Book Review: My Belly Has Two Buttons: A Tubie Story

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Book Review: My Belly has Two Buttons: A Tubie Buttons

Author: Meikele Lee
Illustrator: Rebecca Robertson
Pages: 20

Did you know that according to the Feeding Tube Awareness Foundation, there are over 300 conditions that require children to receive a nutritional support through tube-feeding which is expected to continue to rise?  The decision to use a feeding tube can be frightening for parents, children and siblings alike. Meikele Lee, author, mom and pediatric feeding disorder advocate, wrote this book  through the eyes  of 2-year-old Nico who takes the reader through his own journey of using a G-tube describes the meaning of NPO (nothing by mouth) and his MIC-KEY. A MIC-KEY button is used to conceal the tube as well as decrease the risk of snagging and removing the G-Tube. Nico explains his day of using a feeding bag. I enjoyed reading this book. The book does a great job in describing the purpose of a  g-tube and would be an appropriate book for children new to using a feeding tube, family members including siblings, extended family member and teachers interested in expanding disability educational programs in the school.

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Free Asthma and Allergy Training Modules

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Before Asthma and Allergy Awareness Month ends, I wanted to post links to free training modules on asthma and allergy. Below you will find a few that are all self-study which you can review on your own time. I included one for teachers and parents that focus on created a lesson plan for children which would be great for child with and without asthma and allergy issues.

Asthma and Nutrition Training Module– Developed by the University of Florida Pediatric Pulmonary Center, this course provides participants information on asthma and nutrition that may be used in assessing and counseling clients. This is a self-study module in a PowerPoint format with audio capture.

Asthma on Wheels Teacher Training Module– Created through the Mecklenburg County Health Department Asthma Education Program. This teacher training module provides a lesson plan to students with discussions of asthma and learning activities and list ways to educate students about asthma being a controllable condition in which students can live actively healthy lives.

Asthma Program- Indiana State Department of Health– Website includes information and resources for healthcare providers including a printable asthma medication poster and an asthma guideline implementation steps and tools.

Continuing Education for Healthcare Professionals– A free online course presented by Cross County University. This course focuses on information on assessment and monitoring, control of environmental factors, medicine management and patient education.

Food Allergy School Staff Training Module– A 30 minute module is designed to assist the school nurse in staff training and increase food allergy awareness for all staff including teachers, administration, aides, specialist and coaches.

AAIDD 2017 Conference

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The American Association on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities will be holding its 141st annual meeting on June 26thru June 29th in Hartford, Connecticut. The theme for the conference is “Promoting Health and Wellness.”

Registration fees are the following:

Registration Type
         Early Bird    
 before or on June 1st 		           Regular
Beginning June 2nd 
 Member General Registration*  $355  $375
 Non Member General Registration  $505  $549
 Full Time Student Registration  $220 $235
 Retiree/Self-Advocate/Family Member $220 $235
 Member One-Day Registration  $230  $245
 Non Member One-Day Registration  $260  $280
 Pre and Post Conference Sessions** $45  $45

*The general registration fee entitles you to attend all AAIDD Annual Meeting sessions and events held on Tuesday, 6/27 and Wednesday, 6/28.
** Pre and Post conference sessions are 3 hours sessions held on Monday, 6/26 and Thursday, 6/29 and are optional.

AAIDD Corporate Members- If your organization is a Corporate member, you’ll get 20% discount on registration fees for employees at AAIDD annual meetings.

Sibling Leadership Network Conference

AAIDD is pleased to host the national meeting of our partner organization on June 24-25, 2017 in Hartford.  You’ll be able to register for this meeting through the AAIDD registration link as well.

         Registration Fee $125      

For program information about this conference, please visit: http://siblingleadership.org/2017-sln-conference/

Click here for additional information

Talking About Autism, Listen To Families

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Source: The Spectrum News
Author: Shannon Des Roches Rosa

I take a deep breath before reading any article, popular or scientific, about autism. I steel myself because most of these stories paint people like my curly-haired, autistic teenage son as burdens to their families — as changelings or enigmas. I love my son Leo fiercely and consider him none of those things, so these stories hurt. My adult autistic friends are even more pained than I am by these puzzlingly negative portrayals. Click here to read the rest of the story

April Special Needs Article Links

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Welcome to the April article links. These are articles that I tweeted and or received from viewers during the month of April on special needs and developmental disability topics. Enjoy!

5 practical ways to help adults with autism gain employment (Autism Parenting Magazine)

10 things I wish the entertainment industry understood about autism (The Mighty)

20 tips on employment for students with disabilities (The Inclusion Lab)

Autism and parent fatigue (Autism Awareness Centre, Inc.)

Grandparents may be first to spot autism in a child (NHS)

How animals can help autistic children  (The Conversation)

Making art galleries autism friendly (A.N)

Moms work to empower children and adults with autism (ABC News)

New guideline tackles sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (Neurology Advisor)

Robots helping to teach students with autism in West Vancouver– (Global News)

Stop telling me I don’t look autistic (Metro)

Teaching Important life skills to kids with autism (Nurse Barb’s Daily Dose)

The innovating creative superpower of ADHD (Yes Magazine)

What teachers should know about ADHD and ASD (Edutopia)

When a child with autism gets lost (HuffPost)

Maternal Anxiety and Depression May Affect the Quality of Life of Children with Cerebral Palsy

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Mother’s Anxiety or Depression Affects Her Child’s Quality of Life, Study Suggests
Source: Cerebral Palsy News Today

A new study suggests that maternal anxiety and depression may affect the quality of life of children with cerebral palsy (CP).

The study, “Impact of Symptoms of Maternal Anxiety and Depression on Quality of Life of children with Cerebral Palsy,” was recently published in the journal Archives of Neuropsychiatry.

CP is a leading cause of physical disability.  A heterogenous condition, it causes motor and sensory impairment, negatively affecting quality of life (QOL). However, that QOL in CP patients is multidimensional, and can be affected by other variables, including the person’s specific type of CP, cognitive function, and other medical disorders. Click here to read the rest of the story.

March Special Needs Article Links

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Welcome to the March article links. These are articles that I tweeted and or received from viewers during the month of March on special needs and developmental disability topics. Enjoy!

3 key lessons no one told about dyslexia (The Pavlovic Today)

7 key social skills to help children with autism cope with bullying (Upbility)

7 signs adult ADHD might be interfering with your performance at work (Techco)

7 tips for motivating kids on the autism spectrum (PopSugar)

11 signs of autism in girls (Very Well)

Helping Asperger’s teens transition to college (My Asperger’s Child)

Helping your ADHD child with homework (Healthy Place)

Is sensory processing disorder the same as sensory processing sensitivity? (The Highly Sensitive Person)

Organization and attention challenges related to sensory processing disorder (The O.T. Toolbox)

Parents: Don’t hide your children’s autism diagnoses from them (Thinking Person’s Guide to Autism)

Sensory processing disorder at home ideas (Kids Activities Blog)

Sleep strategies for kids with autism and sensory needs (And Next Comes L)

What an autistic shutdown is like for me (The Mighty)

What teachers should know about ADHD and ASD (Edutopia)

 

World Down Syndrome Day

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Today is World Down Syndrome Day. A campaign designed to create a single voice for advocating for the rights, inclusion and well-being of people with Down Syndrome. Resources on this page include information on inspiring articles and facts on people with Down Syndrome.

Post From Special Needs Resource Blog:

20 Facts You Should Know About Down Syndrome

Down Syndrome Characteristics

Facts About Down Syndrome (Infographic)

Top Books On Down Syndrome For Parents and Professionals

The following are articles highlighting stories around the country on Down syndrome:

Clemson Student With Down Syndrome To Compete In Pageant

Couple with Down Syndrome Celebrate 22 Years of Marriage

Displaying The Myths of Down’s Syndrome

First Person With Down Syndrome Finishes Local Half-Marathon

Funny Down Syndrome Ad Will Change The Way You Feel about “Special Needs”

Get To Know Madeline Stuart, The World’s First Supermodel With Down Syndrome

Swimmers with Down Syndrome Find Empowerment in the Pool

Walgreens Features Model With Down Syndrome

Woman With Down Syndrome Starts Her Own Bakery

World Syndrome Day Marked In Georgia

Resources Scarce for Adults With Autism

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Source:(The Gazette)
Writer: Liz Zabel

Leah Parker wasn’t diagnosed with autism until she was 18.

Despite recognizing the symptoms in her behavior, the 19-year-old University of Iowa English major said her parents had trouble believing her.

Maybe it’s because she got “good at pretending and blending in” by studying others, even though it didn’t feel natural. Or perhaps it’s because her special interest in dogs is socially acceptable enough to “slip by without people noticing,” she said.

But when the doctors delivered the news that she is, in fact, autistic, her parents were shocked.

“A lot of people seem to think it’s much more rare than it actually is,” Parker said. “They have a picture in their head that everybody who is autistic is Rain Man or something … People just know a lot more autistic people than they realize.” Click here to read the rest of the story

Autism and Managing Multi-Tasking and Memory

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Source: (Huffington Post)
Writer: Mary Bailey

There are studies and articles that explore the mysteries of multi-tasking and memory in the life of individuals with autism, but there are still huge question marks which have yet to be answered. In my own search for the keys to Chase’s brain, I learned that researchers have discovered that the brains of children with autism are inflexible at rest-to-task performance. This basically means that specific brain connections do not change or function as they should, when switching from a resting-state to a task-state. There can also be impairments in the parts of the brain responsible for prospective memory (remembering things that need to be done in the future) and retrospective memory (remembering things that occurred in the past). Click here to read the rest of the story