Tammy
A former educator with degrees in Early Childhood and Elementary Education, Tammy left the public school system to dedicate herself to family life and raising her six kids. Married for 21 years to Reed, the love of her life, Tammy considers herself to be truly blessed. Each new day brings new adventure, along with yet another outrageous medical bill. But with the words CARPE DIEM boldly emblazed on her heart, Tammy is on a mission to share how a life with Down syndrome is truly a life worth living. Tammy can be found at Praying For Parker where she blogs about life with Parker, an outrageously cute, medically fragile child with Down syndrome.You can also reach Tammy at hods5mom at aol dot com and follow her on Twitter where she is known as ParkerMama. |
Michelle
Their little girl has been through a lot in her young life. She was born with a rare birth defect known as a lymphatic malformation (LM) in the form of a large mass on the right side of her face and neck which collapsed her trachea when she was just two weeks old. After months in the NICU, she was finally brought home — with the addition of a trach, a G-tube, and a diagnosis list a mile long. To date, she has heroically endured 27 surgeries and procedures, traveling across the country for several of them with world-renowned vascular surgeon, Dr. Milton Waner. Her trach was able to be reversed, but she still has her G-tube due to a second rare diagnosis known as Cyclic Vomiting Syndrome. Michelle believes that humor, perseverance, and faith are the keys to surviving the unique challenges faced by parents of children with special needs — and that life’s sweetest joys often spring from the most heart-felt tears. She believes that the primary purpose of a parent with a special needs child is not to understand why these children have been given so many challenges to overcome, but for each parent to use the talents entrusted to them to the best of their ability so that these incredible children are taught the skills they need in order to meet life’s challenges with grace and strength of character. Together, she and her husband share a common goal as parents: To treasure every moment and raise their children to be extraordinary individuals. Michelle can be found writing at 5MFSN each Monday for Magic Marker Mondays. |
Deborah
Deborah’s birth son, Chip, is 17 years old and is a rising senior in high school. An excellent student, Chip is in the top of his class, and is currently researching college choices and planning his post-high school life. When Chip was 5 years old, Deborah adopted her daughter, Ashley. Ashley, now 13 years old, was born 14 weeks prematurely to an alcoholic birth mother. Diagnosed with deafblindness, epilepsy, ADHD, asthma, and a rare condition called Juvenile Xanthogranulomas which causes tumors to form. Ashley has had tumors removed from her skin, under her skin, her eyes and ears, her brain and has had her gallbladder removed due to tumors. She currently has three brain tumors which her neurosurgeon is watching carefully. While all that may sound rather daunting, Ashley is a strong-willed and opinionated teenager who insists of wearing dresses, even to bed, and often is sent to the school principal’s office for cursing in sign language. She is beautiful and funny and loving and a special treat that graces people’s lives. Two years after adopting Ashley, Deborah adopted her daughter, Jessica, then 9 years old. Jessica, now 17 years old, was diagnosed with brain cancer at the age of 4 months. Following two years of chemotherapy and radiation, Jessica was left with a significant cognitive disability and hemiplegia (limited use of the left side of her body). However, the time that Jessica spent in foster care – 9 years – has left significant emotional scars. Jessica is diagnosed with Reactive Attachment Disorder, a diagnosis common in children who have spent time in foster care, and manifested in outbursts of rage and aggression. Jessica has worked very hard over the past 8 years to work through these issues, and is making good progress. Her primary goal is to be a nurse’s aide and to live independently. And finally, three years ago, Deborah brought Corey, then 12 years old, into her family. Corey had spent the first 10 years of his life living with his prostitute, drug-addicted birth mother on the streets of Baltimore, Maryland. His grandparents then took him into their home in a retirement community in Florida, and soon after, worked to find a more permanent, more appropriate home for him. Unfortunately, Deborah has not been able to formally adopt Corey for two reasons. First, his birth mother refuses to relinquish her rights, and secondly, Corey is a member of the Cherokee tribe. The tribe refuses to permit his adoption outside the tribe. Those two things really do not matter because Corey is as much Deborah’s child as any of the other children. Corey and Deborah are now just waiting until Corey is 18 years old when he can consent as an adult to his own adoption. Given all that Corey has experienced in his young life, he is remarkably well-adjusted, and is looking forward to a career in the military. Needless to say, Deborah’s life is very busy and never boring. In addition to her job as a computer engineer and her single parent responsibilities, Deborah is president of a state-wide family support group for families whose lives are touched by deafblindness, and is a tireless advocate for all people with disabilities. She can often be found lobbying her state lawmakers and serving on many boards and commissions serving people with disabilities. She does find time to write her blog, pipecleanerdreams.blogspot.com, five days a week, and her writing has also been featured in local Virginia magazines and newspapers. Ashley’s story has also been chronicled in a book by Jonathan Mooney titled “Short Bus Stories”. Ashley’s chapter in that book is titled “How to Curse in Sign Language”. |
Tiff
Once a midwife, she is now a SAHM to seven kids, a suffering husband and various animals. Five of her children are biological and two are fostered but really, it makes no difference. Bringing up a whole lot of kids has led to experience in asthma, autism, fetal alcohol syndrome and drug induced developmental delay, immune deficiency and autoimmune disease, ectodermal dysplasia, neonatal death and cardiac defect. The loss of her baby in 2004 and subsequent birth of her second set of twins led her to start blogging over at Three Ring Circus. When she began writing, Tiff didn’t know she was about to start the ride of her life with the illness of her youngest daughter, Ivy. She blogs mostly about Ivy’s struggles, with a bit of love, life and chaos thrown in for good measure…oh, and a few rants about the trials of finding good care and how a little girl often gets lost in the middle. Tiff has found she has a love of photography and this, along with her family are her great joys in life. |
Anissa
1 part love 1 part hope mix heavily with prayer That’s my recipe for life with my family. I blog at Hope4Peyton, chronicling life as a SAHM of three kids, Nathaniel is 10, Rachael is 7 and Peyton is 4. In 2006, Peyton was 2 years old and diagnosed with Pre-B Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia and CNS disease. She’s withstood 2+ years of chemotherapy and radiation, a daily regiment of toxic drugs that we pray will keep her in remission. I hope to bring some insight from living with a child with a life-threatening illness and how it impacts the entire family…because through the pain, the fears, the tears, the overwhelming uncertainty of the future looms ahead, my recipe becomes more important than ever. I am all about living in the NOW, grasping every blessing and joy with a tight hold. |
Ellen
To The Max is a blog where parents can relate, vent, trade tips and information, share LOLs and celebrate their kids. There’s no other blog quite like it. |
Laura
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Astacia
When she is not driving to and from schools, therapies and changing diapers, she is a blogger;, and web designer and social media nerd lover. |
Christy
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Heather
Heather, her husband Sebastian, and daughter Janson welcomed Jack to their lives through adoption in October of 2006. By March of 2007, they had found out that their new son had been exposed to toxins in utero and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. Shortly thereafter, Jack won himself his first feeding tube. He keeps life interesting, and has changed this family from one of re-action to one of pro-action! In her spare time, Heather really enjoys sleeping. That’s about all she has time to do, but she wouldn’t have it any other way! |
Janis
Along with being a featured blogger on Support for Special Needs, she has written numerous guest posts for popular special needs blogs such as Praying for Parker and the award-winning Love That Max. Through her blog and affiliations, Janis works year-round to promote awareness and acceptance for those living with a rare disease diagnosis. She’s also a contributing writer to several online media outlets. Her published work can be found at She Posts, 5 Minutes for Special Needs, Hopeful Parents, Kidz, Complex Child and RARE Blog (Children’s Rare Disease Network). Janis, a self proclaimed social media junkie, can also be found on Twitter and Facebook. |
Katy
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Astacia is a stay-at-home mom of 2 girls. Her youngest has encephalopathy, otherwise known as multiple neurological deficits. She has global develmental delay but that doesn’t stop her from conquering the world. They have been going through neuro-developmental therapies since She was 3 months old. Her older daughter is has ADHD and sensory dysfunctions.
Christy Cross is the proud mother of an energetic toddler, who just so happens to have an ultra-rare kidney disorder. She is dedicated to living an abundant life while meeting the challenges of raising a special-needs child head-on. Christy has a passion for encouraging mothers to meet their challenges with faith, hope and a whole lot of sass. Two years ago, Christy put her career as a Registered Nurse on hold to become her son’s dialysis nurse at home. When not exploring the back-roads of Texas with her husband and son, she can be found blogging at 
Heather Peralta, of 
Janis Marie is a full-time mom, freelance writer and blogger. Highly regarded and respected for her ‘tell it like it is’ approach; she created and maintains a blog, 
Katy spent five years teaching kids with learning disabilities. In 2007 her son was born and suffered a massive stroke. As a result, he has cerebral palsy, epilepsy, and hydrocephalus. He’s also cute as a button. Katy is now a stay-at-home mom to this darling little boy and spends her days teaching her son and running him to appointments. In her spare time she crafts, reads mystery novels, and blogs at 
