Family Issues: Article Index

If you're child's on a restricted diet, bounces off the wall with too much sugar, or just needs to avoid a long stay in the dentist's chair, big batches of high-calorie, high-sugar, hyper-loading sweet stuff can be a crisis. Rather than empty the trick-or-treat bag (or Easter basket, or goody bag) into the trash when the kids aren't looking --...

Children with special needs may be unable to respond to our declarations of love the way we'd like. Sometimes you can get the message through easier if you show rather than tell, or find fun and disarming ways to sneak your feelings through. Here are 31 ways to start.

Avoiding sugar, preservatives, colors, or food allergens this Easter? Be a wise Easter bunny and fill plastic eggs with a variety of fun little gifts instead.

Serve up the classic Thanksgiving dessert without endangering your child with food allergies.

Looking for an app to help your child with special needs? See what these parents have created for you.

Parents of children with special needs require extraordinary flexibility in their jobs and their schedules. Moms who've found that as About.com guide share their tips for balancing work with a child's challenges.

Find recipes from around the Web for safe baked goods for children with food allergies, Celiac disease, diabetes, and other dietary restrictions.

Clothing battles aren't worth fighting -- and aren't necessary if you use a little creativity in working your child's personal preferences into your dress-up plans. Here's how.

Children with special needs may need some extra magic to make their Halloween a treat. Find foods and finery especially intended to make the day...

Big get-togethers with friends and family are a holiday tradition. Find ways to include your child in the festivities while excluding tantrums and meltdowns.

Most teens worry about smelling bad in front of their peers, but some adolescents with special needs may lack the sensory sensitivity or emotional maturity to notice or care if body odor's a problem. Here are five ways parents can help.

Putting together a meal that your child can help with, or that your child will agree to eat, can be tricky for the families of children with special needs. This cookbook, while written for bachelors and single dads, is a great addition to the special-needs family kitchen, with easy, clever recipes that turn kid favorites into nutritious meals.

Review of a cute book of essays about finding a pet for a family in which one child is severely disabled with congenital CMV.

With recipes, cooking tips, and lots of photos of people dining happily together, this book describes how to make meals more pleasant and inclusive for a person with a disability.

Review of a book that inspires parents to seek the best for their children with special needs and help kids achieve their full potential.

Review of a book that gives advice on how to help the siblings of disabled children form a loving and lasting family bond.

A family lawyer who is also the divorced mother of a child with special needs provides guidance for parents going through their own marriage difficulties.

Nurturing a marriage is something that often falls by the wayside when parents must spend all their time nurturing their special-needs children. This book offers solid and sympathetic advice for strengthening this most important partnership.

The authors surveyed 500 special-needs moms for their hints on child-care, work, family, health, and coping with their child's challenges.

A short book with lots of quick ideas for giving your child an extra dose of love to brighten the day.

A book by a psychologist who's also the father of a young man with autism helps parents work through their grief.

Teach your child self-care, home-care and information skills with this book's patient, step-by-step instructions and helpful techniques.

Review of a sister's memoir of caring for her sibling with special needs.

Review of a book that presents recipes in picture form for cooks with special needs.

Adult siblings of people with disabilities share their experiences.

Although breastfeeding a child with special needs may present extra challenges, babies with disabilities may be particularly in need of its benefits.

From allergy-free candy to gifts that benefit research to ways to explain sex to your special-needs child, here are 21 articles to help families of children with disabilities have a sweet, safe and happy Valentine's Day.

In addition to the normal dietary restrictions that come with Passover, your child with diabetes may have extra limits on what he or she can safely eat. These sites and downloads offer tips and recipes to help diabetics have a safe and meaningful Passover.

Make Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from a recipe in "The Gak’s Snacks Allergy Cookbook: Baked Treats for All Occasions."

Show your appreciation for a father of a child with special needs with coupons designed to acknowledge the special things he does, from homework help to creative discipline to listening to Mom rant.

Show your appreciation for a mother of a child with special needs with coupons designed to acknowledge the special things she does, from homework help to researching solutions to forcing those meaningful conversations.

If your child can't have milk or dairy products, try these recipes that substitute oil, garlic and other flavorful ingredients.

Scalloped potatoes are an Easter favorite, but if your child or other family member can't tolerate milk or cheese, your traditional recipe may not work. Try one of these dairy-free adaptations to keep the dish on your table.

Scalloped potatoes are an Easter favorite, but if your child or other family member can't tolerate milk or cheese, your traditional recipe may not work. Try one of these dairy-free adaptations to keep the dish on your table.

From About.com Single Parents: Choosing a suitable child custody arrangement becomes more complicated when custody of a child with special needs is being considered. In addition, it can be even more difficult for single parents who lack adequate financial resources and family assistance. Here are a couple of concerns regarding child custody cases for children with special needs.

If your child refuses to dress up for holidays like Thanksgiving, you can still bring a festive touch to even the most basic dressed-down outfit.

How to have a successful, meltdown-free Easter with a child with special needs.

Intrigued by a book on family issues in the Harried Parent's Book Club? Read more about it through excerpts from the books below. For excerpts on other topics, go to the full index.

For parents of children with special needs, family gatherings -- full of doubting relatives, stressful situations, and typically developing kids -- can be a tough way to spend a day. Here are ten items to see you through, or at least give you a laugh to lighten the load.

Looking for the perfect gift for a child with special needs? Here are five quick places to start.

Want to stay home and work while you care for your child with special needs? Check these five places to look for a more flexible work schedule, starting with the job you have right now.

Don't fear Facebook, friend it. The social-networking service can be a great way to supervise your child's social interaction and teach valuable social skills.

Picnics, parties, BBQs, fireworks bursting in air -- the Fourth of July can be a lot of fun, and a lot of stress for a child with special needs. Here's how to help.

Hands speaking in ASL deck these shirts, plaques, teddy bears and other items for children who use sign language, whether due to hearing impairment or other developmental needs

Where to find lists of candies that are safe for children on a gluten-free diet

Listing of eight sites with gluten-free, wheat-free recipes for Passover favorites.

Bread cubes are traditional for Thanksgiving turkey stuffing, but problematic for people with wheat allergies, Celiac disease, or a need for a GFCF diet. Whether you switch to gluten-free bread crumbs or seek other stuffing ideas, these recipes will help you make stuffing that's delicious and safe.

If your child doesn't speak, get the "trick or treat" message out this Halloween with cards or a sign that do all the talking.

Looking for good Halloween costume ideas for a child in a wheelchair? These sites offer inspiration, photos, and specific instructions for outfits that either disguise the ride or use it as part of the ensemble. Use them to get your little goblin in fine trick-or-treating form.

For children with diabetes, food allergies, Prader-Willi syndrome, and other special needs, gorging on Halloween candy can bring more than a tummy ache -- it can be a serious health risk. These sites offer suggestions, strategies, and recipes for making the night less spooky for kids whose diet needs to be carefully watched.

Maybe it was the school party with treats for everyone but your food-allergic child. The costume that set off all your child's sensory alarms. The neighbor who couldn't accept your family's need to celebrate the holiday in your own way. The trick-or-treaters faking a disability like your child's for laughs. If you've found fright in unexpected...

Facebook can be a positive place for teens with special needs, but a parent's supervision is essential to keeping the interaction safe and healthy.

Some children with sensory integration problems can't feel when there's food stuck to their face, and come back from clean-up with the same sticky cheeks, nose and chin. Here's a quick tip for helping them know just where to wash.

Hey, we all love the holidays, right? Right? Some things, sure. But the stress overload Santa dumps down our chimney this time of year is something we could all do without. To help you save your sanity, I've filled my bag with some great tips on easing Christmas craziness from all around the About.com Parenting channel, and wrapped them up with...

A roundup of ways to make the holidays happier, from strategies for family get-togethers to child management techniques to gift ideas to personal de-stressing tools.

Halloween isn't the easiest of holidays for kids with special needs, what with scratchy costumes and forbidden foods and too much social stress....

Children with sensory integration problems may balk at scratchy costumes, itchy makeup and pinchy headgear. Making a costume that puts a premium on comfort will make your little ghoul happy -- and being able to use the clothes again after will make you happy, too.

Your child decides at the last minute that he wants to go trick-or-treating after all, or chooses bedtime to inform you that there's a pageant tomorrow and she's in it. You have no time and no special supplies to make a costume, but a costume is quickly called for. Here's how to throw together something, using items you have around the house,...

Different communication and coping styles can keep parents of children with special needs from finding support in one another. In this excerpt from "Married With Special-Needs Children," co-author Laura E. Marshak counsels spouses on how to make themselves, and each other, heard.

How do you talk to your child about his or her disability or diagnosis? Start small and follow your child's lead. Here's a how-to to help parents get the conversation going.

Most kids can handle a sunburn or a sweaty day with just a little discomfort, but for some children with special needs, heat and sun can be more of a menace. Find out what to worry about, and what to do about it.

Reduced-sugar and no-added-sugar recipes make yams and sweet potatoes safer for kids who need to limit sugar intake.

Twenty tips for making meals more special for a person with a disability, excerpted from "Breaking Bread, Nourishing Connections."

The Passover specialty Charoset is traditionally made with fruit and nuts, but if your child has a food allergy, that dish will need a do-over. Instead of just leaving the nuts out of your usual family recipe, try one of these five from around the Web that don't have nuts in the first place.

Thinking of adding a pooch to your clan? Try one that won't add a whole lot more stress to your household. Senior dogs may be calmer, more tolerant, and less likely to get wired up by your overexcited child.

Your child might not let you throw any of that clutter away, but you can at least stow it away where you don't have to wade through it.

If your current work schedule and your childcare needs don't coincide, think about whether a change in hours would solve your problems. Then use a sample flexibility proposal memo from the book "More Than a Mom" to guide you in making your case to your employer.

Browse reviews of parenting books on family issues from the Harried Parent's Book Club.

Browse reviews of parenting books on financial planning from the Harried Parent's Book Club.

The following books on parenting have been reviewed for the Harried Parent's Book Club. They are sorted by Guide Rating, with five stars being best.

The following books on sexuality have been reviewed for the Harried Parent's Book Club. They are sorted by Guide Rating, with five stars being best.

Browse reviews of family cookbooks from the Harried Parent's Book Club.

Find fun and information all over the Web with these Parenting Special Needs Sites of the Day with holiday themes.

Give your kids an account that won't let them blow your budget.

If you'd like your child to have an e-mail account, but worry about inappropriate correspondence or cyberbullying, set up a Google gmail account and set it to forward copies to your account. Here's how.

iTunes gift certificates and allowances can be great rewards and motivators for kids with special needs. If you want to set up an account for your child but don't want to provide unlimited access to your credit card, you can use a gift card or certificate to get the account started. Here's how.

An iTunes allowance lets you provide a monthly reward for your child, without worrying about where cash might be going. First, though, you'll need to set up an iTunes account using the allowance instead of a credit card for payment. Here's how.

Don't be afraid of those trendy services -- with proper supervision, they can be a real boon to kids who have trouble with face-to-face interaction.

Advice on how to make it through family get-togethers and other big events with children with special needs.

Advice on how to make it through family get-togethers and other big events with children with special needs.

Special-education news stories from around the Web featured in the daily news folder on About.com Children With Special Needs in January, 2010.

If your child has problems with eating or socializing or speaking up or sitting still, it may seem hard to fit him or her into the traditional family Thanksgiving picture. Make your own traditions instead, with activities that draw on your child's unique strengths and sensibilities.

Mornings are difficult for many families, but families of children with special needs face more challenges than most. Kids need extra help, parents are extra exhausted, and if tempers get short and stress gets high, meltdowns are sure to follow. For kids who only have a limited amount of control to spend throughout the day, a bad morning can lead directly into a bad day at school. How to prevent …

Summer is a great time to tackle those parenting projects you've been putting off. From toilet training to reading routines to better behavior charts, here are five summer projects to tackle -- and tips on how to triumph.

Are you ready for the summer? The absence of school is relaxing, but the lack of routine can be stressful. Help your family survive the formless school-free months with these tips for lessening risks and increasing rewards.

Excerpts from a book that presents recipes in picture form for cooks with special needs.

Kids love to cook, but some children's cookbooks can be too wordy and complex for young chefs with special needs. Use "A Man, A Can, A Plan," with its simple instructions, photographic ingredient lists, and kid-friendly dishes, to teach your child to love putting meals together.

If your struggling sleeper always seems to wind up in your room at night, use "The Floppy Sleep Game Book" to help your child relax and sleep all the way through to morning in his or her own bed.

When other suggest that your child must be nothing but a burden, check this list for a smile and a little inspiration.

Sheri and Bob Stritof, About.com's Guides to Marriage, describe the ways in which having a child with special needs can cause stress in a marriage and what you can do to strengthen yours.

Do you dare take a behavior-challenged child to a restaurant? Yes! With the right attitude and a few simple tricks, you can survive and even enjoy a mealtime outing.

Whether due to low muscle tone, poor motor control, or impulsiveness, some children with special needs may have trouble getting the food into their mouths and not all over everything else. Here are 10 ways to help your child be a neater eater.

Children with special needs like diabetes or food allergies may not be able to partake of traditional treats on Halloween. But they can still have fun trick-or-treating, and do a little good on the way.

Wondering what to do with all those backpacks your kids have used and discarded? Put them to work as storage for toy pieces and parts, and always have a bag of tricks ready.

With the popularity of digital photography and the availability of software that helps users easily manipulate those images, parents of children with special needs have lots of fun opportunities to customize the tools and toys their kids need. Try these five ideas for starters.

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.

Share your strategies for using up leftover Halloween candy -- or Easter candy, or Valentine candy, or goody-bag treats -- without putting your child into sugar overload.

If you can't find gluten-free chocolate Easter bunnies in a store near you, About.com Celiac Disease has some links to help you find them online. You'll not only find gluten-free bunnies, but also some that are dairy-free and nut-free, too!

Your child needs you, and you need to have some work outside of parenting. Angela Patterson found that writing for About.com allowed her to meet both needs.

When an older child with special needs comes into your family, the advocacy requirements can be particularly intense. Carrie Craft recalls how she handled the challenge.

When your child (and your child's school) needs you to be constantly available, a 9-to-5 job becomes impossible. For Cynthia Nellis, freelancing from home has been the only solution.

What do you do when your career is incompatible with your child's needs? For Jeanette Bradley, finding a more flexible job also made her work life more fulfilling.

Homeschooling can add an extra degree of difficulty to a schedule already stretched by a child with special needs. Lisa Jo Rudy shares how she made it work for her family.

When your child has significant needs, "work" has to fit around the real work of keeping your child alive. Wendy Boswell explains how she's ordered her priorities.

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.