Merry Christmas!

(originally posted on Dec 20, 2007)

Spelling Homework Clip

I’ve started to work on #6 from my to-do blog list.  ((No, I didn’t work on numbers one through five yet!))  I’ve uploaded an example of Maddie doing her spelling homework.
http://www.onetruemedia.com/shared?p=465c270a26997f98d9823f&skin_id=601&utm_source=otm&utm_medium=text_url 
 I apologize for the video not being better quality.  With it getting dark out so early, the lighting isn’t the best.  This video is from my little [...]

2007 Christmas Photos (take 1)

I’ve been able to get a few Christmas photos taken, but no success with all four smiling at the same time.  Thank goodness for digital cameras!
 I’ll try again tomorrow, but in the mean time, here are a few pics of the kids.
Christmas 2007 (1) Maddie (ten years old) and Cassidy (eight years old) in their stripey Christmas [...]

What Worked For Us

I’ll try to sum up my thoughts without going on and on and on.   But first, my disclaimers!  I do think I need to stress I believe all kids with Angelman Syndrome have this kind of potential inside of them.  I don’t think that she is that incredibley exceptional, but we were able to figure out some [...]

About My Birthday Party Photo

For those who have wondered, the gift I’m opening is a rolling pin!  I can’t believe I was so excited, but I was.  I love love love to bake and cook.  This rolling pin is silicone cover, stainless steel core.  It is so heavy, it does most of the work on its own.  With this [...]

If I Ever Write A Book About Angelman Syndrome…

It will not be about the tragedy, the heartbreak, the hard work (although all that is true).
It will be a funny book.  Because of Maddie, there have been so many funny incidents.  I hope to compile a few to post here on my blog.
(originally posted on Nov 5, 2007)

What to blog about?

My to-do list of things to blog about….

cut and paste extremely nice posts from the listserv about Maddie (I’ll be reading them on my bad days)
put up more photos
upload an avatar
write about our speech therapy techniques that have been successful
add info and pictures about augmentive communication
upload new videos of Maddie (this is leftover from last year’s [...]

What You Believe…

How often do we stand up for what we believe?  How much do we weigh the repurcussions that we expect will come our way before we decide whether to defend our beliefs?  If you’re not willing to speak up, do you really believe, or is it all just talk?
 One of my favorite quotes is from [...]

Presume Competence

I’ve embraced this concept since I first read about it. 
 http://www.mcie.org/docs/Conf_Events/Jorgensen2005LeastDangAssump.pdf
But I don’t always presume competence in the staff that will be working with Maddie.  This is probably insulting to them, and I need to make a more concerted effort to presume they know how to include Maddie.
(originally posted Oct 23, 2007)

My Birthday!

I recently turned the big 3-2! 
My dear sister, mother and husband had a suprise party for me!  I had the most adorable guests, as you can see in this picture!
Thank you everyone!
Birthday Photo