Here's the latest article from the Children with Special Needs site at BellaOnline.com.

New Resolutions and Childhood Disabilities
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art174442.asp
New Year resolutions for parents of children with disabilities, delays, or chronic health conditions often have less to do with the child or the diagnosis than they do the relationships we have with family, friends, and professionals involved in our children's care.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art174442.asp

Whether you are adjusting your expectations (most likely, expectations of other adults); re-dedicating yourself to advocacy; or just hoping to stay on track with plans you have already made; the first week or the new year is a great time to relax and renew your energy. You were amazing in 2011 and 2012 will be more of the same. Thank you for being a part of a strong and encouraging network of individuals raising and encouraging children and teens with special needs. Your advocacy has opened up opportunities for one child at a time to show us what they can do and who they were meant to be. I appreciate your day to day efforts to live up to your own potential, as we hope each of our children will do. This year I hope that we can all enjoy more lazy, quiet days and learn everything we are meant to know about just being people in the world. I applaud your ambition to do even more and be even more successful in 2012, too. All the good you do in your community benefits all our families. At this rate, I will never be done paying it forward - and that makes 2012 look very good to me.

Wishing you all the best to you and yours in this brand new year!

Pamela Wilson, Children with Special Needs Editor
http://specialneedschildren.bellaonline.com

Please visit specialneedschildren.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Children with Special Needs.

Winter Holidays and Family Stress
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art174443.asp

Follow the Children with Special Needs editor on Twitter for disability
information, resources and support, at
http://www.twitter.com/downsynadvocacy

Recent Tweets:

Now We Are Six: The Hormone Surge of Middle Childhood
So much for kids w/ Down syndrome (or anyone!) reaching a plateau at 8 years.
http://tinyurl.com/8x3q4ql or
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/27/science/now-we-are-six-the-hormone-surge-of-middle-childhood.html?pagewanted=all

Selective Mutism and Shyness
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art55943.asp
Parents Can Help Selectively Mute Children Become ‘Brave Talkers’
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/lifestyle/2011/12/how-parents-can-help-their-selectively-mute-children-become-brave-talkers
Books: Helping Children w/ Selective Mutism
Helping Your Child w/ Selective Mutism: Steps to Overcome a Fear of Speaking
http://tinyurl.com/6ozdmy4

@NDSC: And now, for your musical enjoyment, Let it Snow, perfomed by Sujeet Desai.
Great job, Suj! (But we're okay with no snow.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l7Q6I2rY0gY
http://fb.me/VliIzI9q

@ArcofKingCounty Helping Parents: Video 1 from @ArcofWA
and the amazing Parent to Parent #P2P program -
ow.ly/8diwy or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ous6Krms4wU&context=C32c798dADOEgsToPDskIXsZfgVkIt6O1uBSw1HwSK

@DownSynPreg
Canister announces free diagnosis booklets to medical professionals
http://downsyndromepregnancy.org/canister-announces-free-diagnosis-booklets/

Join our advocacy and support community on Facebook at
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Children-with-Special-Needs-at-Bellaonline/232298623459587

Browsing (and making purchases) at our Amazon aStores benefits the Children with Special Needs website. You may find items at similar or better prices in local stores to benefit your local economy, so please buy locally where there is very little difference in pricing. There are links to books and other products beneath almost every article at the Children with Special Needs website.

Down Syndrome Advocacy
http://astore.amazon.com/downsyndrome-20

Children with Special Needs
http://astore.amazon.com/specialneed0e-20

Thank you for encouraging and supporting children with special needs, their
siblings, and all our families in your own community.

To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Children with Special Needs located here -

http://forums.bellaonline.com/ubbthreads.php?ubb=postlist&Board=57

I hope to hear from you sometime soon, either in the forum or in response to this email message. I thrive on your feedback!

Have fun passing this message along to family and friends, because we all love free knowledge!

Affirmations - Expressing Affection and Acceptance
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art208.asp

Thoughts from the Middle of the Night
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art32533.asp

Family Relationships with a Complicated Diagnosis
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art60427.asp

Winter Challenges for Children with Special Needs
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art46706.asp

Positive Behavior Support and Interventions
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art58507.asp

DIR Floortime Model Techniques
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art56206.asp

Aversive Restraints and Seclusion in Schools
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art60315.asp

Person Centered Planning
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art53731.asp

Pain Management - Kids w #Disabilities
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51895.asp

Pain Relief for Childhood Blood Draws, Injections, IV Lines
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51944.asp

Inclusive P.E. for Children with Special Needs
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art46155.asp

Cataracts and Down Syndrome
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art65415.asp

Wearing Glasses in Early Childhood
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art54721.asp

Preparing for Emergencies with Children
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art50320.asp

Medical ID Bracelets for Children
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art66973.asp

Back to School with Diabetes
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art52832.asp

Managing Emergencies at School
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art70183.asp

Winter Storm Preparations for Families
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art54303.asp

Severe Weather Events and Children with Special Needs
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art48466.asp

Faith, Religion and Children with Special Needs
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art52349.asp

Advocating in Multicultural Communities
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art11304.asp

Surgery and Children with Diabetes
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art57977.asp

Finding a Welcoming Congregation
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art171643.asp

Asking More from Medical Professionals - Children with Special Needs
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art39121.asp

Forgiving Family - Childhood Disabilities
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art48067.asp

Inappropriate Comments in Inclusive Congregations
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art172188.asp

Cousins of Children with Special Needs - BellaOnline
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art44239.asp

Medical ID Bracelets for Children and Teens with Disabilities
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art66973.asp

Brothers and Sisters of Children with Disabilities .
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art56919.asp

Diabetes Information for Classmates and their Families
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art32541.asp

Airline Travel for Children with Special Needs
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art45142.asp

Parent Humor and Childhood Disability - Children with Special Needs
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art59819.asp

Enjoy browsing other sites at BellaOnline.com!

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