Site of the Day

Generation Cures -- an online community, sponsored by the Children's Hospital Boston, that seeks to inspire kids to philanthropy -- is offering Project Good Gift as a way to make young people more giving this holiday season. Children can ask a parent or grandparent to make a donation in their name in place of a present, with money going to pediatric research.

More Alike Than Different is a campaign by the National Down Syndrome Congress to remind the world "that people with Down syndrome are more like everybody else than different. That they love to dance, bowl, have pets and jobs. That they cope with everyday challenges and dream big dreams. That like all people, they deserve respect and a fair break." From the site, you can watch a video about four adults with Down syndrome; learn more about Down syndrome and issues around education, employment, and community; and download materials to spread the positive message.

If you regularly try to do activities at home to augment your child's occupational therapy, OTPlan can be a great tool for finding fun things to do while targeting specific skills. To find an activity in the database, you pick a skill or skills, choose from different materials, and then get instructions on what to do with them. Activities can be submitted by anyone, but they're approved by an OT before publishing.

That would be today, November 14. Stop by the site to see what's going on around the world to raise diabetes awareness, and how you can help.

Your Saturday super-sized listing of amusements, including a family activity, a site for the kids, a shopping site, a site offering humor or inspiration about parenting children with special needs, and a site that's just silly or fun.

The ARC is working with Geraldo Rivera to highlight the plight of adults with developmental disabilities on endless waiting lists for services. "We are using this channel to help collect and share videos that dramatically ilustrate the challenge people with intellectual disabilities face today in accessing the service they need to live freely in the community." View the current submissions and -- if this is an issue affecting your family -- make your own video and send it in.

Accessibilty applications can make it easier for people with disabilities to use computers, and AccessApps makes it easier to tote those around to whatever computer you may be using. Download the freeware applications on a USB stick, and then use them from that stick on any Windows computer.

This section of the American Celiac Disease Alliance offers resources for parents trying to help their child stay safe at school, including sample 504 plans, sample physician statement, and state-by-state information.

A new social-networking site for families of special-needs children, eSpecialMatch.com was started by a special-education teacher who saw so many parents struggling to get information and ideas and meet up with others in the same boat. Free membership will allow you to connect with other members, post blog posts and book reviews, and find out about activities in your area.