ABLE Account Investment Options for Those With Disabilities

The State of Ohio finally has ABLE account investment options for those with disabilities which should already or soon be available in all 50 states.

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As Long As It's Healthy.... But What If It's Not?

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com

By Sarah Watts

Six months into our pregnancy with Henry, after our bombshell diagnosis of spina bifida, Lou and I would make regular treks up to Park Ridge to see our Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist, who kept us abreast on how the baby was doing in utero. Since I'm ridiculously extroverted and I adore small talk, I started chatting up the receptionist as we were filling out some paperwork, post-appointment (Lou, his usual introvert self, was probably silently willing me to stop talking). At this point, we had already been told by two separate doctors that Henry would be totally paralyzed from the waist down.

We started talking about her kids -- three girls! -- and I asked her if she preferred girls, or if she might try for a boy. We both quickly agreed that the baby's sex wasn't really that important -- boy or girl, they were blessings.

"Oh, I like girls, but it doesn't matter to me!" she exclaimed. "You know, as long as they're healthy and running around!"

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Traveling Abroad and the Child With Special Needs: Do The Right Thing

Read more: https://www.yahoo.com/travel/unitedwithivy-mom-was-so-wrong-107267702627.html

By Hallie Levine

 
Levine and her adorable daughter, Jo Jo, who's 6. (Hallie Levine)

As a mom of three kids, two of whom have special needs (one has Down Syndrome and one is legally blind), I’m well aware that vacation traveling with small children — especially those with disabilities — is no walk in the park. But the attention mongering schemes of Elit Kirschenbaum, who took to Twitter last week lambasting a United Airways flight attendant for refusing to allow her to hold her disabled three year old daughter on her lap during take off, make me want to puke.

“She told us that we had to make her sit. And I said to her, ‘I would give my left arm to make her sit, of course I want to have her sit but she just can’t do it,” Kirschenbaum recently told CBS news. 

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Moms To Kids With Special Needs

I am Strong....Do I have a Choice? 

By Kavita Varma-White

Source: http://www.today.com/moms/i-am-strong-do-i-have-choice-moms-special-needs-2D11919172

For moms with special needs kids, the task of “doing it all” is an even more daunting one.

In addition to the normal stresses of parenting, they bear the emotional and often financial strain of being an advocate for a child who needs more. And many of the hundreds of women who wrote to Maria Shriver and TODAY say it’s the most exhausting challenge of all. 

This week, Shriver and TODAY are highlighting women's stories and their financial struggles in a series called #DoingItAll, culminating in a "help-a-thon" on TODAY Wednesday; in the meantime, TODAY Moms is asking moms to help each other with some of the most common challenges women face as they try to take care of everyone and everything in their lives.

Cindy Findling’s husband died, leaving her and her two children, one of whom has autism. Findling says that like others in her position, she struggles to find enough time and get enough help.

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It's Okay To Talk To The Kid In The Wheelchair (really... it is!)

Tell us about your experiences, good or bad and if you have recommendations to share. 

Source: http://www.news10.net/news/article/262461/2/Its-ok-to-talk-to-the-kid-in-the-wheelchair

YUBA CITY, CA - It was a strange idea by a River Valley High School senior, but one that had an entire school excited.

Nick Handlos, born with spina bifida, asked classmates to spend a week in a wheelchair to get a small glimpse into his life.

"They don't know what I'm capable of. They just think that because I'm in a wheelchair that means that I can't do a lot of things," Handlos said. "I can do basically every single thing they can do, just a whole lot differently."

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How to Find Wheelchair Access Around the World

For those with disabilities, traveling around the world is a little more difficult if not downright daunting. To find an accessible local business or service is difficult enough, but in a foreign country it is almost impossible – or at least it used to be.

That is until Raul Krauthausen of Germany, a wheelchair user himself, developed a free iPhone app just for that. Called Wheelmap, the app shows wheelchair access places around the world and rates them on their accessibility.

Click here for more information.