Special Needs
Find support for parents of children with special needs. Learn how to advocate for your child, raise funds for needed equipment and find helpful organizations.
Filter by: Advocacy, Assistive Technology, Autism, Schools for the Blind, Support, Visual Impairment
Visual Impairment
Insightful Publications
Insightful Publications is a website designed to make state handbooks and the information they contain accessible via screen readers.
Support, Visual Impairment
10 Users You Should Be Following On Twitter if You’re the Parent of a Child with Visual Impairments
Are you the parent of a blind child? Are you on Twitter? You should be! We'll help you get started by showing you who you should follow.
Assistive Technology, iPad Apps and Accessibility
Learn How to Use the Accessibility Features on Your iPad
Learn how special accessibility features designed specifically for people with varying abilities, including those with visual impairments, are having a a major impact on how our children can access the...
Visual Impairment
Raising a Blind Baby: A Father’s Perspective
Nick writes about learning that his baby daughter, Mia, is blind with LCA. Most blog posts are written by mothers, but here Nick writes from the father's point of view.
Parenting, Special Needs
Why it’s OK to Ask Me About My Special Needs Child
When you see my daughter, please ask questions! I believe it is my role to educate others about being deafblind and how this shapes (but doesn't define) my child.
Support
To My Loved Ones Who Want to Help Me Feel a Little Less Lonely
As the parents of special needs children we need support and love. But do you know what we need more than anything? Someone to help ease the loneliness and isolation.
Support
Strengthening Your Parenting Partnership During Pediatric Illness
Raising a child with significant special or medical needs is challenging. Have you stopped to think about how that challenge is effecting your relationship with your spouse or partner?
Support, Visual Impairment
How to Use Twitter for Parents of Kids with Visual Impairments
Twitter may seem confusing, but it's actually very useful for learning more about blindness and visual impairment. Here is why parents of blind kids should be on Twitter!
Support
Am I Failing My Child? Managing Guilt as a Special Needs Parent
All parents feel guilt, but for parents of special needs kids, those feelings of guilt can be multiplied by a thousand.
Potty Training, Visual Impairment
7 Steps to Teach a Blind Child how to be Independent in Public Bathrooms
Rusty has put together some sound advice on how you can help your older blind children navigate bathrooms on their own independently!
Education, Visual Impairment
5 Back-to-School Resources for Kids with Visual Impairments and their Families
Want to make this school year the best year yet? Browse our collection of resources for tips and ideas on how to make the most of the "Back-to-School" season!
Support
I’m Planning for a 70-Year retirement… How About You?
When you're raising a special needs child, you need to plan for your own retirement as well as your child's financial future. How can you cover both expenses in your...
Support
Things in My House that I Wish Would Just Take Care of Themselves
This is going to sound like a lot of complaining, but really it's my response to the special needs world closing in on me. Sometimes you need to come up...
Potty Training, Visual Impairment
8 Tips for Surviving Toilet Training in Public Bathrooms with Your Blind Child
Toilet training a child with special needs is difficult enough... have you tackled public bathrooms yet?
Advocacy
Learning Advocacy and Self-Advocacy
Marianne Haas, a TVI, disability advocate and employment counselor, gives strategies and tips on how to advocate for your blind child.
Assistive Technology, Visual Impairment
Smart Specs Help Legally Blind See
New assistive glasses adjust images in real-time for people who are visually impaired.
Assistive Technology, Braille and Literacy
Dot Braille Smart Watch
New braille smart watch features four cells of refreshable braille.
Assistive Technology, Orientation and Mobility
Smart Cane Recognizes Faces
The XploR cane uses smartphone technology to send vibrations to the user when it detects a familiar face.
Eye Conditions and Syndromes, Special Needs
Why I Loved Attending the CHARGE Conference
I was nervous about attending my first CHARGE conference, but I am so happy that I did! It was wonderful! You should attend a family conference about your child's diagnosis...
Special Needs
Why You Should Hire a Special Needs Parent
Are you good at juggling multiple projects? Do you adapt well to change? You may be a special needs parent!
Advocacy
How My Disability has Taught Me to Embrace My Own Uniqueness
Perhaps if we all made a positive difference in our own unique way we would feel more connected to each other and less afraid to be imperfect.
Support
Is this as Good as it Gets?
Maybe things are good now, but you know they will just get harder as your child grows up. Disability doesn't get easier as kids get older! Are these days your...
Visual Impairment
What Does it Mean to be Blind?
How can you explain blindness to your child when you are sighted? And how can you explain sight to a child who has never seen?
Support
What would you buy for your special needs child if money wasn’t an issue?
Sometimes it's fun to live in fantasy land and imagine what we would give our kids if money were no object. What if you had a million dollars? What would...