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

Mainstream Classes and Loneliness
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art173197.asp
Advocates for inclusive education, mainstream academic opportunities and support in regular classrooms find that socialization and lifelong friendships are wonderful side benefits to inclusion for students with developmental disabilities. Special education classrooms are not a cure for loneliness; neither is integration in non-inclusive mainstream classrooms. Inclusion can and does happen anywhere and everywhere.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art173197.asp

November seems to have arrived even more quickly this year. For some, an early winter storm intruded on late October and Halloween plans. I hope that your families who were affected came through just fine and have only funny stories to share about the events that came along with it.

This is the month that we dedicate to thankfulness. I am thankful that so many individuals in our community have reached out in friendship and support to me and my family, and grateful that life is unfolding more gently than I ever expected for my son who was born with Down syndrome and who developed insulin dependent diabetes when he was 7. Who would have thought we'd get through so much and have such great times and traditions in our family? He and his sister have brought so much joy into my life, and so many wonderful people I would never have met otherwise. I am grateful for my old friends and my new friends, and very hopeful that people I will never meet in person will feel buoyed up and encouraged by all the joy I find in life. The older I get the more I can see to complain about, so it's helpful that wonderful people continue to befriend and delight me. Otherwise, the long lonely stretches of life that don't go as well would overwhelm my instinct to get out of bed in the morning. Or maybe, the middle of the night. Life is funny. I hope you find many things to smile about this month, and can make long lists of what causes thankfulness to well up inside you.

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


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

Please visit specialneedschildren.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Children with Special Needs and send articles that you find helpful to friends, advocates, and professionals who have sincere interest in and respect for your child.

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

Shopping on Amazon.com?
Please use a link that slightly benefits the Children with Special Needs website
via links in any article or at these Amazon aStores:

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

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

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!

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

Plastic Surgery and Down Syndrome
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art173483.asp

Twins and Childhood Disabilities
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art171211.asp

Art and Self-Expression for Children with Disabilities
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art17513.asp/

Communication Alternatives - Childhood Disabilities
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art65230.asp

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

Elementary School Transition
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art50637.asp

Kindergarten Transition
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art49718.asp

Inclusion Benefits Classmates
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art6157.asp

Type One Diabetes Information for Classmates
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art32541.asp

Inclusion in Brownies and Girl Scouts - Childhood Disabilities
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art66180.asp

Peer Mentoring Programs and Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art61295.asp

Gifts 2 - How People with Down Syndrome Enrich the World - Review
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art63458.asp

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

Raising Awareness of Down Syndrome
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art53612.asp

Anxiety & Childhood Disabilities
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art59924.asp

Selective Mutism and Shyness
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art55943.asp

Teaching Handwriting to Children
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51022.asp

Welcome to Holland - Today and Yesterday
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art172314.asp

Traumatic Birth and Motherhood
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art170924.asp

Encouraging Learning in Babies and Toddlers
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art68638.asp

Brothers & Sisters of Children w/ Disabilities
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art56919.asp

Future Sibling Support and Down Syndrome
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art172126.asp

School Bus Rides - Children with Special Needs
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art45298.asp

Raising Awareness About Disabilities
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art172361.asp

Kindergarten Transition
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art49718.asp

Transition Planning for Teens w/ Disabilities
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art57505.asp

Encouraging Friendship - Childhood Disabilities
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art171290.asp

Inspirational Mothers - Down Syndrome Advocacy
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art172101.asp

Mental Wellness in Pregnancy and Motherhood
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art170925.asp

Encouraging Friendship - Childhood Disabilities
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art171290.asp

Traumatic Birth and Motherhood
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art170924.asp

Explaining Disabilities to Classmates
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art70228.asp

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

Symptoms of Childhood Onset Diabetes
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art32583.asp

Nick Jonas and Diabetes Awareness
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art63031.asp

Down Syndrome and Juvenile Diabetes Dual Diagnosis
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art32543.asp

Comparing Ourselves - Mothers and Advocates
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art61553.asp

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

School Nurses and Diabetes Care
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art59499.asp

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

Communication Partners
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art65818.asp

Encouraging Late Talking Children
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art55867.asp

Bilingual Children with Down Syndrome
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51927.asp

New Parent Information on Down Syndrome
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art68926.asp

Welcoming Babies with Down Syndrome
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art32534.asp

Gifts 2: How People with Down Syndrome Enrich the World
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art63458.asp

A Brand New Baby w/ Down Syndrome
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51264

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

Letter to Myself on Diagnosis Day
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art171469.asp