One of my favorite things about parents of special needs children is that we celebrate every little bit of progress our kiddos make. We enjoy even the tiniest bits of progress our children make because it sometimes takes them weeks, months, or years to learn to do things that neuro-typical children learn to do in a few weeks, days, or even hours. So when our special needs children finally learn a new skill or even master something such as standing in line at the grocery store without having a melt-down, it gives us a reason to celebrate!

It’s so much fun watching our children learn to roll over, crawl, walk, and talk. In fact, we usually take for granted that our children will learn those things and forget how awesome it is to witness the progress our children make from birth—when they can do almost nothing for themselves—until they become young adults—who are able to take care of themselves independently.

I remember how thrilled my husband and I were when, at age 4, Hannah finally learned to feed herself! (She was—and still is—very hypotonic, so it was very hard for her to learn to hold and scoop food with a spoon or spear food with a fork.) We were overjoyed when she learned to put on her own socks and shoes. We celebrated when she finally (just a few years ago) began to be interested in and enjoy opening her own gifts at Christmas or her birthday.

But none of those experiences were equal to the one we had just a few weeks ago.

Several weeks ago, my 20-year-old daughter, Hannah–who has severe autism and is totally non-verbal, finally received her new augmentative communication device. It took us months of waiting and paperwork (and lots of work on the part of her speech pathologist for whom we are so grateful!!) before it finally arrived, so we were thrilled when it was delivered to us!

We were also a bit nervous because the communication devices we’ve tried in the past turned out to be very complicated, and Hannah wasn’t willing to use them. In fact, she flatly refused to use them after a while. We began to think that perhaps she just didn’t have an interest in communicating with us and that maybe she was content to point to things she wanted or take us to the things she wanted us to get for her or help her do. We began to think that we’d never have the chance to celebrate Hannah’s ability to talk to us—through the use of her own voice or of a communication device.

But thankfully, we were wrong!

Hannah’s new device, we call it her “talker” to make it simple, is a lot like an iPad. It has a main screen from which she can choose a main topic. Then, once she chooses a main topic from that screen, it takes her to another screen with more options related to that topic. Once her speech pathologist and I got the device set up the way we thought it would be easiest for Hannah to use, we began showing her how to get to different menus depending on what she wanted to communicate to us at that moment.

When Hannah’s younger sister, Mary Grace (age 12), saw the new device, she wanted to check and see how it works. She also was curious to know how Hannah would react to it and how much success she would have using it. For that reason, she went to the main screen, showed it to Hannah, and said, “Hannah, I want you to tell me something with your new talker. If you could tell me just one thing, what would it be?”

Immediately, Hannah looked at the screen, searched her options, and reached out to touch the topic she had chosen. Then the three of us—Hannah, Mary Grace, and I—heard Hannah’s new “voice” say, “I love you!” Mary Grace and I then looked at Hannah to see a huge smile on her face and a look that showed how happy she was to have finally been able to tell her sister that she loves her.

Of course Mary Grace and I began to cry. For the first time in 20 years, Hannah was able to express in words her love for her sister! It was a moment that I’m sure none of the three of us will ever forget. And you can be sure we celebrated that moment!

You see, even though it can be frustrating and tiring caring for a child with special needs, there are moments, just like there are with any other child, that are worth celebrating. There are moments of joy in the middle of the difficult times. There are breakthroughs that allow us to hang in there a little while longer.

As difficult as things sometimes are, I’m very thankful for these good times. I’m thankful that God has blessed us with this new opportunity for Hannah to use her “voice” to explore a whole new world that has opened up to her if she’ll take advantage of it. I’m thankful for the chance to share with other parents of special needs children and hopefully encourage them along the way.

In spite of circumstances that sometimes seem too difficult to handle, God can and will give you reasons to celebrate along the way. Just as Hannah loves her sister, God loves you and your special needs child. So get ready to celebrate!

If you have a child with special needs, what achievements are you celebrating recently?  Tell us so we can celebrate with you!

For many children—especially special needs children, but it can apply to typical children too—the arrival of summer can be a little stressful because it often means a huge change in routine. My autistic daughter has a hard time transitioning from our “regular” homeschool year to the less-structured summer months. We usually continue to homeschool over the summer, but because of special summer activities, vacations, and a more relaxed homeschool schedule, there are still some pretty big changes.

I put together a list of ideas that I try to keep in mind at the beginning of each summer to help her transition go a little easier. I hope these ideas are helpful to you and your family too!

1. Talk about it ahead of time: One of the easiest yet most important things I’ve ever done to help my daughter get ready for the transition to summer is simply to start talking about it at least a few weeks ahead of time. I don’t go in depth or make a big deal out of it. I simply mention to her that our regular school year will soon be over, and I tell her about a few of the special things we’ll be doing that summer.
2. Let your special needs child help plan a summer bucket list: If your child is old enough and is capable of giving input, it’s a great idea to let your child make suggestions for places she would like to go and things she would like to do. If this is too hard for her, make a list of activities and destinations for her to choose from. Use pictures (cut from magazines or printed off the internet) to show the choices if your child can’t read yet. Then go through the list together and make a list of the things you know you want to do over the summer. Keep in mind that you might enjoy choosing fun hobbies to work on over the summer too!
3. Talk about how much school work you will do over the summer (if any): Let your child know about any school work that will be done over the summer and discuss the best days and times. For example, my daughter likes to know that we’ll do 2 hours of school work each Tuesday and Thursday morning from 9:00 until 11:00 a.m. Younger children may not need you to be that specific, and that’s fine. Older children, though, and many autistic children like to have a more exact idea.
4. Keep as many routines as possible: Even during the summer, we attempt to get the children in bed at about the same time each night, and we try to get them up at about the same time each morning as much as possible. For my autistic child, we keep other routines too. One example is that she gets to play the computer for 30 minutes each morning after she brushes her teeth and gets dressed. These simple routines can make the less structured days of summer seem more familiar.
5. Plan some “down days” to help keep your child from being overwhelmed: Don’t feel like you have to cram every day full of activities! For many children (and parents!) having too many places to go and things to do is overwhelming. Maybe you can declare one day each week to stay home and take a break. Maybe you and your children can read the library books you’ve checked out or play in the sprinkler or even watch a movie together and just relax. You don’t have to go somewhere and do something every single day. It’s ok to have some days at home.
6. Create a calendar of activities, obligations, appointments, etc. where everyone can see it. (Or consider making a more visual schedule.): Depending on the age and level of functioning of your special needs child, you may choose to create a calendar with commitments, appointments, and activities listed on it, or you may want to post a visual schedule instead. (A visual schedule is simply a calendar or chart with pictures instead of words.) If looking at a calendar showing a month or a week at a time is too overwhelming for your child, you may want to post a schedule each evening that shows activities for only the following day.
7. Try to get together with friends—especially a close friend or two—over the summer: It may be hard for your child to understand why he won’t see all of his friends over the summer like he did during the school year. Be sure he understands that families often go on vacation and do other special summer activities that cause them to be away from home. You might need to explain that his friends will be back even though they may be away some over the summer and that he will once again see his friends on a regular basis when school begins again in the fall. And be sure if at all possible to plan a few special play days when he can get together with his friends over the summer.
8. Create (or let your child help create) a back-to-school countdown chart or calendar: This could be a calendar on which you mark off the days, popsicle sticks in a jar (Just start with one stick for each day of summer break and remove one stick each day.), or even a paper chain (Similar to the popsicle sticks. Just make a paper chain with one link for each day of summer. Simply cut off one link each day.). If the countdown is something your child can participate in, it will be more fun and meaningful.

While making the transition from the school year to summer may still be a bit difficult for your special needs child, I’ve found these ideas to be very helpful for my family. Some of the ideas take a small amount of preparation, but all of them can be done easily and without spending a lot of money. And your children can help with most of these ideas, which helps make the transition more real and more fun!

Do you have suggestions for helping your special needs child (or typical children) transition from the school year to summer? If so, please share your ideas in the comments!