Refreshing the discussion

      It has been a long while since I initiated this blog site.  Since then I have finished my double master's degree at Michigan State University.  This course work was called, Integrated Learning and Behavioral Specialist. In short, now I am a Special Education teacher after beginning my teaching career in 1974.  Also since I began this blog, my four children and I all have graduated from universities. Katie and I earning Master's degrees while my three sons earned Bachelor's degrees. Remember that three of those four graduates struggled through school with Learning Disabilities.  Since then I have found out that I have a Nonverbal Learning Disability. All of these challenges have complicated and slowed our efforts, but as they say, "that which does not kill you makes you stronger" and we are here to prove it.
     Also since I created this blog I have become the Autism Building Coach in the middle school where I am a special education teacher.  In that capacity, I joined with others to create and implement a peer to peer support elective program for students with Autism called LINKS.  In these roles, I work hard to support students with autism and their parents with the same passion that I feel when I support parents of children with Learning Disabilities or Cognitive Impairments.
      My purpose in writing this blog is to support parents of children who struggle in school.  Having struggled myself, with an undiagnosed disability and then as I watched my own children "melt under the kitchen table" when it came time to do homework, I have learned how to persevere to the point of success. Having moved away from friends and support groups as my husband climbed his career ladder, I often found myself alone in the world with my children who could not read or remember what they read.  The difficult the task of learning made homework and reading aversive to them.  I struggled alone to find tutors and resources to help me help my children. My goal is to provide the help to parents that I so desperately needed.  I am happy to say that now I have become a board member of the Learning Disability Association of Michigan.  This fine organization works, like I do, to support students and families who are touched by disabilities- as they advocate for those concerns at the state and national levels. 
   Having come through the fire, so to speak, please allow me offer my compassion and support as you support your child along the path of self actualization.