We are a society of people who do not give "unnecessary" thanks. We don't go out of our way to praise people for doing the "right thing". And it doesn't matter why they're doing the right thing, whether it's their...
Before I became a stay-at-home mom/zookeeper to four, I was the director of a nearby autism center. We ran all kinds of programs out of the university-based center but my favorites were the programs that involved the siblings. There was...
Even though my daughter with autism is already late into her teens I have only been "married with autism" for seven years. I was a single parent for the first half of her life and have been navigating the world...
Since my daughter is already into her late teens I often get asked how I explained to her that she has autism. I always think long and hard about how to answer this question and wonder if there is some...
The difference between special needs children and their general education counterparts has becomes a big issue over the past few decades and in recent headlines thanks to the anti-bullying movement. Thanks to legislation such as the Individuals with Disabilities in...
Last week, the New York State legislature voted to make kindergarten attendance mandatory for New York City 5-year-olds. In another school year that was rife with budget cuts, the almost-unanimous decision by this historically divided legislature to change the rules...
In this morning’s aggregation, I want to present two interesting articles about special needs issues that indirectly affect us all in the education community. The first article comes from researchers at Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) along with Oregon...
[caption id="attachment_1443" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Image courtesy of healingdream"][/caption] I am an English teacher, and a proud one at that. I write about STEM curriculum and special ed. because I think they are important, but my first love is, was, and...
[caption id="attachment_1422" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Image courtesy of Salvatore Vuono"][/caption] Special education teachers are in a precarious position in the public schools of today. With the pressure to perform on standardized tests via NCLB the threat of the unknown with the...
[caption id="attachment_1413" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Image courtesy of chrisroll"][/caption] It’s no secret that bullying in American schools is a mounting problem for all children. As special needs educators the link between bullying and exclusion and children who struggle with additional health...
Today, I am sharing a new post with you from one of my favorite special needs bloggers – Gavin Bollard. Gavin is a married father who found out about his own Asperger’s syndrome only once his son was diagnosed with...
