Ellen Hunter KidsAreAlright.org

Puberty is awkward regardless of the circumstances. Families raising special-needs teenagers have additional challenges. The Vanderbilt Kennedy Center publishes a guide, Healthy Bodies for Girls , with tips for teaching your daughter (and you!) how to handle puberty as gracefully as possible. Don’t wait, start before the obvious signs are there. Changes can be scary if she doesn’t understand what’s happening. Use the Right Words Use the biological terms for body parts:  vagina and breasts, for example — and bodily functions, such as urination and menstruation. This makes it easier to talk about everything from hygiene to reproduction. Build Up to a BRA Let your daughter get used to wearing something under her shirt by giving her training bras, camisoles, tank tops with thin straps or sports bras. Find ones that snap in front if she has trouble with dexterity, or ask her occupational therapist about adaptive bras. Physical Activity: Join In Ask her doctor...

Down Syndrome Diagnosis = My New “Family” KidsAreAlright.org When receiving a child’s prenatal Down Syndrome diagnosis, there can be a sense of soul-crushing hopelessness. Hopelessness for what their child’s life would be and what this diagnosis means to the parents’ previous self-definition of their “family.” The call, or email or text shifted EVERYTHING…. “But now, looking back on that moment four years later, I want to replace my anxiety, sorrow, and anger with different emotions…hopeful ones. There were things that I just didn’t know at the time, the depth of love I am capable of giving.” # Parents.com The stereotypical picture of a Down Syndrome child is a life with zero potential, a life spent trapped in a corner without truly living. This unfounded view does NOT have to exist. * We ALL achieve typical milestones; don’t compare. Instead list your child’s milestones and know they might take a little bit longer... BUT, when they ...