What issues matter to you?

As the parent of a child with a disability or special needs, what type of stories or resources are you most interested in? Are there areas that you feel haven't received adequate attention or dialogue? Is there a taboo topic you'd like discussed? Please help me ensure that BLOOM is covering issues related to parenting kids with disabilities that matter most to you as parents – and which can assist the professionals working with our kids. Thanks!...

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Protecting your non-verbal child

Parents of children who don’t speak fear their child’s vulnerability. When your child is non-verbal, he can’t tell you if something bad happens at school, in the community or with a worker. Last week I received an e-mail from the mother of a four-year-old boy with autism. She wrote to tell me that while receiving ABA therapy at a private centre, inappropriate photos of her son were taken. She shares her story in the hope that by alerting others...

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'All of life is fragile and uncertain'

I'm delighted to share a guest blog today from Amy Julia Becker, mom to Penny and William, above. Amy Julia is a writer and a student at Princeton Theological Seminary. At Thin Places she blogs about "theology, disability, children and parenting, education, and the intersection of grief and hope." I like the way she makes me think. Thanks Amy Julia! Louise'All of life is fragile and uncertain'by Amy Julia BeckerI remember how I felt two hours after...

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Born to be different

I participated in a TVO panel discussion about parenting children with special needs that's been uploaded to YouTube. It followed the airing of a British documentary called Born to be Different, which follows six families of children born with a variety of disabilities. I was surprised that my voice sometimes still cracked when I spoke about the birth of my son Ben, above, 15 years ago! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8BEF8xg0Ib...

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Katie's ballet dream comes true

Like many little girls, five-year-old twins Katie and Emily Suggitt wanted to dance. But until last year, Katie had to watch her sister at the ballet barre because she has cerebral palsy and can’t walk. Determined to see Katie don her own pair of pink slippers and take her place with the other dancers, mom Sarah – working with Emily’s dance school and one of Katie’s therapists – created an accessible class. Ballerina Dreams at Turning Pointe Academy...

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What makes us human?

I was hoping my agitated reaction to the New York Times' Motherlode column “Should Down syndrome be cured?” would fade, but it won’t. The post covers research from Stanford University that shows that a drug can temporarily restore some learning and memory skills in mice with Down syndrome. Jenn Power, a Canadian mom of twin boys with Down syndrome, said she greeted the news with tears. “I find it hard to read this article without hearing a judgment...

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A blog, a film, and faith

Ellen at To the Max posted an interesting blog yesterday about choosing to have another child after having a child with special needs. Were you scared of going for kid no. 2 after having one with special needs? generated 40 moving responses and is worth a read. Ontario parents may be interested in Born to be Different (see photo above), a British documentary airing on TVO this Sunday, January 10 at 8 p.m. The film follows the families of six...

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Does physical disability make a parent less fit?

There’s been a lot of discussion in the blog community this past week about the rights of disabled parents to care for their own children. The Chicago Tribune has been following the story of Kaney O’Neill, a 31-year-old woman with quadriplegia who’s being sued by her ex-boyfriend and the father of their son Aidan, five months, for full custody, charging that her disability “greatly limits her ability to care for the minor.” O’Neill – who has...

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The time of your life

We may only go 'round one time As far as I can tell It's the time of your life so live it well! Listening to that song from A Bug’s Life is one of my best memories from Christmas. We gave Ben a CD of Pixar theme songs and he and I sat on the couch and swayed side to side to these somewhat goofy songs with such irrepressible spirit that I couldn’t help smiling. I think Ben would make the perfect Pixar movie character – an underdog with a...

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