Tag Archive: advocacy

Insurance Advocate: Why You Need One and How To Get One

Remember that list of caseworkers I told you about? Well, in my haste to count on all my fingers the number of caseworkers in our life, I neglected one very, VERY important caseworker / liaison we’ll call “Miss W, The Insurance Gal”. I could tell you a lot about “Miss W, The Insurance Gal”; give…

Christmas Chaos and Peer Advocacy

I had my first guest post over at my personal blog last week. It is the story of a good friend who did some peer-advocacy for her son who is in first grade and has autism.

Bullying and Special Needs

Last week Grandma visited us. This week we’re visiting Grandma. Things are still going well (hooray for new medicine!) but this will be short and sweet if only because our computer access here is limited, and any minute now five people will be asking me for their breakfast. I wanted to let you all know…

We’re all Different…We’re all the Same

I’m writing a story with the child about the things that make us different from each other. I’m hoping this will be a soft entry to explaining her challenges and her triumphs over them in a way that is positive and yet open and honest. We’ve already talked about how even the people in our…

The Sand Trap

I met a mom at the park the other day. Somehow I don’t think we’ll be new best friends. It all started when my kids decided to play in the sand area, and I settled in the shade with my book. The child asked if I had brought her bucket and shovel and I told…

Not All Diagnosis’ Fit in the Same Box

The problem with diagnosis is…. It puts people, individuals with likes and dislikes, quirks, needs, abilities and disabilities in a box. Cutting out their very individuality that makes one person differ so entirely from another. The differences between them no longer seen. In essence treating one person with an ability within a diagnosis the same…

Preparing for the Election

Other than the time I ran for a seat in the student association of my university, I’ve never been more engaged in an election before. In Ontario, Canada, there is a provincial election coming up.  Since the provinces manage health, education and social services, the government that gets formed this time will more important to…

Mildly Concerned

I’ve just about decided I don’t like the word mild – except as it relates to cheddar cheese and salsa. Mild should come with a warning label… I believe I recognized the signs of “mild” cognitive decline due to dementia in my mother-in-law a couple of years ago. Although I did what I could to…

Awake

You’ve already heard that April is Autism Awareness month. I’ve been thinking about it a lot recently… Thanks to my affiliation with 5 Minutes for Special Needs I was asked to review a documentary called Loving Lampposts. It is a beautiful movie, and it is due out on DVD yesterday. You can read my extensive…