Is Your Website Accessible?

Is Your Website Accessible?

Is your website accessible? 1 in 6 people face using the internet with a disability. WAVE Web Accessibility Evalution tool is a great way to assess and look closely at what you need to address for your website. WAVE® is a suite of evaluation tools that helps authors make their web content more accessible to individuals with disabilities. WAVE can identify many accessibility and Web Content Accessibility Guideline (WCAG) errors, but also facilitates human evaluation of web content. Our philosophy is to focus on issues that we know impact end users, facilitate human evaluation, and to educate about web accessibility. Check it out at https://wave.webaim.org/...
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Tips for Caregivers from Caring Bridge

Tips for Caregivers from Caring Bridge

Caring Bridge offers tips for reducing the strain of care giving: There’s no way around it. Caregiving is one of the most rewarding responsibilities and a true act of love and devotion to a loved one. But it is also one of the most challenging and stressful responsibilities a family member or friend can take on. 1. Stay Organized Between appointments, trips to the store, making dinner, going into work – life can get away from you pretty fast. Start each day with a to-do list, or block out time in your calendar to get the top priorities done. That way you will feel like you have some direction and control. Be flexible, and don’t sweat if you have to adjust each day. Keeping a calendar, budget, grocery list, and book of different passcodes (there are so many “patient portals” to log in to these days!) will help you regain a little sanity in your everyday life.   2. Focus on What You Are Able to Provide You...
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What Are Medicaid Waivers?

What Are Medicaid Waivers?

We are presently struggling to navigate through Medicaid Waivers in the State of Texas for our son (intellectual disability, autism, ADHD, DMDD - dysruptive mood disregulation disorder). We've been working for the YES (Youth Empowerment Services) Waiver with MHMR in Denton, Texas since April 2018 and are still waiting for services to begin. We were on the waiting list for a while. Then we were accepted to see if we are eligible - that process is taking months. There is a discrepancy with his IQ which is another story. WHAT ARE MEDICAID WAIVERS? Medicaid Waivers help provide services to people who would otherwise be in a nursing home or hospital to receive long-term care in the community. Although there are waivers for many conditions, our focus is towards waivers for people who have intellectual disabilities, developmental disabilities, and autism. WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF WAIVERS? There are several types of waivers: Community Living Assistance and Support Services (CLASS): gives home and community-based supports to...
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How I Treat Those Who are Unable To Care For Themselves

How I Treat Those Who are Unable To Care For Themselves

How we treat and care for the disabled, elderly - those in need - reveals much about who we are. You don’t have to be an adoptive parent, guardian or care giver to show how much you care. Maybe you are an employer of a special needs parent. A friend or family member. A passer by on the street or at the store. Consideration, acknowledgment, concern, prayer, encouragement, kind words - they make a daily difference. ❤️ Everyone can choose to do something every day. Matthew 25:35-40 King James Version (KJV) 35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: 36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? 38 When saw we...
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Life Skills Checklist for Special Needs Teens and Young Adults

Life Skills Checklist for Special Needs Teens and Young Adults

This is a list we started working on for all of our kids to set goals for attempting to learn these life skills. Of course each individual living with special needs has different capacities and levels of comprehension. Our special needs son will need help in many areas to achieve this, so in some ways it's a list for us now - caregivers in the future. Maintain relationships - faith in God, home, church, family, friends, co-workers, community Maintain good hygiene Sexual health Caring for clothes - what you wear (washing, drying, ironing, storing, organizing) Using technology for communication (smartphone, email, tablets, desktops) Tie a necktie Self protection (call for help, hand-to-hand, weapon safety) Vaccinations House cleaning, maintenance and organization House emergency prep Kitchen use Technology maintainence Car maintainence Auto emergency prep Personal finance management (accounts, investing, saving, taxes, budgeting, credit score, protection) Personal insurances Personal document management (certificates, passport, records, social security) Career and Work (interviews, job search) Life...
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Context of Play

Context of Play

When our son was diagnosed with autism and behavior & intellectual challenges several years ago, one of the main points the doctor (who had 20+ years experience of working with children) made to us was that everything we wanted our son to truly and meaningfully understand should be wrapped in the context of “play”. That advice has proved consistently true as our son has grown. Successful communication with a special needs child, preteen, teen, young adult, or adult who deals with autism and behavior & intellectual challenges is naturally and sincerely playful. It receives the most notable response. I believe it makes the strongest connections and gains trust with the child you love and you want he or she to know that you love them....
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