Special Needs, Support
COVID Taught the World About Grief and Isolation; Special Needs Families Already Learned These Lessons
Maybe the world now recovering from the COVID pandemic can learn something from parents of disabled children who have already developed coping skills.
Behavior, Special Needs
Nurturing the Emotional Development of Children with Disabilities
Lesley Potgieter writes about the emotional development of children with special needs. As we focus on our children's cognitive and physical development, are we ignoring their emotional development?
Support
Do you have the courage to redefine disability?
What does disability look like to you? How do people with disabilities interact with the mainstream world? What can you do to help?
Communication, Visual Impairment
Helping your blind child develop effective listening skills
Learning to listen carefully and distinguish between different sounds is an important skill for any child, but espeically for children with visual impairments. Lesley Potgieter explains how to assess your...
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.
Eye Conditions and Syndromes
Hi, I’m Helen. I have Cerebral Palsy.
Is this speech, Lesley talks about learning to imagine an accepting community and encourages her listeners to empathize with others while also acknowledging their own deep feelings.
Communication
Looking Deeper to Find the Person Within
Lesley Potgieter writes about reaching a child who cannot speak. Our ability to communicate via speech is the way the world accepts and interprets us, but Lesley argues that we...
Advocacy
Learning to Forge my Own Identity while Living with Cerebral Palsy
Lesley Potgieter writes about how it can be difficult to live up to mainstream standards as a person with disabilities. She encourages parents to help their children create their own...
Education, Special Needs
Reaching the Disabled Child in the Mainstream Classroom
What happens when a child with a disability is in a mainstream classroom? How can teachers accommodate their students with special needs? Lesley Potgieter describes her own experiences as both...