Children with Disabilities

Disability services offered by the government should be more lenient.

[luteskk]

Savannah and I waiting for breakfast on vacation in Jamaica

[apps2achieve-blog]

[thehonestway-blog]

Originally I set out to write a narrative of what it is like in the head of… well what it is like in my head during any kind of social situation or in a classroom setting. Unfortunately, I found that turning the multitude of thoughts and distractions that can run through my thoughts almost...

[bamber91]

Dyslexia is a language-based learning disability. Contrary to popular belief, the core problem in dyslexia is not reversing letters. Rather, the difficulty lies in interpreting the sounds in words, and then matching those individual sounds to the letters and combinations of letters in order to...

[luteskk]

Our family on vacation in Jamaica

[alydarfan]

I am watching a rerun of the “Steve Wilkos Show.” This woman pisses me off. She leaves her kid in filth. I won’t go into details, because the kid is in such bad shape. The gal’s reason is that she is “lazy.” Of course, she uses her welfare checks for a new cell phone. The kid lives in FILTH, and...

[railsandrazorblades]

[luteskk]

Unfortunately, we did not get Savannah until she was almost 3 years old...I wonder how much damage was done by then

[parentingtoolbox]

[plethoraofvividemotions]

Report: Make the Call

All reports to the DCFS Hotlines are confidential

Hotline reports can be made 24/7/365

The hotline number is 1-800-252-2873 or 1-800-25-ABUSE

Make the call. 

[luteskk]

Advice

If I could give any advice to those who are dealing with trying to get disabilities services from the government, it would be to fight for the child. Regularly attending the IEP meetings for the child and setting up a plan for them to succeed will benefit the child greatly if they qualify for the services that they need. The problem is that when the child does not qualify for the services some parents just accept this fact and move on. As long as you fight for the child’s needs and get school officials who know the child still needs services on your side, you can attempt to gain the child’s services back. When my sister’s speech services were taken away from her since she scored too low on a test, my mom fought to get her services back in the next IEP meeting. She talked to each of the school officials separately and explained to them that Savannah was so behind in each of their subjects partially due to her expressive and receptive language delays and there would be no way for her to do any better in the other subjects if her speech services were dropped. The problem is, children have to be exceptionally low to qualify for services, and other children are not able to get the services that they need because they are not quite low enough. The children who fall in between being mentally challenged and average are not getting the help that they need to get on track with their peers. In the end, the speech language pathologist agreed to retest Savannah and focus on the categories of her speech development that she was struggling in. Because of my mom’s perseverance with fighting the system, Savannah qualified for speech services the second time around. The advice that I would say is most important to parents with children who have disabilities is to always remain persistent when getting your child the services that they need. Follow your intuition and don’t just stop fighting for the services just because they did not qualify for them. There is always a grey area that you can try to make school officials understand, and if you can get them on board with the best interest of your child, then you are doing all that you can do.

[luteskk]

Savannah and I posing next to Oscar the Grouch on vacation

[shafp]

September 9 is Fetal Alcohol Awareness Day. At 9 a.m. the bells of the St. Augustine Cathedral in downtown Tucson will ring, so we can remember on the ninth hour of the ninth day of the ninth month not to drink alcohol during the nine months of pregnancy.

I became aware of fetal alcohol syndrome the way many parents do — by dealing with a child affected by a mother’s drinking while pregnant. I had to learn about it to parent my son, who had come to me when he was 7 years old, and who, in his teens, had regressed in his emotional and cognitive functioning. I needed to understand the outbursts that resulted in holes punched or kicked in the walls; broken mirrors, broken windows, broken china; stolen jewelry, my winter jacket that I saw walking down the street worn by his friend, who had given money for it; the daily swearing and the inability to understand that his behavior had consequences.

What is fetal alcohol syndrome (FAS)?

Fetal alcohol syndrome is the leading cause of IQ scores below 70 in this country (though most people with FAS have normal intelligence), and is entirely preventable. You have probably seen ads talking about the importance of not drinking during pregnancy. But it is not only women of childbearing age who need to be educated. Doctors, especially ob/gyns and pediatricians, teachers, and social workers — everyone who works with children, in fact — need to learn about the effects of prenatal exposure to alcohol. Also judges, probation officers, and others working in the juvenile and adult criminal justice systems need to be educated; most of them have quite a bit of contact with the victims of fetal alcohol exposure, whether diagnosed or not. Continue reading →

[best-blurst-of-times]

Many women continue to consume low to moderate quantities of alcohol during pregnancy, which can result in the variable neurobehavioural effects in the absence of physiological abnormalities that characterize fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD).

[homeofhopect-blog-blog]

It’s not easy to admit that I hurt my son. I’ve stood in front of audiences of more than 900 people and groups as small as eight and told them my story about how drinking alcohol during my pregnancy has affected Zach’s life. Reliving the most painful memories of the past 23 years takes every...

[fearless-and-bold-for-christ]

[fearless-and-bold-for-christ]

[thecheerfulmedic]

[luteskk]

Savannah has some of these qualities, but her most noticeable facial features are her underdeveloped jaw and small head.