Is your adopted child suffering from irritable bowel syndrome (IBS)? IBS sufferers have chronic abdominal discomfort with cramping, bloating or gas, diarrhea, or constipation. The cause is unclear and there isn’t a test doctors can perform to diagnose it. Therefore, according to the Mayo clinic doctors use the Rome criteria to diagnose IBS. There are test to rule out more severe conditions that also have these symptoms, however with IBS the bowel appears normal. New research has found a connection between people with allergies and sufferers with irritable bowel syndrome.

Adoptive parents of... more

Does your child have dyslexia? How do you know? Dyslexia is defined as:

a neurologically-based, often inherited, disorder which interferes with the acquisition and processing of language. Varying in degrees of severity, it is manifested by difficulties in receptive and expressive language, including phonological processing, in reading, writing, spelling, handwriting, and sometimes in arithmetic. Dyslexia is not the result of lack of motivation, sensory impairment, inadequate instructional or environmental opportunities, or other limiting conditions,... more

Raising a special needs child can offer quite a challenge to parents. Last week, in a town nearby, a 28-year-old woman went missing from her family home. The family described their daughter as very intelligent and loving. Many people from surrounding areas are diligently searching for this young woman. Our temperatures here in Michigan have hovered around a bitter zero degrees Fahrenheit over the past week. It definitely is not safe to spend much time outside unless... more

Are you adopting a child diagnosed with pituitary dwarfism or growth hormone deficiency? It can be overwhelming at first. You have a new child in your home and you are trying to create a bond with that child and build a relationship. Yet, each day you must cause your newly adopted child some pain by giving an injection.

The first thing you should do is educate yourself about your child’s condition. Check the children’s department at your local library for books about the endocrine system. Show the pictures to your child. Make sure that you both understand... more

Are you adopting a child that requires daily shots? The thought of giving your new child a shot everyday can be a little intimidating if you don’t have any experience giving injections. It is important for you to become confident in giving the shots for the health of the child you are adopting.

You may want to familiarize yourself with the feel of giving shots by practicing. You can fill your syringe with water and practice injecting the water into an orange or a grapefruit. Try to press the needle quickly through the skin and practice injecting the... more

I’ve been following a discussion about praising our special children on an internet support group. The topic has been about whether praise is healthy or harmful to children and about why children react negatively to our attempts to praise them. I blogged on this early this month, but there's so much to consider.

Praising a child may truly not be the best thing for them, especially if it's "overdone" in their eyes. I say this knowing that our society is “praise happy”... more

While I’m convinced that the positives are greatly outweighing the negatives in our virtual school experience, I’d be less-than-truthful if I didn’t tell you the downside to enrolling your child in a virtual school. Here’s what I think are the disadvantages:

1. Primary Caregiver BURNOUT. I think this is the single biggest danger. Parenting our children can be challenging. The break we get by sending them to school each day is not only well-deserved, but could be down-right necessary. Virtual schooling and having your child with you 24/7... more

What is one of the most frequent complaints foster and adoptive parents make about parenting their traumatized children? If you said lying, then you have probably experienced it from parenting your own adopted children. At a recent support group meeting I attended, the speaker shared that she didn’t understand why foster and adoptive families get so worked up about lying and stealing. In her 30 plus years of experience as an adoption professional, she said that she has come to realize that all children lie. Lying is especially common in traumatized children, even after... more

While researching the Wisconsin court ruling that pulls funding of the state’s largest virtual school, I came across a very interesting report from the North American Council of Online Learning called Keeping Pace with K-12 Online Learning. It was not surprising to learn that virtual learning is on the increase across the country, reaching over all geographic boundaries and student demographics, including ethnicity, age, gender and ability (gifted, general ed or special ed).

Special education students (those with IEPs) are being... more

The largest teachers’ union, the National Education Association (NEA) is flexing its muscles in Wisconsin, which has resulted in one of the state’s virtual schools losing it’s state funding. The Wisconsin Virtual Academy, which is a K12 certified school, is at the center of a debate that could have consequences for virtual schools across the nation.

K12, the business behind many virtual schools now operates public virtual schools in 23 locations (states and major cities) around the... more