Special Family Network

Dr. Betty Williams, co-author of the book Very Young Children with Special Needs, presented the results of some of her research in a lecture. To find out more, please read this article.

Please take a moment to read this very special article about a woman who teaches music to people with special needs.

At what turned out to be Jessica’s last lesson, I asked her what rain sounded like. She actually gave this some thought before gently playing a tinkling sound on the higher notes that steadily became more insistent. I again harmonized with chords whenever I could on the electric keyboard. “How about the wind?” I asked. Jessica responded by playing a glissando up and down the keys with varying intensity. “Thunder?” That was easy. She immediately gave a few staccato bursts from the bass keys. “OK! Lets play the music for a short Spring thunder storm.” We dove in. It was wonderful. Not only was it totally free-form, it was VERY musical! All too soon, the lesson was over and Jessica’s father, who usually waited across the street at the local coffee shop but today waited across the hall in our living room, popped his head into the studio and said that it was time to go. Read More

Meet Quinn, a young boy with Autism. This is an great video put together by Quinn’s mom.

A father who has a son with Autism discusses the possible link between Autism and Mercury Poisoning. It is very interesting and informative.

Earlier this week, Oprah had actresses Jenny McCarthy and Holly Robinson Peete on her show to discuss the impact of their son’s diagnosis of autism in their lives. This is not the first time Oprah has had a show on autism, but it is the first where celebrities have come on and thrown off the perception of a perfect life to let us know that what happened to them could happen to anyone. I admire both women for being so honest and so determined to give their sons the best life that they could possibly give. Part of that determination was accepting what their child had, but refusing to let their sons slip away into that strange world where they would become almost unreachable. To hear more about this remarkable interview, please check out these articles.

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An article on how one family deals with their son’s Fragile X and the strength that he brought to them.

A Fragile X study brings hope for those with Autism.

Another story of a family coping with their son’s diagnosis of Fragile X Syndrome.

This is a wonderful video that shows how important intervention and therapy are for children with special needs.

This is an awsome video, made by a parent of a child with Autism. She took it to her son’s IEP meeting so that the people there could get to know her son and know what he needed in order to learn.

With the number of children diagnosed with Autism on the rise, scientists are researching many different theories as to what is causing this trend. I came across this interesting article that suggests a possible link between Autism and TV done at Cornell University, It certainly made me think twice about letting my own son watch TV this week.

I was sent this interesting article on early detection in Autism. With 1 in 150 children being diagnosed with Autism, parents really need to be aware of the early symptoms so that they can get their child into early intervention programs as soon as possible.