Disability

Many parents find it challenging to balance the care and attention they give to each child, but this can be especially difficult when one child has a disability and another does not. Caring for a child with a disability can be so all-consuming that parents often worry their other children are falling by the wayside....

Psychologists across the country agree that a key element of self-care during the quarantine and isolation periods associated with the COVID-19 pandemic is staying connected to one another. Most disability service centers that normally provide adult day programs, support groups, recreational activities, and events have had to shut down in order to maintain the safety...

Raising a child can have profound effects on marriages and relationships between parents. For parents of a disabled child, the effects may be heightened because the child’s care needs can introduce unique challenges into the romantic partnership.  This is not to say that these relationships are doomed to fail. Many parents of children with disabilities...

Thousands of Americans with disabilities have undergone sterilization procedures without providing informed consent. Beginning in the early 1900s, supporters of the eugenics movement sought to sterilize those with cognitive impairments in order to “cleanse” the human gene pool of “undesirable” traits. This was sanctioned by many state governments, as well as the U.S. Supreme Court...

The back-to-school season is officially upon us! As part of our back-to-school series, we want to shed light on an important topic: handling seizures in the classroom. Disclaimer: This page was not written by medical professionals, and therefore this information is not to be taken as medical advice. For specific instructions regarding seizure care, ask...

The STAR Institute for Sensory Processing Disorder (SPD) defines sensory processing as “the way the nervous system receives messages from the senses and turns them into appropriate motor and behavioral responses” (1). SPD occurs when these sensory signals are not detected by the brain or are not matched with the correct responses. This can cause...

Going to the movies can be stressful for children with autism, sensory processing disorders, or developmental disabilities. Things like theater lighting, the volume of the movie, and having to sit still quietly may cause distress. This often causes families with children with developmental disabilities to leave a movie early or decide against going to the...

There are 102,000 children in the U.S. foster care system waiting to be adopted. Children with special circumstances (whether they are older children, are siblings, have disabilities, or they have complex medical needs) have an average wait of nearly 4 years in the foster care system. We are going to focus on those children with...