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Browsing Tag: special needs

Cerebral Palsy

Heightened Awareness

February is Jewish Disability Awareness and Inclusion month. The month is a unified effort among Jewish organizations worldwide to bring awareness and encourage inclusion of people with disabilities and special needs. According the WHO, about 15% of the world’s population lives with some form of disability – that’s about one billion people. The Jewish community experiences disability like any other group of people. While individual Jewish communities have certainly done their part to bring ...
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Cerebral Palsy, Parenting

Game On

First grade is a big deal. I remember my first day. I remember what I wore – a cranberry sweater vest with a button-down shirt underneath. Thanks Mom. I remember what my Dad said when he walked downstairs and saw me with my books, all ready to go – Joe Cool. I guess sweater vests were cool, I still don’t know who Joe is though. But I was ready. I had the distinct feeling of growing up and I liked it. This was big kid business, and I was all business. I walked into my classroom and was ...
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Cerebral Palsy, Parenting

Onwards

We have been living in a bubble. Six years. When Amichai was one, he entered a day care program that took care of all his needs – PT, OT, speech therapy, not to mention a watchful and caring staff that worked with us to set lofty goals. When he was three, he marched himself upstairs to start the pre-kindergarten program. When he was five, he ran from the right end of the hallway to the left end of the hallway to start kindergarten. At every stage – the same watchful and caring staff at our ...
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Cerebral Palsy

The Search for Surgery

After being in the NICU for two weeks, the nurse called me early one morning and casually said, He can come home today. I needed her to repeat that. He can come home today. I felt a wave of relief, happiness, excitement… but it was short lived. Soon those feelings were replaced with another wave of emotion – panic. While Amichai was deemed strong enough to come home, how were they so sure I was up to task? If any mother ever tells you that she left the hospital with absolute ...
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Uncategorized

Managing the Microscope

My friend has a child with special needs. Like Amichai, her son attends a special needs preschool and we often find ourselves sharing experiences and swapping stories. Recently, she relayed a conversation had in passing with a staff member. My friend was lamenting that her son had trouble sleeping the night before, which in turn left her sleepless and wrecked before the new day had even begun – a feeling any parent can relate to when raising a toddler. The staff member looked at her ...
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