Special Exposure Wednesday

My beautiful Ashley....



Be sure to check out all the other Special Exposure Wednesday shots at 5 Minutes For Special Needs!

Where Am I?

I used to travel a lot for work and I always had recurring nightmares about being in a strange city, walking around, and getting horribly lost. Those nightmares would keep me from exploring some really fantastic places, and now I regret that. If only IPhones and IPads and such had been around then...

Google has announced two new apps, specifically targeted for people who are blind and who must find their way around a city. Think GPS for the walking crowd...

The apps are called WalkyTalky and Intersection Explorer.

WalkyTalky reads out not only the directions as you walk, but also the intersecting streets that you pass by. Not only will it help with your bearings, but it'll give you a greater understanding of the city—the next time someone mentions meeting on Maple Street, for example, you may well remember passing it previously.

Intersection Explorer isn't quite as useful, but I imagine it would help steel my nerves about my upcoming journey before even leaving the house. You can virtually walk through Google Maps, with the app reading out the directions of the proposed journey ahead.

It's great that someone was thinking about the Blind when these apps were developed, but honestly, I think everyone, disabled or not, could benefit.

Now let me go talk to the only two people in my house who have an Idevice - my two teenage sons - and see if they can download the apps!

Welcome Back

I'm a strong believer in open adoptions. Unfortunately with the children I have adopted from the foster care system, maintaining a relationship with birth parents doesn't usually happen. The only birth parent that I have been able to have somewhat of a relationship with is Ashley's birth mother.

Several years after bringing Ashley home, I was really driven to see if I could locate her birthmother. I'm not sure exactly why - maybe because I was so proud of the beautiful child Ashley was that I wanted to let her birth mother share in that joy.

With the help of an adoption document that wasn't fully redacted, and with Detective Internet, I found the person I believed to be Ashley's birth mother. I wrote her a letter and included a picture of Ashley. I didn't pressure her to contact me back, but I hoped she would.

Two years passed before I received an email from her. Then there were a few phone calls and then we became Facebook friends. None of this is to imply we were close or even had much of a relationship, but it was a tentative connection that was important to me.

I learned that Ashley had two younger siblings, children who like Ashley, were adopted by a family headed to Delaware. I was disappointed that Social Services had not contacted me about the siblings, but such was the fate that was determined.

Then Ashley's birth mother dropped out of touch again. Another couple of years passed, and just today, she showed up again on Facebook. We've commented to each other, and I hope we can continue to do so.

I learned that she is engaged and has a 9 month old son. She seems very happy, and I sincerely hope her life is headed in the direction she wants it to head in.

And I sincerely hope that we can meet one day. I would still like for her to see Ashley, and most importantly, I would like to thank her for the gift she gave me almost 14 years ago - the most wonderful gift in the world, my darling daughter.

October is Spina Bifida Awareness Month

In honor of my wonderful new son, Ronnie, I am pleased to share the following spina bifida awareness information:

Did you know that birth defects occur in 7 out of every 10,000 live births in the U.S.? And Spina Bifida is the most common permanently disabling birth defect? In honor of October being Spina Bifida Awareness Month, the Spina Bifida Association is asking folks to take a few minutes today and get involved in the awareness month by educating loved ones.

The first question many have: What exactly is Spina Bifida? In short, Spina Bifida happens when the spinal column doesn't close completely.

And how many births each day are affected? Well, it's hard to believe, but eight births each day are affected by Spina Bifida or a similar birth defect of the brain and spine. If you think about it, there are currently over 65 million women in the U.S. who could become pregnant and each one of these ladies is at risk of having a baby born with Spina Bifida. So because Spina Bifida occurs during the first month of pregnancy (that's even before most women know they're pregnant!) it is that much more important to take proper precautions to help try to prevent it now.

Okay. So what type of precautions can help in prevention, you may wonder?

Although at this time there is no known cause of Spina Bifida, research has shown that if a woman takes 400 mcg of folic acid every day and before she becomes pregnant, she reduces her risk of having a baby with Spina Bifida or another neural tube defect by as much as 70%! That fact is reason enough to encourage women (and men) to get out there this month and spread awareness.

Families with a history of Spina Bifida should take extra dosages of folic acid prior to pregnancy. Hear one mom's message:



And in honor of October's Spina Bifida Awareness Month, the Spina Bifida Association will also be launching some great new online resources, including:

SB University (SBU) (www.sbuniversity.org), a new online educational program featuring taped sessions from the 2010 National Conference as well as monthly live seminars conducted by Spina Bifida medical professionals from around the country. During Awareness Month, SBU will debut new sessions each Monday.

SBTween2Teen (www.sbtween2teen.org) a new Web site for tweens and teens with Spina Bifida. Complete with blogs, videos, real stories, fact sheets, and an Ask the Expert feature, the interactive site helps tweens and teens navigate the difficult road to adulthood. There is even a social networking component run through Facebook, allowing tweens and teens to interact with one another and build peer-to-peer relationships!

Preparations, a new transition-focused Web site launching in late October allowing parents, caregivers, and clinicians to answer specific questions with regard to a child's developmental milestones. This tool can even help young adults remedy some transitional challenges.

For even more information, tips and resource, you may visit: www.spinabifidaassociation.org

And be sure to join the Spina Bifida Association on Facebook: www.facebook.com/spina.bifida.learn

Not Again....

There’s not much I don’t love about being an adult, being a parent to many kids, being what I suppose ‘grown up’ means.

I have no problem with all the medical interventions my children need. I can change a G-tube in under a minute. I know how to give injections. I know many details about at least 25 different medications – none of which are my own.

I don’t mind doling out needed discipline. I don’t mind helping a child learn a skill – even if that helping goes on and on. I don’t mind watching baseball when I would rather be watching Dancing With The Stars.

I don’t mind paying the bills each month or growing my own vegetables or cleaning the bathroom – a lot because I have three boys in the family.

I love to cook and I always present meals in a pleasing manner on a plate. I can make a mean chocolate chip cookie – everyone, including my coworkers, loves my brownies, and my apple pie recipe won first place at our State Fair one year.

I have a few problems killing bugs, but as long as I have enough bug spray in which to drown them, I am ok. I can change a plug on the vacuum cleaner cord, and caulk a bathtub. I get the oil changed in my vehicle every 3000 miles, and I can sew curtains and clothes.

I decorate our home for every season, and I grow enough herbs to last a year and to share with others. I know how to get almost any stain out of clothing, and I know that bleach is one of a mother’s best friends.

But there is one ‘grown up’ task I abhor. It comes around every single week no matter how much I try to avoid it, and it consumes way too much of my time. GROCERY SHOPPING.

I don’t mind planning meals or listing the things I need to purchase. It’s the actual act of going to the store, walking the aisles, picking things from the shelves and putting them in my cart, taking them out of the cart and putting them on the conveyor belt, watching the cashier scan my items, being asked if I have any coupons, watching the bagger put things in bags, taking them to my car, loading them in my car, taking them out of the car and stacking them on the counter, putting everything away, and THEN STARTING ALL OVER AGAIN IN JUST 7 SHORT DAYS.

With six people in the family, grocery shopping and the resultant tasks can easily take 2 hours. That’s two hours I could have been reading – or playing with Ashley – or stroking the cat – or watching the fish swim in their tank – or ironing clothes – or going out to eat – or most importantly, sleeping.

Two hours a week – 104 hours a year – and if one lives to, let’s say 85 years old, over 6000 hours in a lifetime.

I know we have to eat, but I am ready for the Jetson’s approach to meals – touch a button and up pops your food.

If anyone would like to psychoanalyze me to figure out why I dislike grocery shopping so much, please feel free. Maybe some answers would help me…

Special Exposure Wednesday

Ronnie has learned how to take pictures with his new IPhone. He took this one of himself using an app called Hipstamatic. It is an app that can apply various effects to photos. So, is it Ronnie sticking his tongue out or is it Hipstamatic??



Be sure to check out all the other Special Exposure Wednesday shots at 5 Minutes For Special Needs!

Showed You!

The instructional assistant for a student labeled (incorrectly) as 'severe and profound' cut her finger last Wednesday. The student signed 'help' and 'nurse' and then led the instructional assistant by the hand to the school clinic.

No big deal, right?

Wrong - it was a very big deal.

That student, my Ashley, who has been told over and over again that her communication is very limited, who has been told by an orientation and mobility instructor that her only traveling option was to use a sighted guide and not a cane, and who has been described as living in her own little world, oblivious to all that is around her, did something very important.

Of course, I have known about her ability to care, her compassion, her reasoning skills, and her ability to travel as a blind child for too many years to count.

Maybe now everyone will believe me when I tell them of Ashley's abilities and potential.