Two words that look yucky together: child and diagnosis. I had the wind knocked out of me by a diagnosis of head lice two years ago, and found myself searching the night sky for clues: Why me? More recently, my eight year old was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes, and I had precisely the same [...]
The Families for Children (FFC) foster care and adoption program at Communities for People strives to find nurturing, loving and stable families for children in Rhode Island state care who are between the ages of 6 and 21. Many of the children in our care have experienced varying degrees of abuse, neglect, and abandonment. Given these experiences, children in our program, as well as their foster families receive an immense amount of support.
At this time there is a shortage of foster families in Rhode Island. There is even a greater shortage of families able to care for teenagers and children with significant emotional needs.
Deborah Gutman, is an emergency physician and the mother of a spirited, active, funny, and persuasive superhero who continues to need guidance in using his powers for good. She blogs on navigating the journey raising a child with ADHD, anxiety and sensory integration disorder on her new blog www.getsuperpowers.blogspot.com.
Does your child seem to be struggling more than you would expect? Are you getting an increasing number of phone calls from the teacher at school? Are you starting to feel like something is “just different” about your child when you see him/her in a peer group setting? Has your child already been referred for “testing” to evaluate behavioral or learning issues? If so, you may be at the beginning of a journey that may include many labels, specialists and lots of confusion. You are far from alone. One in every 5-6 children struggles with a psychological disorder or learning difference. You may ask yourself do we have to label every trait as a disorder? My personal perspective as a parent and medical professional is that if their struggles are affecting their daily functioning then a correct label helps obtain the necessary services and accommodations that will help your child reach their fullest potential with the least amount of struggle.
By Deborah Gutman Trying to choose the right school for your child is hard work, particularly if your child has learning differences. For starters it is very time-consuming. To really get a good sense if the school is right might require multiple visits. It’s also important to spend enough time and ask enough questions to [...]
This is the first in a series of posts about helping children with learning differences/special needs. Deborah Gutman has learned through her own experience raising a child with ADHD and shares helpful tips on how to choose a school for your ADHD/LD child and how to find the appropriate resources and books for your family. [...]
