Chicken Soup for the Soul: Children with Special Needs: Stories of Love and Understanding for Those Who Care for Children with Disabilities

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Children with Special Needs: Stories of Love and Understanding for Those Who Care for Children with Disabilities

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Children with Special Needs: Stories of Love and Understanding for Those Who Care for Children with Disabilities

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Children with Special Needs: Stories of Love and Understanding for Those Who Care for Children with Disabilities

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Overview

Raising a child with special needs is a lifelong commitment that is as unique as each person who embarks on it. Written by a variety of authors who share in this distinctive relationship, Chicken Soup for the Soul Children with Special Needs offers a glimpse into the lives of others who are on a similar path.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781623610616
Publisher: Backlist, LLC - a unit of Chicken Soup of the Soul Publishing LLC
Publication date: 09/18/2012
Edition description: Original
Pages: 400
Sales rank: 1,073,136
Product dimensions: 5.50(w) x 8.40(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Jack Canfield is co-creator of the Chicken Soup for the Soul® series, which includes forty New York Times bestsellers, and coauthor of The Success Principles: How to Get from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be. He is a leader in the field of personal transformation and peak performance and is currently CEO of the Canfield Training Group and Founder and Chairman of the Board of The Foundation for Self-Esteem. An internationally renowned corporate trainer and keynote speaker, he lives in Santa Barbara, California.

Mark Victor Hansen is a co-founder of Chicken Soup for the Soul.

Hometown:

Santa Barbara, California

Date of Birth:

August 19, 1944

Place of Birth:

Fort Worth, Texas

Education:

B.A. in History, Harvard University, 1966; M.A.T. Program, University of Chicago, 1968; M.Ed., U. of Massachusetts, 1973

Read an Excerpt

The Voice of Reason Wears SpongeBob Underpants

In the book of life, the answers are not in the back.
Charlie Brown

'Oh, my child will never behave like that in public,' I remember smugly telling a friend over lunch one day. 'I simply won't allow it.' Seven months pregnant with my first baby, I watched in horror as a preschool-aged girl screamed, kicked, and flailed while her humiliated mother tried to drag her away from the play area and out the door.

'I tell you, I'll never let a three-year-old run my life!' I smirked as we got back to our discussion of nursery themes.
Looking back, I seemed to have all the answers regarding child rearing before I ever had one of my own: when and what they should eat, the proper cartoons to watch, which toys they should be playing with, the best way to potty-train. If it concerned children, this expectant mother had an opinion about all the 'right' ways to do things, and shame on anyone who disagreed!

So sure was I that badly behaved children were the direct result of bad parenting that nothing short of a whack over the head could have convinced me otherwise. And, as karma would have it, that whack occurred late one night in June 2003 in the form of a four-pound, nine-ounce screeching baby boy.

Difficult from the beginning, little Antoine was determined to put our fledgling parenting skills to the test. I was committed to nursing him, but he refused to latch on. Gastrointestinal problems meant that the milk I spent so much time pumping almost always came back up. He screamed, sometimes for hours on end, for no apparent reason. He stared, not at us, but at a bright light on the ceiling. And the child never ever slept, which meant, of course, that neither did we.

As time went on, his behavior became even more challenging, and sometime around his first birthday we stopped taking him to public places altogether unless we simply had no other choice. His unpredictability and his 'nuclear meltdowns' in the supermarket, for example, more often than not had me terrified that one of my fellow shoppers would summon the police.

Gone were the days of enjoying restaurant meals as a family, as even a fast-food experience with Antoine was likely to deteriorate into a chaotic scene. In fact, a trip outside our home for any reason typically meant enduring finger-pointing, cold stares, and rude comments from perfect strangers as Antoine, oblivious to his surroundings, carried on as though he were being prodded with hot pokers.

'Can't you control your child?' 'Ma'am, if he doesn't quiet down, I'm going to have to ask you to leave,' 'Spoiled brat,' or 'Give him to me for a few days, I'll straighten him out!' came my way so often that I began to categorize my days by the number of insults I received from people who knew absolutely nothing about me or my child.

Worst of all was the 'advice' we received from friends and family whenever we attempted to voice our concerns that something wasn't quite right with our little boy. Some tried to reassure us, claiming that perhaps the 'terrible twos' had set in a bit early, that tantrums were normal, and that he'd settle down once he got older. 'He's just all boy,' some said. Others gently pointed out that he would behave better if we could simply learn to show him 'who's boss,' while still others were competitive: 'Oh, you think he's bad, you should see my Brian.'

How on Earth could we possibly explain what it was like to live with this whirling dervish, this Tasmanian devil of a boy to people who clearly thought that children came in a one-size-fits-all model? And who was to say that they weren't right? As first-time parents, what did we know? After all, no one had ever told us that raising kids was easy.

What we did know was that the level of stress in our household (already at an incomprehensible high from trying to meet the day-to-day needs of a child who alternated between ramming his head into the armoire and spending hours at a time lining his toy cars into neat little rows) was made even higher by the large amount of seemingly thoughtless commentary we received, no matter which way we turned. Indeed, it was commentary of the very type I had made myself once upon a time.

When Antoine's diagnosis of autism was eventually confirmed, we—like most parents confronted with the disorder—were devastated. At the same time, the sense of relief was profound. Knowing that there was a reason behind our child's erratic behavior and that we weren't crazy after all gave us the strength to go on when it seemed like our whole world was falling apart.

These days, Antoine has more good days than bad. At three and a half, he is the light of my life and has taught me more about myself than I could have imagined possible. He still does not make transitions well, and, though fewer and farther between, his meltdowns can still be considered 'nuclear' by anyone's standards. That much has not changed.

What has changed is my own ability to empathize, to put myself into the shoes of another. Never again will I be so quick to make judgments. These days, thanks to knowing and loving my amazing little boy, if I say anything at all, it is this: How can I help?

Shari Youngblood

©2007. Shari Youngblood. All rights reserved. Reprinted from Chicken Soup for the Soul: Celebrates Children with Special Needs by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, Heather McNamara, Karen Simmons. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the written permission of the publisher. Publisher: Health Communications, Inc., 3201 SW 15th Street , Deerfield Beach , FL 33442.

Table of Contents

Introduction xiii

See Me Melissa Riggio Rachel Buchholz xvi

1 Adjusting

Welcome to Holland Emily Perl Kingsley 2

In the Game Johnny Wray Stephanie Welcher Thompson 5

A Message from John Jo Clancy 10

The Miracle of Jay-Jay Louise Tucker Jones 14

Out of the Mouths of Babes Sarah John S. Smigal 18

Tomorrow Jill Presson 19

No Words Stacey Flood 23

Seeing Through Josh's Eyes Deborah Rose 26

The Voice of Reason Wears SpongeBob Underpants Shari Youngblood 28

One Mother to Another Donna Turenne 33

Reaching Back Pam Wilson 35

A Reason to Celebrate Janet Lynn Mitchell 38

My Finest Teachers Gina Johnson 42

Out of the Mouths of Babes Cheryl Kremer 45

The Vacation Michelle M. Guppy 46

What They Forgot to Mention Sandy Solzen 51

2 Gratitude

Is That All? PeggySue Wells 54

The Little Boy Who Waves Michelle M. Guppy 57

All She Has Connie Ellison 60

One Brief Hour Suzanne Woods Fisher 63

The Gift Jeffrey J. Cain 67

I Won't Do It Nanette Whitman-Holmes 70

Out of the Mouths of Babes Jimmy Hinkley 73

McBuns! Trisha Kay Kayden 75

Challenges Mary Mooney 78

What's the Truth About Thomas? Laura Dean Jeanne Pallos 81

Kids Amaze Me Chynna Laird 85

A Whale of a Time Michelle Ward 89

Talking to Strangers Jennifer Lawler 92

On the Inside Susan Farr-Fahncke 95

Broken-Down Signs Scott Newport 99

Broken Shells Debbie Jaskot 104

3 Milestones

Dancing with Myself Stephanie Welcher Thompson 108

Sunday Morning Hillary Key 112

Speech Therapy Karen Brill 116

Toss of a Coin Ted Kuntz 119

Miniature Angels Susan Farr-Fahncke 122

Milestones Gina Morgan 126

Baby Steps Came in Her Own Time Beverly Beckham 130

The Race Lisa J. Schlitt 133

In Life and in Death, Always Faithful Sarah Smiley 137

Perspectives Dick Sobsey 140

4 Breaking Barriers

Music to My Ears Jacqui Kess-Gardner 144

I Am Dillon York 149

The Spirit of Travis Teresa D. Huggins 150

Amanda's Triumphant March Carol Willoughby 152

The Need for Speed Linda Muzzey 157

The Most Famous Kid at School Rachel Ezekiel-Fishbein Joel I. Fishbein 161

Trials and Tribulations Ellis Rubin Dary Matera 166

You Didn't Give Me a Turn Mary Henderson 171

I'm a Dancer Briana Hobbs 174

One Special Olympian Dominick Castellano 176

5 Community

An Appalachian Miracle Cookie Bakke 180

Out of the Mouths of Babes Rosita Ferro 184

A Classy Kind of Love Patricia Gillule 185

Swimming with John Michele Iallonardi 189

Miracle Field Scott Newport 194

The Dance Kristy Barnes 199

Silent Grace Ashley Carroll 202

The Goal Susan McMullan 206

What I Learned in Middle School Donna Larkin 210

Motherhood Donna Judge Malarsky 214

An Angel Among Us Margaret Prator 217

6 Sibling Revelry

Something about Benny Kimberly Jensen 222

Believe Jennifer M. Graham 226

Silent No More Jordan 231

Teaching by Example Jeanne Moran 233

Just Tori Katherine Schroeder 236

Switching Roles Gina Favazza-Rowland 239

Big Brother Time-Off Kimberly Jensen 241

Out of the Mouths of Babes Deana Newberry 245

7 Early Learning

The Slide Corinne Hill 248

Three Houses Down on the Left Deborah McIntire 252

Illumination Jeanne Schmidlin 256

One Egg at a Time Dawn Morrison 260

Out of the Mouths of Babes Karen Simmons 264

The Case of the Silent Kindergartner Amanda Green 266

Out of the Mouths of Babes Ava Crowell 270

Ace of Hearts Lynn Skotnitsky 271

Labels Lisa Scott Macdonough 274

8 Fostering Independence

Joey's Gold Medal Perry P. Perkins 278

A Simple Question Bonnie Mintun 282

Step by Step Amy Baskin 286

Independence Day Daniel Wray 290

The Class Trip Debra Behnke 295

Good Night, Faith Paulette Beurrier 299

My Dad Made the Difference Pam Johnson 302

The Most Important Words Daria J. Skibington-Roffel 307

Something in Football Lauri Khodabandehloo 309

A Revelation Lisa Logsdon 312

Bearing Gifts Mimi Greenwood Knight 316

The Freed Bird Dillon York 320

Who Is Jack Canfield? 323

Who Is Mark Victor Hansen? 324

Who Is Heather McNamara? 325

Who Is Karen Simmons? 326

Permissions 327

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