When I'm Judged for Encouraging My Son With Down Syndrome to Be Independent

I was relaxing by my fire pit a few weeks ago when my housemate brought me a piece of mail. It was a form I hoped I’d never see: a jury duty summons. I opened it, viewed the dates, and followed all the next steps.

It’s taken me many years to understand the importance of setting healthy boundaries.

On August 30, 2015, my husband and I continued our “decade birthday” tradition for our siblings and spouses. This was my brother’s 60th birthday, so he chose the destination. Our flights from Australia and Florida landed all six of us in New York City for five days and a weekend with my brother’s daughter — who flew in from London.

Many of us are parents whose children are on summer break. Five of my kids just wrapped up their first-ever year of school. They finished 10th, eighth, second, and kindergarten/first grades. Before this, they were homeschooled almost exclusively. I took pride in the fact that I did almost everything on my own for five kids — several of whom have learning challenges. (The one exception was our teenager who attended a homeschool co-op for ninth grade.)

People always ask me “how I do it.” They want to know how I can be so ill yet work full-time, go to school, and own and ride a horse.

White matter clinic appointments feel the most complex and exhausting appointments we have in this family. These appointments have multiple specialists in and out in a short period of time with an overwhelming load of information and recommendations. So on December 6, 2019, when the genetics part team explained my child’s whole exome sequencing (WES) results, I am sure I missed some of what they said. I was surprised they found anything at all — we had already hit the “rare disease jackpot” several times in our home, and how many times can lightning strike in the same place? When the doctors said “TENM1 is a candidate gene that is technically a variant of unknown significance but will be a disease soon when current studies are published,” what did they mean? I remember them saying I was taking it “so well” and that “most parents cry,” to which I replied, “I thought it could be worse.” The doctors said it was possible that my child may not develop all of the listed symptoms, and I clung to their words.

I once read an article that said the average person with celiac disease is taking their condition too seriously. I remember he proudly admitted to plucking breadcrumbs off of his salad and said that doing this is “totally fine” if you have celiac disease. He also wrote that although gluten may not be killing us, stress most certainly is.

Disability Pride Month is here, and as someone living with cerebral palsy, I’m proud to be part of a community full of acceptance, inclusion, and diversity. Here are five reasons why we should celebrate Disability Pride Month as people with disabilities.

break from technology and had a meaningful chat? Communicating effectively with each other is essential. Here are 13 ways that talking with each other can improve your relationship. ADVERTISEMENT One of the best ways to heal a poor relationship is to eliminate judgmental attitudes.

perfectionism may stand in your way of achieving your goals because you can’t accept mistakes.So, because you’re afraid you can’t do something flawlessly, you do nothing. Perfectionism makes you feel like a complete failure, and your self-esteem plummets. Once you’ve embraced self-belief, you see mistakes as learning tools and reject the illusion of being perfect.Perhaps you value being tough on yourself as a virtue.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/narcissistic-personality-disorder/symptoms-causes/syc-20366662https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5783345/#:~:text=Empirical%20evidence%20for%20the%20narcissism,1992%20in%20adolescents%20%5B2%5D.

ADVERTISEMENT Perhaps one of the most sensible conversation starters is to ask someone to tell you a little about themselves. According to an article published by PNAS, people spend thirty to forty percent of conversations discussing their experiences. Not only does this small talk put strangers at ease, but it makes you seem more intelligent.How you phrase the question can also make the answers more interesting.

“You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with,” says Jim Rohn, famous American author, motivational speaker, and entrepreneur.

Raised by a narcissistic mother and an ever-absent father myself, I understand the importance of having mentally stable parents to raise you.

The University of Berkely found that men who show their feelings have emotional diversity. ADVERTISEMENT When children learn to display both positive and negative emotions effectively, they have lower rates of depression and anxiety. Holding things inside is not suitable for anyone’s mental health.The time to teach your boys not to bottle up their feelings is from the cradle.

Seeing a bird perched perilously upon a high wire seems reminiscent of living with chronic illness, which is a human health condition or disease that is persistent or otherwise long-lasting in its effects. I’ve thought about what life can be like for the chronic illness community. Some days, chronic illness can seem to take up the entirety of a room, and accomplishing anything outside of the difficulties of the illness may feel impossible. Other days, you may be able to hold chronic illness in your hand, place it in your pocket, and carry on as you try to create enough good memories to get you through to the next inevitable hard day.

“I can’t believe what I’m managing to get through.” ~Frank Bruni

Not available June 23? Don’t worry. Register now and we’ll send you the replay link to watch at your convenience.Brain development may be disrupted and delayed by trauma, anxiety, fear, and stress. This can lead to a host of problems, including difficulty with attention and focus, working memory problems, delays in language development, and disrupted sleep in children and teens.

abusive relationships as a survival response.An overly independent person may seem cold, distant, and even harsh on the surface. Their instance of caring for themselves can come across as selfish and arrogant. Yet, they are often afraid to allow you into their confidence for fear of hurt and rejection.If you’re this person, you may be hiding incredible pain and vulnerability under your iron façade.

I was 46 when I found out I was pregnant.  I was pregnant when my oldest child had just given birth to her first kiddo. I was a grandma and still had 11- and 13-year-old boys at home. I was teaching at a state school in a behavioral disability classroom. I thought I was nearing the end of my teaching career.