10 Tips for a Better Relationship With the Special Education Team This Year
I want my kids to have a successful school year. If you are anything like me, the beginning of the year can make me (and my kids) really anxious. I worry about the new teachers and the people who make up part of my child’s special education team. As we approach...
Special Needs or Disability: The Language My Daughter With Cerebral Palsy Wants Me to Use
In different disability circles there seems to be a conversation about “preferred language.” For example, many of us parents feel strongly about “people first language” and most professionals are taught to use it. However, almost all my friends...
When My Daughter With Down Syndrome Got a Makeover at the Mall
My youngest daughter has Down syndrome. She also happens to have a great love for fashion which includes: clothes, hair and makeup. She’s the girl who watches makeup and hair tutorials on youtube, then proceeds to try it on her own. Even at 5:00 am one morning,...
When a Classmate Called My Daughter the R-Word
We knew this day would happen, the day someone would call one of my kids the r-word. The r-word is hate-speech towards people with disabilities. The disability community is vocal about the use of the word and why it is harmful and violent towards their community. This...
Surviving the Summer With Kids With Disabilities
Summer break is here, and for some kids with disabilities, the change in routine can be a challenge (which means it can be a challenge for the parents, too). In this last episode of Unexceptional Moms, Erin and I talk about surviving the summer with kids with...
Ellen Stumbo writes and speaks about finding beauty in brokenness with gritty honesty and openness. She's passionate about sharing the real – sometimes beautiful and sometimes ugly – aspects of faith, parenting, special needs, and adoption. Ellen’s writing has appeared on Focus on the Family, LifeWay, MomSense, Not Alone, Mamapedia and the Huffington Post.