They stand up for others and have a strong sense of advocacy and a voice. My girls…

  • FASD - parenting - special needs

    Sari Therapy Riding #wordlesswednesday #ldnont

    May 22, 2013 - By 

    A girl and her horses. She loves them all and could not live without Sari therapy riding. In 2010, I went to a workshop in Alberta that stressed how mental health and disability, and brain injury such as Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, was not currently done well through traditional therapy and cognitive behavioural approaches. I already intuitively new that but it was nice to have confirmation of it from the experts. I learned at that conference that many people were having success with animal assisted therapies and therapy riding too. So I started looking into it when I got back…