The Time My Writing Failed Disability Sensitivity Checks
Advise you to be careful about this portrayal of disability. Would not necessarily pass sensitivity checks. Could fall into the...
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A BLOG FOR PARENTS OF CHILDREN WITH DIFFERENCES, DISABILITIES, AND DIAGNOSES
A Life Half Told: How It Feels When People Only Want to Hear About Silver Linings
I am a writer whose subject matter sometimes horrifies people. Yet, there are no guts, weapons, or gore in my essays and stories. My...
My List of Hopeful Things: Part III
I have chosen to release my list of hopeful things in several installments. The first and second parts describe the positive...
Hope: Waiting for A Cure for Rett Syndrome
Before I had JJ, I never thought much about hope—at least not in any profound way. To me, it was just another verb to slip into...
What, What Will We Do?
This creative non-fiction essay won first prize in the Memoir/Inspirational category of the Kansas Authors Club state-wide writing...
My List of Hopeful Things: Part II
A few weeks ago, I posted the first installment of my list of hopeful things. It is meant for everyone to enjoy, but particularly...
Breaking Points: How Those Little Everyday Things Can Send You Over The Edge
The first time I became aware of breaking points as a special needs parent was when I was sitting in the dentist chair one month after my...
For Newly Diagnosed Families: My List of Hopeful Things
When we first learned that my youngest daughter, JJ, had Rett Syndrome, I felt like I had stepped into a nightmare world. I gathered...
Intelligence: The Ways in Which People Measure and View My Daughter's Cognitive Abilities
When we found out my youngest daughter, JJ, has Rett Syndrome, the genetic counselor who helped deliver the news told me that the...
Who Is She?
Most parents of a four-year-old know a good deal about their child—everything from favorite colors and television characters to...
Transformations: Things that change after a Diagnosis
Since my daughter’s diagnosis many things in my life have transformed. It’s not only my hopes, dreams, and plans for the future that are...
Happy Ends: How we define a happy end for ourselves, our child, and our family
I am in a writing group with three other women. The genres we prefer are very different, but our stories have one thing in common: They...
Connections: How special needs parenting changes our relationships with others
Christmas cards are an inescapable fact of life these days, especially if you have young children. Like us, most of our friends have...
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