Working in the Community
If you have a family member with a disability, you may have already confronted a problem many people do not want to discuss: the lack of safe employment options for individuals with disabilities. This is a shame because it ignores…
How a Father’s Letter Helped Spark Awareness
By now, you have probably heard of Paul Daugherty and his 25 year old daughter, Jillian. Like any proud father of the bride, Paul was full of emotion and he penned a special letter to his daughter to share his…
Helping the Person with Special Needs
Making Everyday Life a Little Easier At Mt. Bethel, we provide an assisted living environment for individuals with special needs. We separate our special needs community from our senior living communities for a few reasons. One is to make sure…
What is Down Syndrome? Understanding Trisomy 21
If you, a family member, or relative has recently given birth to or adopted a child with a Down syndrome diagnosis, you may find yourself wondering what exactly Down syndrome is and what that diagnosis means for the immediate health…
Understanding Traumatic Brain Injuries
There is a simple definition to traumatic brain injuries (TBI): a brain injury caused by a dramatic force, usually from outside of the head. However, while that definition explains what a TBI is, it does not explain what a TBI…
Does Bill Gates Have Autism? Does it matter?
If you have autism or have a family member with autism, then you have undoubtedly searched the internet for information about autism. In searching the internet, you have probably run across articles stating that Bill Gates, the founder of Microsoft,…
What Can a Person with Down Syndrome Do?
Why No Person Should be Limited by a Label When a mother gives birth to a child with Down syndrome, the family is almost immediately overwhelmed by people telling them what that child will not be able to do. From…
Why It Is Important to Understand that a Diagnosis is not a Life Sentence
If you or a family member have a diagnosis that makes you one of the millions of Americans that is considered “disabled” from a medical standpoint, it can be very easy to allow that diagnosis to become a life sentence. …
Autism and apraxia: the importance of screening for both
Researchers find otherwise rare speech disorder affects nearly 65 percent of children with autism; call for screening and treatment. A new study finds that the relatively rare speech disorder apraxia affects nearly 65 percent of children with autism. The finding…
Caring for a Child with Special Needs Can Create Special Stress
The United States is on the cusp of what could be a significant crises in long-term care for people with identified special needs. Though no one can point to the specific cause and there are some arguments about the actual…
What Are “Special Needs”? One Term, Many Definitions
By Terri Mauro Children With Special Needs Expert “Special Needs” is an umbrella underneath which a staggering array of diagnoses can be wedged. Children with special needs may have mild learning disabilities or profound cognitive impairment; food allergies or terminal…
Can My Special Needs Child Live Independently?
One of the most overwhelming concerns for a parent of a child with special needs is wondering is that child will ever be able to live independently. After all, when a parent plans to have a child, the parent plans…
