Introduction

I began teaching in 1985. Young, naive and excited to change lives by my very presence in the classroom. It didn't take long until I realized that my theoretical views would soon be challenged by the reality that every child is different. Every child comes to the classroom with various backgrounds, beliefs, and learning styles.

My first year teaching, I had a student in my class who was hard of hearing. Her hearing loss had gone undiagnosed because of her ability to compensate for her lack of hearing by reading lips and environmental cues. One day I noticed that if her back was turned, she did not respond to verbal instructions. After her parents and I spoke, she was taken to an audiologist and was diagnosed with a severe, progressive hearing loss that would eventually cause her to become completely deaf.

I was fluent in sign language, so she remained in my class and I began running a lunch club in my room to teach her and her classmates sign language. I also began meeting with the parents weekly to assist them in learning sign language so that they would be able to communicate with her as her hearing loss progressed. The time with her parents soon became an opportunity for us to discuss their fears, challenges and guilt regarding their daughters issues. These lengthy, personal discussions reignited a desire in me to begin working with kids diagnosed with special needs. I went back to school and became a special education teacher.

My career for the past 20 years has been dedicated to meeting the unique needs and challenges of these special kids. My true love, however, is working with their parents. Helping them to find ways to meet the daily challenges presented by these kids in the home. The purpose of this blog is to offer ideas, support and understanding to a world that, at times, is very lonely and challenging. I hope that if you are a parent of a special needs child that you will find the words in this blog inspiring and helpful. I hope that you will also find some ideas that you can implement in your home that will make both your life and the life of your child more enjoyable.