I know, I know, it's been awhile since I've posted info on here. As you can imagine, life with a special needs child and 2 other wee ones, while trying to run my own business, and prepare for Christmas, etc, etc, is busy, busy, busy. I thought I'd better do an update before crashing for the day.

Not much out of the ordinary has been happening here in our household. Just trying to get caught up with life. I have a list of doctors appointments I need to schedule and get to for ALL the kids- I just kept putting them off and they kind of caught up with me. So now I'm going to have to juggle the 2 that are in school, and the baby, and the appointments, and the snow (I hate winter driving), which will be a challenge. I should have made these appointments earlier and gotten them over with. Shame on me.

We have a group of medical students coming to the house this week from the hospital/med school. THey've sent med students a few other times, and I love it when they come visit. I still can't believe they come to my HOUSE to learn about Cameron and life at home within a family setting. The med students are so keen- it's my chance to really 'get to them' before they get too hardened by the hospital setting. There are things that we as parents always wish we could teach doctors- or that they get to see our child at home, so that they SEE that they are a member of our family, and our life, and that they should be treated as such, not just a patient. It's just a completely different experience, talking to these younger doctors. They are still intelligent and knowledgeable, but they definitely see me as the expert in Angelman Syndrome. We learn a lot from each other.

I think because we've had such great experiences with it, they ask me periodically if they can send another group out, and I always say yes (and I must say, all the young doctors I've dealt with are super personable- I don't know where the non-personable doctors go, but they don't send them here!) So, why did I include this in the TEACHERS RESOURCES category? Being a former teacher myself, I thought I would give this tip- why not (if possible and the parents are keen) see if you can go to the home of the special needs child in your class- and observe them in the HOME setting? No one has ever asked to do that with my son, and I would LOVE it if they did. Observe how the child communicates at home, how the structure of the home is based and how they do with that structure, observe them with their siblings, equipment/adapted items, etc. I think spending a few hours in the home, talking with the parents and child would teach you a LOT and give you some tips so you don't go blindly into the school year wondering what to expect or how a child acts in a certain situation.

Wish me luck with my med students. One of these days I'm going to find one that I really like and not let him leave. I always said I needed my next husband to be a doctor