Debbie Feit

Our Special Kids creator Debbie Feit is a freelance writer and mother of two special kids. Her son Max was diagnosed at two-and-a-half with apraxia, a neurological speech disorder that affects one's ability to speak, as well as sensory integration disorder. At five he was diagnosed with ADHD - accompanied by compulsive behaviors and depending on the day, tics. Her daughter Ari was also diagnosed with apraxia at age two.

Debbie is a former advertising copywriter turned magazine editor turned freelance journalist whose world was turned upside down when her son was first diagnosed with apraxia. He became one of the 6 million children in the U.S. with a speech or language disorder and she joined the 9.4 million parents raising children with special needs.

In addition to running Our Special Kids, Debbie continues to advocate for the special needs community through her writing. She has contributed articles on child development and special needs topics for national publications such as Parents, Child, American Baby, Good Housekeeping and Delta Sky. Her work has also appeared in Bride's, Playboy, Pet Life, Mode, Bridal Guide, The Forward and others.

She is currently at work on her first book, an informative guide for parents of children with speech and language disorders, to be published by McGraw-Hill in 2007.

Parents
February 2005
Learning to Talk
It's amazing, really: In the span of a few short years, a child goes from communicating only by crying to talking in complete, complex sentences. A stage-by-stage look at how language develops.

Delta Sky
April 2004
The Healing Environment
Is what Suite Dreams are made of

American Baby
November 2000
The Boy of My Dreams
All my life I've wanted a daughter. Could I love a son as much?

Good Housekeeping
December 2004
Heroes for Health: Mary Buschell
A new view for kids in wheelchairs

Mode
October 1998
Chasing the Chocolate Dragon
An outrageous idea: What would you do if the cocoa bean became contraband?

Bride's
June/July 2001
When Size Matters
What to know when shopping for a plus-size dress

Pet Life
Special Issue 1998
She's No Moose
Eddie, Wishbone, Milo - and Marnie? True confessions from the owner of a sweet but slow-learning Jack Russell terrier