We can best support other mothers of children with special needs by exercising our best friendship skills and remembering that we are people first, too.

Parents of children with disabilities often turn to the internet and social media sites for information and support following a diagnosis, injury, health issue or traumatic childbirth. Those who establish themselves via a blog, other social media or website may be both admired and highly criticized.

Children with verbal apraxia have a diverse set of speech and communication challenges that make it almost impossible for them to speak clearly without specific help with motor planning and other issues. They deserve community support, interested listeners, and alternative ways to communicate.

Purses, diaper bags and suitcases - childhood treasure chests - are often overlooked as dangers even in child-proofed homes and vehicles. Parents, babysitters, relatives and visitors may not realize how inquisitive and vulnerable children may be to accidental poisoning, choking, or other injury.

Children and teens with Down syndrome have been models in catalogs and newspaper advertisements for the past quarter century, delighting and inspiring families and communities.

Children with disabilities experience childhood abuse and neglect at least as often as their mainstream peers, but may deal with delayed rescue or assistance due to communication challenges, exclusion from ordinary classrooms and programs, or different expectations of their behavior and development.

The latest Chicken Soup for the Soul book, Stories of Love and Understanding for Those Who Care for Children with Disabilities, includes inspiring tales and wonderful stories about loving and raising kids just like ours.

Advocates are stepping forward to describe the importance of children with disabilities being represented in movies, commercials, and television shows as main characters as well as casual extras. Seeing children with disabilities in movies, ads and television impacts siblings and mainstream peers.

When a child with special needs develops negative behavior habits, parents often look for firm but loving discipline strategies to reduce and eliminate them, and find those that help us teach them more positive substitute behaviors.

Celiac Disease, or gluten intolerance, is much more common in children than was previously suspected, especially those who are already diagnosed with Type One Diabetes or Down Syndrome