When you have kids with special needs, you have paperwork. Period. Whether their needs are medical only, or educational as well, you have paperwork from the doctors, the insurance, the school, the IEPs, and more.
You also probably have enough “Parental Rights” notices to wallpaper your living room.
Keeping that paperwork organized is important! Nurses get doctors’ orders wrong. Doctors need to be reminded what they said. You need the stuff available to do your own research. Administrators and facilitators misplace things. When something goes wrong, you can prove what’s supposed to happen, because you have the paperwork – and you can put your hands on it.
Let me tell you what I have done, and then I’ll present a couple of options for you. We have two sons. One son has strictly medical needs. We have lots of test results, referrals, and copay notices. My other son has both medical and educational needs, so his records include IEPs, meeting notices, signature pages, and testing. I finally decided on a binder system. For each child, I have two large binders. One is for school involved stuff (including report cards, etc,) and one is medical. I use binder dividers, per year. 2010 is at the front, 2009 is next etc. I don’t organize inside of that. All the paperwork goes in the proper year, with most recent on top. This keeps all the paperwork out of the rest of the household files, in one place, and at my fingertips when an administrator inevitably misplaces something. My method works for my family. You’ll only use it if it works.
I did a search on your behalf to find out if others have different methods of handling the paperwork. Some various tips I found:
Regardless of method, keep it consistent. No method will work without consistency.
Regardless of method, give it a home. It stays there unless you’re taking the records with you to an appointment.
You might consider a permanent portion, and a mobile portion. IE: Keeping insurance EOB’s and bills already paid in a stationary file, and prescriptions, current IEP, current referrals in a binder to take with you.
There are others who disagree with me on this, but as a mom, I suggest NOT getting rid of the records after a certain amount of time. Perhaps for financial things, yes (ask your accountant and tax advisor,) but with my kids, I find having a really long over time picture of what’s going on that’s documented helpful with both diagnosis and prognosis.
Find the time to do it. When you pay your bills, or when you do the rest of your filing… Just do it. Weekly, if you’re really heavy on appointments and therapies at the moment.
Have a logbook or notepad, and note dates, times, and names of phone conversations. You may never need it – on the other hand, you really might.
Another method I ran into. Digital! I’m honestly considering this option. In this case, the only hardcopies you would keep would be “originals.” Original prescriptions (as the pharmacy needs the original,) and anything that is an original, not copied, signature for example. The rest you would scan, organize on your computer, and then place on a CD or flash drive. This way, you save on space, and if you organize the titles of the documents with proper descriptions and dates, you can put your hands on the file again if needed. Using the flash drive or CD will back up the data should your hard drive crash.
This does not need to be complicated, or expensive. Pick a method, stick with it, and adjust it to suit your family and your personal organizational objectives. You can do it.
…Bug has 2 broken feet due to JRA weekening the ligaments in his feet. He went down a slide at school and both feet broke! He is in a wheelchair and very angry and anxious sence he is such an active kid. The pain from the arthritis is made worse due to his autism and celiacs. He is so upset about this that he is causing himself to get sick. I am at my wits end as to how to help him…<errors are from original post>
There’s more at the post. Some people have sent gluten free food, some have sent monetary donations, and some have sent cards and well wishes. Can you do something? We love to see kids smile around here.
It depends on what part of the country you’re in, but judging the news… There’s quite a few of you out there with Snow Days. Have you noticed the phenomenon of when your kids get cabin fever, it seems that you’ve doubled your offspring count? I know it does with me. I feel like I’ve suddenly got 4 boys instead of 2, and all four are whining about being bored.
On top of the cabin fever is the reality that kids need exercise. Couple that with your Snow Day, and there’s a need to solve a problem (along with your sanity.) They need some active play! Quiet play is great, kids also need that physical action.
Gross motor balls and balance toys is an indoor option. Make it a game – whomever can stay balanced longer might get a prize! Or encourage them to make their own play while balancing. Can you stay balanced while being attacked by pirates?
Trampolines and bouncer toys are great energy zappers too. Although I may just be suggesting that because of Freddy Frog who I think is just adorable.
If you have the room for it, a gross moter scooter would be great. Indoor scooter hockey!
Get out the tumbling mats! Practice those somersaults and headstands safely. Or if you hang out and help, they can soar to new heights. I personally remember my dad making me supergirl on his feet.
When push comes to shove though, jumping jacks, running in place, crunches, etc. are all valid choices. Or – put one of your old (or new – it IS January) workout dvds on. They’ll have fun because of the music, and if you do it with them – all the better, ’cause you just made it fun.
Fun had. Energy expended. Parent still sane. That’s the point, right?
The biggest gift giving season is behind us. What about the gifts? I’m sure they were all adored, and just what everyone wanted. Right? Or do you have kids that didn’t, er, care for their gifts?And how did they react? Were they gracious and kind, or were they worthy of disinheriting?
Gratitude is so hard to teach to kids. On the one hand – they may very well not like what they got as gifts. We all have different tastes! And the dreaded clothes gifts, especially with our kids, might be too itchy, scratchy, or plain feel “funny.” I wrote in December on learning gratitude. But learning gratitude doesn’t change the fact that they might not like their gift. They need to learn how to express their likes and dislikes, and we need to respect those.
Tangent: I just flashed on that scene in A Christmas Story when Ralphie’s mom makes him put on the pink bunny suit his aunt sent him. Mortification. Let’s try not to do the same to our kids.
As with everything else, it depends on the child. Observing their behavior. Encouraging their use of language and the communication is another. Choices are great (holding up the blue one versus the red one.) You just need to remember what they pick, too. Have them draw for you, or build for you what they want.
Often, kids feel very strongly about what they wear. Depending on the age and cognition level, we might be talking comfort. Use words to try to help them express themselves. Is it comfortable? Itchy? Stretchy? Scratchy? Ask them about the accouterments such as buttons, bows, zippers, and ruffles. We have a sister site called By Kids Only (bykidsonly.com) in which your kids can design their own clothes. No seams. No tags. Their designs. They can express their own tastes and preferences, be recognized on the wall of fame, vote by influencing the clothing produced, and even win and iPod. Go check it out! They win by getting to design and strut their stuff, and you win by learning what makes them tick clothing wise.
I’m not a huge fan of New Year’s resolutions. They are lists that need crossing off, and as soon as we don’t do what we hope on one, we scrap the whole idea as failed.
Or maybe that’s just me.
But what I am a fan of is new beginnings. The new year (and the new school year as well) is a fresh start. A new beginning. Another chance to get it right.
I would like to make a gentle suggestion to you. Take a quiet moment when you can snatch it and think. Think over the old year. What did you do right? What did you do wrong? What do you want to see changed? Now, turn to the new year. Are there goals you can accomplish? Are there attitudes to change? Does this apply to you? Your marriage? Your home life? Your work? Your kids?
I’ll be giving you some organizational tools later on, but for now – think. Take in what the old year offered you, and think about the possibilities of the new.
I have been looking forward to cooking with my kids long before I had children. It’s an awesome way to share time and prepares kids for their own future kitchens. I never realized what great therapy opportunities were built into cooking, or how it could be a substitute for the arts and crafts projects my typically developing son dislikes. Here are some tips to make it easier for your child with fine motor or visual impairments to enjoy holiday baking with you:
1)Break down the baking project into stages. Choose recipes that let you make the dough ahead of time, cut and bake one day, decorate another. You can freeze most cookie dough and finish the cookies later, or give a break of a few hours between the stages of preparing the cookies. Make or color frostings and sugars with your child’s help the day before you want to decorate your treats.
2) Let your child help with only one part of the activity, and you complete the rest. Or you can do the majority of the prep and leave a small portion for your child to do to keep the activity flowing. Keep it short – they don’t have to cut out all three dozen cookies.
3) Set up cooking show style. If measuring is not a goal, then pre-measure ingredients into little bowls and cups.
4) If you are going to let your child measure ingredients, consider putting the ingredients into a smaller container then letting her pour or scoop from that into the measuring cup. A gallon of milk is heavy! And there’s less waste and clean-up if something’s spilled or dropped.
5) If your child has gross motor challenges, have them sit instead of stand while cooking. If the point is fine motor fun then don’t challenge them with having to stand and reach.
6) Use rolling pin spacers so the rolled dough will be even.
7) Separate cookie dough into small batches before rolling then use food coloring to create visual contrast between the batches. Use powdered sugar instead of flour when rolling and cutting the cookies so you won’t have white patches on the finished cookies. Use colored sugars instead of frosting for festive cookies that are quick and simple. Let your child help make the colored sugars by pouring sugar into a ziptop bag and adding a little bit of food coloring. Massaging the bag to mix the sugar and color is a great hand strengthening exercise! Use a a spoon, fingertips, or kitchen shaker to sprinkle the colored sugar on the cookies before baking.
9) Flip your cookie sheets over if they have sides and roll and cut the dough on the bottom of the cookie sheet. Remove the background from the cutouts, and bake the cookies in the same spot that they were cut to prevent the cookies from falling apart when they are transferred to the cookie sheet. Much less frustrating!
10) Talk! About everything – colors, shapes, smells, actions, your family’s holiday traditions, how much you love sharing this moment with your child, how easy and fun they are making holiday baking for you. Talk it up!
11) Have your child make cinnamon sugar in a ziptop bag, then place some of the cookies in the bag while still a little warm and gently shake.
12) Crush candy canes and other hard candies and mix into sugar cookie dough. Place the candy in a ziptop bag or between sheets of wax paper and beat with a toy hammer or rolling pin. Encourage your child to use their hands to mix the candy into small batches of dough.
13) If you are making chocolate chip cookies, have your child press the chocolate chips into the cookie dough before baking instead of mixing them into the dough.
14) Decorate with large edibles so your child has to pick them up and place them on the cookies – raisins, all the different flavored baking morsels, jumbo sprinkles, nuts.
15) Let your child spread a simple layer of white frosting on cookies and decorate with sprinkles from a shaker for high contrast. Or use colored frosting and top with coconut.
16) Use a combination of frosting, dyed dough, colored sugars, cinnamon sugar, and large edibles to create variety from one batch of cookie dough. It’s festive, visually stimulating, fun, and brings in a range of fine motor movements to one activity.
17) If your child doesn’t like hand over hand help, then have them place a hand over yours while you frost – it’s like helping make yummy magic!
18) Don’t forget the cupcakes – your child can place liners in a muffin tin, spoon or pour batter and, of course, decorate.
19) And always make clean-up a part of every project – even if he just hands you one little thing to throw away, it’s an important life skill.
20) Serve your child what they made – even if they normally wouldn’t eat something like this. You never know!
21) Brag about how great your child did and how yummy their food is when they can hear you. Give their goodies away and let them help with packaging or delivery. Even if they are not perfect, they are blessed by your child’s touch!
For most families, the holidays mean food. Hosting parties, visiting relatives, treats, gifts… Holiday drinks, dinners, snacks, desserts, treats, and don’t forget cookies for Santa! Maybe you have picky kids. Maybe they have sensory issues. Maybe they have gluten or allergy issues.
I have picky eaters here; however, our usual holiday fare falls into the acceptable food parameters, so I have no holiday meal issues with them. But I know you might not be so lucky in that! Since I can’t offer help – I turned to the internet. Take a look at these sites… They may just the ticket to getting your child to eat… something. These are mostly lists of ideas for you. I would pick the recipes, but if your kids are like mine: one won’t eat the orange color, and one won’t eat touching food (including chili, soup, stew, or casseroles,) and there’s a dad who’s just as picky – well then maybe you need to look through these to find what works for YOUR family.
The holidays can be a very stressful time. Whether you’re staying home or traveling, celebrating with others or your family’s going solo – we tend to take on the bulk by ourselves. There’s prep for meals, gift buying, gift wrapping, gift shipping, decorating, packing, cooking, and schedule organizing. Give yourself a gift – a break!
Here are a few ideas that might be helpful.
Defeat perfectionism. If it’s not perfect it is okay. Really. Take that pressure off yourself. You could do everything in your power, and the ham or turkey or pie still falls on the floor. Take all of it with humor, and remember your priorities. Family togetherness, the holiday’s purpose, and celebration. Anything else is just gravy. The decor does NOT have to be perfect, nor the food, nor even the gift. “It’s the thought that counts” is a true and valid concept.
Organize yourself. Utilize lists. If you get the idea or to-do item down on paper, it can stop cluttering your mind and adding to your feelings of being overwhelmed.
Use shortcuts. Things like premade dough, already cut carrots, shopping online, gift bags instead of wrap… While sometimes convenience comes with a higher price tag – perhaps the relief of the mind and time-saving properties is worth it.
Schedule in YOU time. Schedule a bubble bath. Ask your spouse or friend or family member to watch the kids for an hour to ward off the door pounding, “Mooooooms.” Schedule a quiet trip to the library or book store. Schedule quiet time to work on your crafts, if that’s your thing. Just schedule it – on your calendar – and don’t make that a last priority. One hour of quiet can do you a world of good on your perspective and ability to handle what comes.
If you can afford it… Buy yourself a small gift. A fuzzy blanket. A lavender pillow. Something not too pricey (we’re not trying for guilt here) but altogether you. For example – I bought myself a pink fuzzy blanket. The boys of the house want nothing to do with it making it ALL MINE. That thing acts as my lovey when I don’t feel good, lap blanket on cold days, shawl to run outside for something… I bought it just for me, and it gets used every day.
Remember. The holidays are not meant to make you crazy. They are not meant to make you feel less than. They are a celebration. Take the time out to celebrate them instead of work for them!
Comfort. Safety. Security. For children, these are all synonymous with love. Children have their binkies. Their blankies. Name a nonsensical thing, and I’m sure there’s a lovie out there with the name. For our kids, comfort objects are even more important to their development. They need something they feel is secure. They need something that soothes them. Period.
So, how do you support your kid’s need for their lovie of choice? What’s socially acceptable? First, you present some to them. And keep presenting things until something clicks. They need that security that they equate to love. And then you respect it. Socially acceptable behavior is something that happens over time, over the course of our children’s various therapies, and exposures to other families and kids. In my opinion? It’s important for them to have the security… and then eventually the security to let it go.
At least you respect it until it doesn’t look like the object it is, and you become determined to get that sucker into the washing machine, pronto. And then come your maneuvers in the middle of the night worthy of Mission Impossible to get it clean before the kid wakes up. But, I digress.
So, what happens when you go out into public? The younger the kids are, the less likely you’ll get the look. But what about when their older? I don’t have any concrete recommendations, to be honest. I’ve learned to have a hard skin when it comes to that sort of thing. As far as I’m concerned, the people who stare/judge can go live their own life – sans lovie. However, you do need to gauge your child. They do need to make progress towards behaviors that will serve them later in life. Do they still need it? Do they need something else? Are they ready to move on during the day, but still need it at night in bed? Let them lead you. Experiment. It’s a good lesson for them in gauging what it is they’re actually feeling. The bottom line is – the thing gives them comfort and security. Like most things in parenting… follow your child’s cues. There aren’t any rules here. Maybe you move from one kind to another – blanket to fidget for example. Perhaps the comfort item becomes an at home thing, and you can substitute a different, more socially acceptable item out of the house.
We want to know what you do! What comforts your child? We’d love to see it- and know why your child loves it! Post a photo of your child with his/her favorite soothing object or just the object itself on the Fun and Function Facebook page, or Tweet about this contest on Twitter and enter to win a Sen-sational Hug Tee! Sen-sational Hug tees were created for just that purpose- to help children calm, relax and feel secure. All kids can get calming compression with these fun seamless, tagless shirts made of organic cotton and spandex. In fact, one mom told us she couldn’t wait to get the Sens-ational Shirts. “Now my daughter won’t have to wear her speedo bathing suit day and night!”
Rules: Five winners will be selected on Dec 23rd and announced on Fun and Function’s Facebook page.To enter, please:
post a picture of your child with the object that comforts him/her and/or the object that comforts your child to Fun and Function’s Facebook page.
You can also earn extra entries by becoming a fan of Fun and Function on Facebook, following FunandFunction on Twitter, tweeting about this contest, posting a comment on Facebook or blogging about this contest. Please leave a separate comment to this blog with link for each entry.
Sensory Integration
Use colored sugars instead of frosting for festive cookies that are quick and simple. Let your child help make the colored sugars by pouring sugar into a ziptop bag and adding a little bit of food coloring. Massaging the bag to mix the sugar and color is a great hand strengthening exercise! Use a a spoon, fingertips, or kitchen shaker to sprinkle the colored sugar on the cookies before baking.
