Special Needs Awareness-Not All Disabilities Are Visable

As a special needs mom this topic comes up very often. Most people who don't deal with special needs often just think of kids in wheelchairs or kids with something visually different such as Down Syndrome. They often forget about the disabilities that are not very visual or may not always be seen. My son has Epilepsy, Failure to Thrive, Global Developmental Delays, Speech and Language Delays, Sensory Processing Disorder, feeding problems, he has 3 genetic mutations, low muscle tone, and gets sick easily. He does wear braces on his feet, but on first look at him you cannot tell there is anything wrong with him, but at 20 months old he has gone through a lot more than most people go through in their lifetimes. Kids like my son with the invisible disabilities often get looked down upon. If a child with SPD or Autism has a sensory overload and has a meltdown, people who don't understand just look at them and think they are being bad or that the parent is a bad parent and not controlling them. This is NOT true. This child cannot control this. Imagine what they feel. To them just a few people talking mixed with the radio in the store and hearing the registers beeping is like a concert standing right next to the speakers with someone pounding on your head. They get overwhelmed easily. There may be too much sound, smells may be too strong, the lights may be too bright. These children and their parents are in no way bad. You cannot see genetics. Sure some genetic problems such as Down Syndrome or other Trisomies have a certain look to them, most genetic problems do not. Other things such as epilepsy, cystic fibrosis, gastroperesis, autism, heart defects, intestinal issues, failure to thrive they do not have a certain look to them. You cannot look at someone and tell they have these problems, but just because you cannot see it doesn't mean it is not there. Many moms are accused of having Munchausen by Proxy because people cannt physically see what is wrong with these children. Sure there are mom's out there that do make these things up, which is sad, but for those of us really dealing with it why would you want to make these things up? Do you really think we want our children to have to see Dr after Dr, get test after test done, be in the hospital and watch them suffer? NO! Also, with some of these problems kids have good days and bad. You might see them playing like a normal child one day and then the next they are in the hospital. No we are not making it up, no we are not making them sick. These kids can change so quickly and often. Another thing that is often said as far as failure to thrive goes is "your child doesn't look sick." "just feed your child" "they are just small it's ok." "they are bigger than my child they dont have FTT." first off there is a difference between a child who is just small and a child with FTT. A child can be small, but still be on their curve. A child with FTT may be completely off the charts, and often drop off curves they do not stay on a growth curve. My son's curve looks more like a printout from a heart monitor. Also you cannot force a child to eat who cannot eat. Also many of these children have problems eating. they may have problems chewing and swallowing, they may have low muscle tone in their mouth, they may aspirate and cannot eat without getting sick. They may also have gut problems such as gastroperesis. A child with developmental delays is not dumb. They may just have physical limitations. They may be delays in fine motor, gross motor, speech and language or in all areas. You cannot tell just by looking at them. Some may wear braces or may use a wheelchair. Some kids may only need assistance some of the time. Just because a child can walk, they may need to use a wheelchair at times. This is not to get sympathy and it is not for fun. They might tire easily or it may be for their safety. They may run away if not restrained or they might have seizures and need protection. They might be able to walk, but long distances they cannot do.  Last but not least... Im not here to compete with other mamas about whos kid has the most health problems, whos kid is the sickest, whos kid is on the most meds or has the most therapies etc!!! This is not a contest. We all fight our own battles and should be here to support each other, not compete. I really just wish people would really step foot into a mothers shoes who has a special needs child and all the challenges and heartaches we go through

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Awesome 4th of July Crafts

1. Patriotic 4th of July Banner
 Materials:
Double sided cardstock – Red, White & Blue
1”, ½” circle punches
Star punch
Trimmer
Craft knife
Pencil and ruler
Stapler

 Instructions:
Cut five 4” X 6” pieces of double sided cardstock.
 Cut each piece into a triangle. Find the middle 2” point and draw diagonal lines to each corner.
 Use the first triangle as a template to create the other triangles.
 Embellish each triangle with a different pattern created from patterned papers. Suggested patterns: horizontal, vertical or diagonal strips, layered circles in different sizes and colors, mixed layers of circles and stars.
 Attach the triangle flags to a string or a rope with a stapler.

2. Fourth of July Centerpiece

Materials:

• STYROFOAM* Brand Products:

• 1 sheet, 2" x 12" x 36"

• Star pics:

• 4 blue; 3 red; 2 red, white and 1 blue yards Blue or Pink Jumbo Loopy Chenille (FloraCraft)

• 1 Blue and white star print fabric, 6 1/2" x 9"

• 1 Red and white stripe cotton fabric, 6" x 19"

• 1 cup lead fishing weights

• Star cookie cutter, 3 1/2"

• 1 Red felt, 2" x 7"

• 1 Silver metallic basket and bag filler

• Silver glitter spray (optional)

• Serrated knife

• Scissors

• Ruler

• Melon baller or sharp spoon

• Pencil

• Wire cutters

• Thick white craft glue and/or low temperature glue gun and glue

Steps:

Using the serrated knife, cut a 5" x 7" x 2" rectangle from the foam sheet. 

Using the melon baller or a sharp spoon, carefully scoop out a cavity in the vase bottom large enough to hold the lead weights and leaving a 1/2" wall intact around the cavity.
 
Center and glue the red and white stripe fabric around the rectangle, turning under the end. Fold over and glue excess fabric to top and bottom of vase.
 
Using the cookie cutter as a pattern, cut out two star shapes from the blue fabric. Glue to the upper left-hand corner on each side of the vase.
 
Glue weights into the cavity at the bottom of the vase. Glue scraps of 1" foam around and over weights to hold them in place. Glue felt to bottom of vase, 
trimming edges if necessary.
 
For added sparkle, spray vase with glitter spray (optional).
 
Using scissors blade, curl selected streamers on several of the pics.
 
With wire cutters, trim 3 1/2" from stem of each pic. Arrange pics in center top of vase.
 
Glue basket filler to top of vase

3. Grand Old Flag
Materials:
Styrofoam block (at least 10” x 10”)
2” x 2” fabric squares (red, white and blue)
glue
pencil
ribbon

Take your foam and cut it to the desired size that you want.  Measure out how wide each stripe needs to be to make sure they are even. 

Cut your fabric into 2” x 2” squares. You’ll need less of the blue and more of the red and white fabric (the amount depends on how close you put the squares together)

Now it’s time to glue the fabric to the foam. Wrap the fabric around the tip of your pencil, dip it in the glue and then stab it into the foam. Don’t go to deep but enough that it will stick in place.

Continue doing that until the whole flag is complete.

To finish off the sides of the flag  wrap ribbon around it.  Glue it in place as you wrap around it.

4. Patriotic Cloth Napkins
Materials:
1½ yards fabric in a patriotic print (you need less fabric for fewer napkins)
4 packages of red (or dark blue) double-fold binding/bias tape
Thread to match
Ruler
Scissors
Pins
Sewing needle
Sewing machine

Instructions:

Wash, dry, and iron your fabric before starting your project.

Cut out 8 10-inch-square pieces (they don’t have to be huge, they’re for packing in your picnic basket).
 
Zig-zag or stay-stitch around edges to prevent fraying (optional but recommended).
 
There are varying ways to sew on binding tape, here are just a couple to consider:

(A) One is to simply sew by hand. To do this, fold the binding around the napkin perimeter, cutting it off 1-inch past your beginning point. Pin in place, folding the short edge of the end piece under ¼ of an inch (run your fingernail over it to crease it into place) and position it to overlap your starting section. Pin in place and slip-stitch around the napkin on both sides.
(B) Alternatively, sew the binding on with a sewing machine. Follow the same instructions as described above and sew close to the inner edge (closest to the napkin main section), making sure to catch the binding on the other side.
 
After sewing, press your napkins, pack them in your picnic basket, and have a happy Fourth of July.

5. Americana Mason Jar
Materials:
Plaid ® Hot Glue Gun Helpers
FolkArt ® Enamels™ - Calypso Sky, 2 oz.
FolkArt ® Enamels™ Mediums - Flow Medium, 2 oz.
FolkArt ® Acrylic Colors - Brilliant Blue, 2 oz.
Mod Podge ® Gloss, 8 oz.
Recycled Jar
Alcohol
Paper towel
Medium paintbrush
Detail paintbrush
Scissors
Old book pages
Wood stars
Ribbon
Hot glue


Instructions:
Remove the label from the jar. Wipe the jar clean with rubbing alcohol.

Blend equal parts of calypso sky and flow medium.  Paint the jar with the mixture.  Allow to dry and paint a second coat.

Cut random sized stars from old book pages.  Working on the outside of the jar, apply a coat of Mod Podge to the jar, position the stars onto the jar, top-coat with a layer of Mod Podge.  Add stars until the jar is covered.  Allow to dry.

Paint a star with brilliant blue paint.

Using hot glue attach a ribbon around the jar and glue stars to the ribbon.

6. Firecracker Craft for Kids

Materials:
Bubble wrap - hopefully you have some left over from a package that came to your house.
Toilet paper roll - start saving a few of these as they always come in handy for crafting projects.
Pipe cleaners - these are also great to have handy.
Decorations - paint, markers, paper, stickers, tissue paper, etc…
Scissors
Glue/Tape/Stapler


First tape both ends of the pipe cleaner to each end of the Firecracker. You could staple the pipe cleaner in place as well. Then twist your pipe cleaner together for more of a fuse look.

Then roll up a 2×3 inch size of bubble wrap. Using a little glue or tape, stick it into your empty toilet paper roll. I just taped mine on the top and the bottom. The tape is going to get covered with your decorations anyway.

For the decorations, you can paint them with red, white, and blue paint. Or glue on paper. Or use markers to make a flag or stars. We even cut a little orange tissue paper and simply stuck them to the tops of the fuse to make it look like it was ready to blow!

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