Our Special Kids
On the surface, it may not seem that autism, bipolar disorder, cerebral palsy, ADHD, dyslexia and epilepsy have much to do with each other. But whether or not these diagnoses share any characteristics, the children with these disorders all have one thing in common...parents who are raising a child with special needs.
Our Special Kids was created by Debbie Feit, mother to two special needs kids and official driver of the therapy shuttle bus. Schlepping her kids to doctor and therapy appointments left her feeling drained, but the camaraderie and comfort she found among her fellow parents in the waiting room left her inspired.
"I'm sure there are many people who hate waiting rooms; they get anxious or restless," says Feit. "But for me, it was always a place where I could find information, advice, acceptance - and other parents like me. Our Special Kids is a virtual waiting room for the 9.4 million parents with special needs children who are looking for information relevant to their situation and understanding from others who are also living what I call the special needs lifestyle.
Feit says you're living the special needs lifestyle if:- You celebrate when your son says "I hate you" because it's a complete sentence.
- You make a space in your daughter's baby book for "first time swallowed a whole pill instead of mashing it up in yogurt."
- You've fielded nasty looks from people at church or temple for letting your son play his GameBoy during the service.
- You've become an overnight expert on pharmacology, neurobiology, speech pathology and disabilities law.
- Your hobbies consist of perpetual Internet surfing and writing nasty letters to your insurance company.
- You spend more time in a waiting room than in your own living room.
- You have enough prescriptions to start your own pharmacy.
- You find yourself "diagnosing" everyone who crosses your path.
Our Special Kids addresses the everyday realities of millions of families not typically covered in traditional parenting magazines, with book reviews of special needs topics, profiles of people making contributions to the special needs community, advice on how to handle special situations and celebrations of our children's victorious moments - no matter how small or delayed the developmental charts may say.