Archive for the “parenting a child with special needs” Category

For Mother’s Day this year? Blind mums

May 13, 201714 CommentsPosted in blindness, parenting a child with special needs, radio, technology for people who are blind

I subscribe to a podcast by the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) called Ouch. It features BBC journalists with disabilities who bring their personal experiences to the table, and it can be downright charming to hear them talk about disability in their lovely British and Irish accents. It’s intriguing, too, to hear how British and Irish […]

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Mondays with Mike: Real life comes calling

February 27, 20173 CommentsPosted in Mike Knezovich, Mondays with Mike, parenting a child with special needs, politics

As many of you know, our son Gus lives in a group home in Wisconsin that is operated by Bethesda Lutheran Communities. Gus is developmentally disabled, and he lives with three other developmentally disabled men in a yellow ranch home in a bucolic little burg called Watertown. Some terrific people have cared for Gus and […]

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Mark your calendars: Beth Finke is going Speechless for an entire half-hour tonight

September 21, 201610 CommentsPosted in blindness, Mondays with Mike, parenting a child with special needs, Uncategorized

A new TV Comedy about a family with a son who has special needs hired a young actor with a disability to play the part. Speechless premieres on ABC tonight at 7:30 central time, and I’ll be watching. Okay, listening. You might remember my negative review of a TV comedy that debuted in 2014 about […]

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Mondays with Mike: 50-50? Gus will take those odds.

August 29, 201624 CommentsPosted in Mike Knezovich, Mondays with Mike, parenting a child with special needs, Uncategorized

On September 3, 1986, Beth called me at work and said, “Today’s the day.” As in, her OB-GYN was scheduling a C-section for later that day to deliver our son. Because Beth’s a type 1 diabetic she routinely—thanks to the kindness of friends—made twice-weekly visits to the doctor to monitor things. So I was used […]

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Bennett, the Brailliant, and my visit to Tess Corners Elementary in Wisconsin

April 27, 201616 CommentsPosted in blindness, Braille, careers/jobs for people who are blind, parenting a child with special needs, questions kids ask, technology for people who are blind, travel, Uncategorized, visiting schools, Writing for Children

Last week my Seeing Eye dog and I met a second-grader I’ve been hearing about for years. Bennett is a student at Tess Corners Elementary School in Wisconsin, and Whitney and I spent the entire day at his school Friday. I first heard of Bennett back in 2013, when his mom wrote to tell me […]

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