Lighting, colors, design, and furniture are all elements that help make your child’s bedroom safe and comfortable. For kids with special needs, bedroom design involves more than painting the walls their favorite color and buying sheets with a beloved cartoon character. You must also consider how lighting, colors, and furniture might affect your child’s comfort, safety, and …
special needs parenting
When Someone Else Can Put It Into Words
Being the parent of a child with Autism is no easy task. To those of you doing it every day this is not new news. I’ve read so many books by the experts about everything from causes to best practices, but never have I been so struck by a book as I was when I read The Things We Cannot Say by Kelly Rimmer. Let me backtrack just a little. I am in a book club that I love. After so many years of …
What Speech Therapists Want Parents to Know
In this second part of our series, we asked our expert Speech-Language Pathologists (SLPs) what they wish parents knew? The question was broad, it could be what they wish parents knew about speech therapy, about their child's disorder or pretty much about anything. Even with that said, the responses we got have some pretty clear themes. The first is that your SLP is your advocate, …
The Top Three Reasons I Tell Someone To Get A Speech Assessment
I don’t prefer to start a post with a disclaimer, but in this case one is needed - I am not a certified Speech-Language Therapist. I don’t play one on TV either (haha). I'm just a Mom who has been fortunate to have a tremendous experience with her child's speech therapy, and is often asked by other parents if I think their child should get assessed? I give them the same disclaimer! The perfect …
How Do You Know Which Resources To Trust?
I am always happy to sit down and chat with parents and caregivers about anything related to Autism or children with special needs. I enjoy learning about the new things they are able to do because of research and technology, and am mesmerized by their passion and commitment to their children. I often sound like a broken record saying ‘wow, back when my kids were little we didn’t have anything …
Benefactor Spotlight: GIE Media
I asked one of our longest supporters, Chris Foster of GIE Media, to share his story about raising a special needs child as well as why he chooses to support The Orange Effect Foundation. A true shout out to Chris for all he does. ~ Pam Chris Foster: We have three children. Our daughter, 28, is a registered dietician living in Cincinnati with her husband. Our oldest son, 26, is a Chemical …
Technology is Moving Fast
If you’ve ever been responsible for the content of a blog or other project, you know it can be both invigorating and exhausting. It is a remarkable way to communicate with a group of people who know and trust you, but at the same time it is daunting to have to come up with that content every single day/week/month. For example, I have a huge admiration for people who do a daily podcast. I don’t …
Remember, You are Just ONE Person
I love the holidays. I love everything about it. I love how my house changes with the decorations, I love trying to find just the perfect gift for friends and loved ones. I love baking as much as I can find plastic containers for and I love seeing everyone at parties and meals. It really is a wonderful time of the year. What’s the catch? Well, let’s be honest. It can be REALLY stressful. There …
A Focus On Parents of Special Needs Children
I recently had an “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that” moment. Okay, so I actually have many of those, but this one in particular almost concerned me. I got so focused on one aspect of the care of special needs children I completely forgot about the most important people in the scenario. The PARENTS! I owe a thank you to my friend Sydni Craig Hart who brought this to my …
Dear Parents: Your Child With Autism Is Perfect
This thoughtful and very beautiful letter was written by New York Times journalist Madeleine Ryan. She shines a light on the wonderful responsibility it is to parent a child with autism. Writing that, "those on the spectrum are here to reclaim what it means to be authentic and truthful," Ryan conveys that autism offers so many lessons, including "what it means to be authentic and truthful." You …
How Sensory Friendly Movies Practically Saved My Life
I recently got an email from Playhouse Square, our local theatre here in Cleveland, announcing that they are doing a sensory friendly production of the play Frozen. If you aren’t familiar with sensory friendly productions, they are a dream come true for parents of kids with special needs. Sensory friendly movies, plays, areas of amusement parks etc., exist for kids who are easily overstimulated …
Every Day Should Be Mother’s Day!
Dana Gore is the newest member of the Orange Effect Foundation Board of Directors. You can read more about her here. Being a mother, at least from the outside looking in, seems to be the hardest job one can have. Moms are on-call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. More than the standard full time job, with no compensation. This sentiment is captured in one of my favorite quotes …