Special Needs Resource - eParent provides practical advice, emotional support and educational information for families of children and adults with disabilities and special healthcare needs as well as to the physicians, allied health care professionals, and educational professionals who are involved in their care and development

Teens & Tech

BY CECELIA TAMBURRO Remaining aware and responsible in the social media age. It can be helpful to educate your child or teen about the ways in which social media use affects them. By increasing their mental health literacy, you can provide your teen with tools to improve their mental health. Modern day parents often worry about social media use amongst their teens. Unsurprisingly, recent surveys show 92 percent of teens report using the internet daily, […]

How To Maintain Health While Living With Certain Health Conditions

BY MELISSA A. DISIPIO, MSA, FAAIDD Philadelphia Coordinated Health Care (PCHC) is the Southeastern Pennsylvania Health Care Quality Unit (HCQU) that provides indirect health care supports for people living with intellectual disabilities and/or autism for almost 30 years. Over its existence, PCHC has created several tools, resources and educational forms to help people understand how to care for the physical and behavioral healthcare needs of someone with special needs. PCHC created Health Promotion Activity Plans […]

How Charter Schools & Vouchers Affect Special Education

BY MARIA DOCHERTY AND LAUREN AGORATUS, M.A. Families should carefully weigh the pros and cons of charter schools and vouchers, and speak with their Parent Training and Information Center about their state laws, regulations, and policies regarding special education and charters or vouchers, before making a decision. With the increased focus in the United States on charter schools and the use of vouchers to support student attendance at private schools, more and more parents of […]

Physical Therapy: What You Should Know

THE FITNESS PRIORITY BY KRISTIN MCNEALUS, PT, DPT Feel free to get second opinions. Physical therapists treat many different diagnoses, again at many different stages. Exceptional Parents often are well versed in many avenues of care for themselves and their children, including all of the rehabilitation professionals. Do you know what each auxillary profession is knowledgeable about? As a physical therapist, I am going to present some information that I think may be useful to […]

Managing Expectations With A Home Remodeling Project

BY DEBORAH PIERCE, AIA, CAPS A road map for putting your remodeling project on a solid foundation. Renovation’s no “walk in the park,” as anyone who’s remodeled an older house will attest. And when we live with disabilities, little inconvenience can loom large. Yet renovate we must, to have a home that’s wheelchair accessible, or where our children can gain a degree of independence. The homes we live in today were built in a different […]

Person-Centered Planning

People with disabilities no longer have to rely on assistance from total strangers. Person-center planning helps individuals with disabilities direct their own lives. Individuals with disabilities and their families now have more options to plan housing, work, finances and more. The military supports these efforts. Here are some questions and answers that can help you better understand person-centered planning, how it can help and how you might fit into the process. WHAT IS PERSON-CENTERED PLANNING? […]

New Beginnings

EP Magazine’s aim is to reach the widest possible audience with our award-winning content – so please help us spread the word. As we enter our 46th year of continued publication, I would like to take this opportunity to thank each one of you for your continued support of EP Magazine (Exceptional Parent), as well as for your advocacy and contributions to the special needs community. As EP’s new Publisher, I can assure that you […]

On Coming Out of the Oven Too Soon

ANCORA IMPARO BY RICK RADER, MD ■ EDITOR-IN-CHIEF In the 1920’s, babies like Lucille faced almost certain demise. Lucille did not escape the inevitable and she passed away… but not until she celebrated her 96th birthday. Lucille died earlier this year after living a very meaningful life. In the late 1930’s American songwriter Johnny Mercer wrote a classic tune that had the entire nation singing, You must’ve been a beautiful baby You must’ve been a […]

FUN2GO TANDEM

The Fun2Go Tandem is a side-by-side, three-wheel tandem tricycle in which the users ride tandem and sit beside each other, designed for use by organizations, institutions, and individuals who want to provide social contact and movement for a person with a disability by cycling outdoors. One person steers, and both can pedal. Riders can easily adjust the seat to the required distance with a lever. There is also an optional electric engine to assist a […]