Special Needs

Articles

...three-time Guinness World Record holder, an All-American wrestler, a professional MMA fighter who beat his first able-bodied opponent by unanimous decision,...system had labeled him a problem child and largely moved on. He found wrestling in elementary school and lost almost every match for years. He kept going...

...three-time Guinness World Record holder, an All-American wrestler, a professional MMA fighter who beat his first able-bodied opponent by unanimous decision,...system had labeled him a problem child and largely moved on. He found wrestling in elementary school and lost almost every match for years. He kept going...

...of faulty collagen; it is collagen's duty to act as a "glue" in the body. EDS is a rare disorder, and the general public (and even healthcare professionals) is uneducated about it — which is why Rose has set out to "talk about what's not known." Rose recalls trips to the emergency room: "I tell them...

...carving creates roles that match what your child can do instead of forcing them into roles they can't. What a Job Coach Does. A job coach is a trained professional who works one-on-one with your young adult at their job site. They don't do the work for them. They teach how to do the work, how to interact with...

You've heard it from one professional: Braille is outdated. Screen readers do everything Braille used to do, and they're faster. Why spend years teaching your child a tactile code when...

...how the system operates. When to Seek a Speech-Language Evaluation. Developmental timelines aren't rigid, but certain patterns signal the need for professional assessment. By 18 months, most children use at least 10–20 words and combine two words together ("more juice", "my shoe"). By age two, they should...

...rights, and share what worked for their own child. They can't represent you in due process or provide legal advice. Educational advocate: A trained professional who specializes in special education law and IEP processes but isn't a lawyer. Educational advocates know IDEA inside and out. They can review your...

...physically avoiding disabled people, or mocking someone's disability are microassaults. These are the most obvious form and the least common in professional or public settings where social norms enforce baseline politeness. Microinsults are rude or insensitive comments that demean a person's disability...

...meetings at impossible times. You're ready to create something yourself, but you don't know where to start. Starting a support group isn't about having professional training or therapeutic credentials. It's about structure, consistency, and clear boundaries. The groups that survive their first year share specific...

...should get a second opinion, and if that makes you difficult, paranoid, or both. It doesn't. Seeking a second opinion isn't about doubting the first professional's competence. It's about confirming that a complex diagnosis has been examined from more than one angle. Here's when to pursue one, how to navigate...

...Psychiatric disabilities: mental health conditions documented by a licensed professional The definition of "severe physical disability" is broad. It includes...need proof of disability from one of these sources: A licensed medical professional: physician, nurse practitioner, or psychiatrist A licensed vocational...

Your child refuses most foods. Every professional you've consulted says it's sensory, or behavioral, or just typical autism-related selectivity. They recommend more feeding therapy. You've tried....