AllAboutSpecialNeeds.com

IPSEA: Independent Parental Special Education Advice

Austen — Sun, 30 Oct 2011 23:23:34 +0000

A few weeks back I received an email from Jane McConnell, the mother of a boy with Downs Syndrome. But she’s also legally qualified and runs a charity called IPSEA. Jane wanted me to add a piece to AllAboutSpecialNeeds.com to help raise awareness of this service. I emailed her back to suggest she submit a piece [...]

Marching to a different beat

Austen — Sat, 15 Oct 2011 23:53:50 +0000

Following the bout of flu’ my lad had last year, this year we have made sure to get him the flu’ vaccination. His mum took to the doc a couple of days ago. All done. I’m sure there is probably no connection but now he seems to have come down with a cold/mild fever. Oh well. [...]

Hairy legs

Austen — Tue, 23 Aug 2011 22:55:02 +0000

My son is growing up. It happens I suppose. But does it have to happen so fast?

J tuned twelve this year, he moved up to senior school, his voice is getting steadily lower, oh, and hair has started to appear where it didn’t used to be. What happened to my little boy?

The hairs on J’s [...]

Stepping Stones DS – supporting parents of children with Down syndrome

Austen — Sun, 17 Jul 2011 22:40:38 +0000

My wife has put all the great and unique skills she learnt in the early years of raising our son to good use. She looks after a little girl with Down Syndrome two mornings a week at a local nursery. The little girls mum has put us in touch with a support group that operates in [...]

Rollsquare.com: User generated information on wheelchair accessible places

Austen — Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:40:15 +0000

I was recently contacted by Marco Mattioli. He wanted to know If I’d like to promote rollsquare.com. So I took a look and asked Marco if he’d like to send me something. Well, better it comes firsthand from him than secondhand via me. This is what he sent me:

Rollsquare is a user generated map of places [...]

A hug for my brother – sibling support groups

Austen — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 23:03:06 +0000

Its my daughters birthday today. She’s nine years old. But her best friend, Emma, has also just turned nine and she had her birthday party last Saturday. It consisted of a sleepover with a handful of Emma’s friends, including my daughter. I didn’t envy Emma’s parents!

My wife picked up my daughter on Sunday morning and brought [...]

The Welfare Reform Bill: Fair Cuts for Disabled?

Austen — Sun, 22 May 2011 23:31:27 +0000

Allied Mobility – a wheelchair accessible vehicles specialist, supplying a wide range of wheelchair car, MPV and minibus models – contacted me recently with a view to posting an article. This is what they submitted. I hope you agree that it fits the criteria of this site in that it is informative – the Welfare Reform [...]

Inefficiences in the NHS

Austen — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 23:43:09 +0000

First, let me just say I am not an “NHS basher”. Far from it. Healthcare that is free at the point of use is something to be celebrated, cherished and protected. But…

Sometimes you do have to wonder at the inefficienes in the system. And how much wasted money these must cost!

My lovely son is about to [...]

The benefits of trampolining for children with special needs

Austen — Sun, 27 Mar 2011 22:22:17 +0000

When my son was born he was very ‘floppy’ – the medical term is hypotonia, basically its low mucle tone. He had baby physiotherapy and we used to do exercises at home with him. Then, when his sister came a long and she was about two years old, we bought them a trampoline for the garden [...]

A Life Skills Coach can help enhance the life of a Special Needs Adult

Barbara Richardson — Wed, 02 Mar 2011 23:43:28 +0000

For special needs adults living independently can be a bit of a struggle. The things that many of us take for granted are hurdles in the lives of many special needs adults. However even with the difficulties that they may face in achieving their independence many special needs adults are not only willing but have a [...]