I'm not proud to admit it, but it's happened to me before. Sitting at our autism support group meeting, I listen to the mother of a ten year old go on and on about how her son talks about Star Wars and nothing else. "You poor thing," I think to myself. "Must be so hard on you to have a son who talks so much. I'll just be busy over here trying to get my son to answer a question with yes or … [Read more...]
Your Faith Has Made You Well
In Mark 5, we meet a woman who had tried to find relief from many doctors. “And there was a woman who had had a discharge of blood for twelve years, and who had suffered much under many physicians, and had spent all that she had, and was no better but rather grew worse” (vv. 25–26). We can relate! Like so many of us who have tried doctors, therapies, supplements, diets, and tests, this woman … [Read more...]
Honoring Special Needs Parents Who Paved the Way for Us
The Education for All Handicapped Children Act was enacted in 1975, just two years before my sister with Down Syndrome was born. Public Law 94-142 was still new to our small town in Oklahoma when my mom sat down for her first IEP meeting in 1983, when it was time for my sister to start kindergarten. She talked with a young teacher who wasn't trained in special education, had never taught a student … [Read more...]
Praying Scripture over My Child with Special Needs
When James was a baby, I searched Scripture for just the right verse to pray over his life. As I would rock and feed him at 2:00 am, I wanted to whisper a verse that he would remember as he grew. One that would be true of him when he was two, twenty-two, and forty-two. After reading and praying, I finally picked a verse. And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favor with God and … [Read more...]