TalkTools

TalkTools® — Header

Tag: ELIZABETH’S MONTHLY UPDATES

How to Tend to Special Needs Child on Thanksgiving

Raise your hand if you cannot believe we are one day away from Thanksgiving, the official unofficial beginning of the holiday season. I feel like I just shut my door at the end of Halloween and then … BAM, we are talking turkey, stuffing, days off and then … gulp … Christmas. I try to […]

Back-to-School & IEP Tips

I looked my 10 year old in the eye just yesterday and said: “Michael, you know we have a mere 16 days left of summer”? It was hard to say and so much harder to believe.  Where did the summer go?  How is it possible that three months went like THAT?! But the truth is […]

Elizabeth: Speech Goals

GOALS. My wish list. Two things that I have carried with me since Elizabeth was born. Actually, more like since the minute she was diagnosed. Goals and my wish list. I have carried these things around like two best friends. I checked in with them often, planned things around them, and happily checked things off […]

Socialization at School

Sometimes it is weird how you will look back on certain times in your life and see the struggles you had quite clearly.  But at the time, you are simply so in the moment that you don’t really realize just how tough it was.  I will use the example of how we handled the socialization […]

Learning to Behave in Public

I think one of the hardest things to do when raising a child with special needs is to get the world to bend to them and their needs.  Trust me, the world will only bend so far and the rest of the distance will either get made up by the work you and your child […]

Middle School Awaits

It is funny but just as soon as you get used to something, that something changes.  I am sure everyone can sympathize with that, right?  Well, this is how I was feeling about Elizabeth’s new school year, her last year in elementary school.         I had managed to figure out a few things: How […]

Overcoming the Unexpected

Learning something from a previous experience or mistake is a common thing in life.  We all do it.  But putting into action what you learned may take more effort.  I think this is common as well.  As I left off on the last blog, we were exiting second grade and a year that proved full […]

A Mother Learns Many Lessons

Elizabeth is one of those children, lucky or unlucky, depending on how you see it, who has a summer birthday. These children get to wake up and automatically be off on their birthday, go outside to play, and enjoy their day but they don’t get to celebrate their day with classmates in the form of […]

Interning in Advocacy

I left everyone last month by saying that Elizabeth was going to school!  What an accomplishment for her and her strength. Yes our little Elizabeth is in school.  Everyday of every week she is in school.  She has a great intervention teacher and a very nice inclusion teacher.  The inclusion teacher is the one who […]

STEPPING OUT OF THE OASIS AND BACK INTO LIFE

It is funny or maybe not funny, but ironic that with a special needs child all the things you have in place and are working one minute can become things that need changed and adjusted the very next. I know the same can be said for life with typical developing children as I have two also, but the […]