BY LAUREN LICHTEN GENETIC ALLIANCE BY LAUREN LICHTEN, MS CGC Although it is a routine recommendation to offer genetic testing to all children who have a diagnosis of an autism spectrum disorder (ASD), the thought of genetic testing can be unsettling to many parents. It also can be very difficult for families and doctors to obtain clear and accurate information about genetic testing for ASDs in an age where our knowledge of genetics is growing […]
Trusts are wonderfully flexible planning devices — but that does mean you have to do the planning. BY ROBERT B FLEMING, CELA and BERNARD A KROOKS, CELA – A client recently asked the following question: I’m thinking about setting up a special needs trust for my son, who has a developmental disability. Will it mean a lot more work for my daughter, who will be handling my estate? It’s a fair question, and one we hear a lot. No […]
BY LAUREN AGORATUS, M.A. Pediatric Starter Kit In the interest of full disclosure, I have a daughter with multiple life-threatening conditions who “coded” and had to be resuscitated on several occasions. So reviewing the Pediatric Starter Kit, which was designed by The Conversation Project to help parents of seriously ill children who want guidance about “having the conversation” with their children, was very difficult for me at times. However, this is an important resource which is helpful to families because, although difficult, this is […]
BY VANESSA B. IRA, EDITOR EP MAGAZINE Three outstanding Teachers of the Year are being honored in this edition of EP (Exceptional Parent) magazine, our Annual Schools & Camps Issue. These are teachers whose work requires extraordinary patience, sometimes in the midst of constant emotional outbursts. Teachers who must focus always on what a student can do – and not on what he or she cannot do. These are the teachers who celebrate with parents and caregivers when a student is able to […]
BY FREEMAN KING, Ed.D If parents decide a school district’s inclusive/mainstreaming program is the optimum and appropriate educational program for deaf children, this should center around an approach that offers a quality education that prepares the deaf student to compete as an equal with hearing children in the school. Education for the child who is deaf has historically gone through many changes related to educational ideology and placement decisions. Presently, for good or bad, in […]
