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I am a mom of two beautiful boys, a wife, and a secondary education social studies teacher with my graduate studies in Applied Social Research/Sociology. I spent several years working in the legal, financial, and marketing industries before becoming an educator.
At the moment, I am lucky enough to be home with my two children and I spend my time advocating for my sons' needs. I recently completed a Paralegal Certificate Program to improve my advocating skills and to expand my knowledge in special education issues. My oldest child has Sensory Processing Disorder (may also be known as/similar to Developmental Coordination Disorder) and my younger child who is "typical" was born with a club foot. Each have their own needs, but only my oldest has an Individualized Educational Program (IEP).
It has been a very challenging experience, as I am sure yours has been too. I never heard of Sensory Processing Disorder until my son was evaluated at 21/2 years old through Early Intervention Services. So when the evaluator said "your son has Sensory Processing Issues," I needed to find out everything I could by the end of the week, or so it felt. It is several years later and I am still learning about my son's disorder along with:
In the summer of 2006 my son underwent another comprehensive evaluation and it revealed that in addition to Dyspraxia (developmental coordination disorder) which effects his speech (pragmatics), writing (dysgraphia), and coordination, he also has eye difficulties called Convergence Insufficiency. The same feelings I had when he was diagnosed with Sensory Processing Disorder (Sensory Intergration Dysfunction) resurfaced. My son is still the same person, but now I am trying to learn all I can about his other learning differences and how it effects my son's communication with the world. Often I find that his actions are misunderstood by his general education teacher and other school professionals. I am constantly reading and researching to understand what I can do to help Matthew and what I can share with his teachers, therapists, and building administrators. Without the efforts of the school personnel to integrate the various learning differences within the school environment, and to show equal priority in the educational, social and emotional development of each child, no child will reach their full potential. How many parents have children that have a disability, who learns differently, or has a child that is gifted? These children are entitled to have their needs met. Since my son's school does not offer any after school programs for special needs children to interact with non-disabled children I pitched a club idea I call the sports social club to our school Principal. Since funding for programs is always an issue, I reached out to my Senator to acquire funding for the club. The Principal then wrote a letter to the Senator about the club. My expectations are that the sports social club will provide the extra practice special needs children need to learn to play a sport. They can gain confidence, have opportunities to make friends, and be included in playing the games with their peers during recess and gym time. I hope to share the success of the club with you within a few months. Update; Oct 2007 - the Senator has not returned any of my calls/emails, the school Principal has made no effort to address any of the social needs of my child or the other students in grades K-5 who have difficulty making friends and/or interacting appropriately with others (such as a lunch bunch group, sports social club, more supervision in the lunchroom or on the playground during recess). I've found that many of the typical children in our school need help with their social skills just as much as the children with special needs. Unfortunately my efforts and several other parents' efforts to convince the Principal that there is a need for intervention have been met with extreme resistance. What a shame that the adults who chose to educate and help children are refusing to take simple measures to ensure their educational, social and emotional success. Currently, I am working on compiling information that may improve the school environment in the Farmingdale School District. If your child goes to a Farmingdale School and you have similar concerns about the social and emotional development of your child, or you feel that your child's needs are not being appropriately addressed, use the contact button at the top of this screen and share your story. Together we can improve the lives of the children in our schools. I know there is always going to be more for me to learn, and I know that I will need support to help me be successful for my family. It is through my struggles and conversations with other people with children (typical and special needs) that the idea for Special Needs Awareness was born.
A child, an accident victim, an elderly person, a neighbor, a family member or friend--it is my belief that we will all be faced with the challenges of knowing someone with special needs and the desire to help that person. It is here, at this website that I hope we can support each other by collaborating and making the life of a special needs person more fulfilling. There are many established organizations, agencies, advocates, resources, and other web sites that provide a lot of the help we are looking for. I consider such groups as "the wheel." I do not wish to reinvent the wheel. I consider this website the "spokes" to the wheel. I want to connect you to these wonderful organizations so our time spent trying to find the help we need is more productive: less time searching and more time spent with our loved ones. That is what life should be about. First finding the agencies that can help with the medical, legal and educational needs of our child consumes us, then there is time for us to try to enjoy the social moments.
That is where this website can help. In addition to connecting you to the other established agencies and web sites, our focus will be on the social interaction of our children--true integration of special needs children and typical children. It is the goal of the Special Needs Awareness Project to provide the opportunity to celebrate our differences, encourage understanding, build confidence in our children, appreciate and accept who we are, realize the importance of each of us in our community, forge friendships, foster open-mindedness and encounter another perspective. I hope our website encourages you to participate and contribute to the well being of children with special needs. I am the proud mother of two wonderful boys aged 5 and 7 who, while totally different, each manage to enrich my life and be the center of my world. My first-born is classified as Autistic by our school district, but we have received all of the following diagnoses over the course of 5 evaluations in as many years: In short, my son has a unique mix of strengths, delays and deficits which prevent him from being neatly placed into any category although it is clear that his challenges pervade all areas of his development.
Although my younger son is considered typical, he is anything but! He is gifted in several areas and presents a whole set of challenges of his own. It is my privilege to be able to stay at home and raise them while working part time in my chosen profession as a librarian. Before I switched to motherhood as a full-time career, I received my Bachelor’s degree in developmental psychology and worked in the field for a couple of years. In the end, my love of the research process led me to get my Masters in Library Science and pursue a career as a corporate librarian in financial services. Looking back, it is uncanny how my interests have converged and provided me with the requisite skills to help my son. My knowledge of the developmental stages of early childhood helped me to identify my son’s problems quite early and my skills as a researcher continue to serve me in finding professionals to assess and work with him, seeking new interventions and navigating the special education maze. As the mother of a special needs child, I wear many hats. On any given day, I act as my son’s interpreter, as ambassador between his own little world and the “mainstream,” and as his advocate with occasional stints as a “substitute” speech pathologist and occupational therapist. On a personal level, I am simultaneously the bane of his existence as well as his greatest source of comfort. Although I can see so much of myself, my husband and other family members in my son, there is no one quite like him and I sometimes feel as if I’m raising a being from another planet. He and I have learned so much from each other and continue to in our lives together and our bond is very deep and very special. He works harder than anyone I know simply to get through his day -- He is my hero. Connecting with other parents of special needs children has been of paramount importance to me in my journey with my child. In even the most casual conversations with other parents, I’ve had great epiphanies or been inspired to pursue new directions that have been beneficial. It is my hope that this website, with its purpose of sharing information and linking special needs parents with others will be of help to us all.Mission Statement
To promote the academic and social success of children with
disabilities so that they can reach their fullest potential in the most inclusive setting.
Objectives
Jill's Story
Martha's Story