Helping Your Child Participate in the Community

It can be hard to imagine community inclusion for your child if all your experiences end in meltdown. Design an outing with the sole specific goal of getting there and back successfully.

Making it through a church service with a child with special needs can be a spiritually trying experience, but setting appropriate expecations and incentives can give you a prayer of success.

Many families feel rejected by faith communities that don't seem to know how to welcome and embrace children with special needs. Amy Fenton Lee, who blogs at The Inclusive Church, offers five ways that parents can start leading their churches toward inclusion.

Bringing your child out into the community often means finding yourself in overwhelming places like the mall. These five tips will make your trip shorter, smoother, and less stressful.

In an excerpt from The Sensory Processing Disorder Answer Book, an occupational therapist shares tips on keeping your child from sensory overload at Disney theme parks.

Most parents of children with special needs resent the stares of strangers, but in her book "Breakthrough Parenting," author Judy Winter puts a more charitable spin on the reasons people look.

You can't believe some of the things people say to you about your special-needs child or your parenting. If you can't avoid those folks who can't say anything nice, you can manage their behavior -- and yours -- more effectively.

Is your child afraid of escalators? Reluctance to step aboard that moving staircase can lead to anything from frustrated persuasion to irate shoppers lined up behind you to a full-blown tantrum. It may seem like a small deal to you to find your moment and jump aboard, but don't assume your child's just being stubborn or a scaredy-cat. There can be legitimate reasons for escalator reluctance.

Wondering how your child can contribute to the Hurricane Katrina relief effort? Every little piggy bank helps. Coinstar machines -- the ones that let you dump your pennies and get cash -- can also help you donate your nickels and dimes to the American Red Cross. Here's how to help your child gather coins for the cause.

Does your child need to avoid certain foods, shrink from certain sensory experiences, or otherwise require people to know what not to do to him or her? Print out one of these warning labels, tape or pin it on your child's shirt, and put everyone on alert.

Making sure your kids aren't hearing lyrics that might disturb them (or you) got easier with Parental Advisory Stickers, but harder with online downloads. Here's how to really find out what your child is listening to.

Find tips on "bringing people with special needs closer to Christ" in a book written by two moms of children with special needs who also have experience as church helpers.

Review of a book that tells how to create "a model community literacy program for people with intellectual disabilities."

Review of a book. written for professionals, that explains finding placement in the community using a future-centered approach.