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

Family Happiness and Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art63747.asp
Scientific research on the psychology of happiness has resulted in a great deal of knowledge that should apply to families of children with special needs. Instead, diagnosis of childhood disability most often leads to a description of 'worst case scenarios' and explanations of the stages of grief.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art63747.asp

How long has it been since you have gotten together with a good friend or favorite neighbor just to chat and find out what is going on in their lives? Do you have a favorite relative who you would enjoy talking to at least once a week, and maybe several times daily, who you have not heard from in ages? You deserve to have face to face contact with people who care about you and wish you all the best. Right now, please call someone important to you and set up a time and place to visit together - even if it's just a phone call to start. Or maybe you have been so busy you have not set aside five minutes to have a conversation with yourself ~ we need that time, too.

That being said:

November is a wonderful month to print up little Thank You notes for teachers, therapists, bus drivers and others to let them know they are appreciated. These can be as simple as one liners like "Thank you for brightening my day!" "You make a difference in my life!" or "I'm glad we spend time together!" A graphic could be your child's hand as a Thanksgiving turkey, a postage stamp sized picture of your child giving a thumbs up or sign language message, or a snapshot of your son or daughter holding a piece of paper that says "Thank You!" or other message on it.

It would be wonderful if we could buy little Thank You cards like Valentines in November for our children to pass around to all the adults who they see in their days away from us. Even the crankiest individual deserves to be acknowledged for what they contribute through their jobs ~ and the most compassionate and hardworking often go without although we admire them so much. Today I would like to take this opportunity to thank my readers for all you do to encourage and support all our children. I am grateful that you are there.

Please visit specialneedschildren.bellaonline.com for other articles of interest about children with special needs.

You may now share articles and forum bulletin board messages via Twitter, Facebook or other social networks by clicking on an icon within the article or message. I also appreciate you forwarding this newsletter and individual articles to other families and advocates. Thank you!

Follow Pamela Wilson, editor, on Twitter for information on newspaper articles, television shows and movies, technology developments and disability issues (including Down syndrome):
http://twitter.com/DownSynAdvocacy

Grandparents and Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art37114.asp

Cousins and Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art44239.asp

Grandfathers and Great Uncles - Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51398.asp

Brothers and Sisters - Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art56919.asp

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

Encouraging Fussy Babies and Sensitive Toddlers
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art62765.asp

Anxiety and Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art59924.asp

Sensory Integration and Children
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art48942.asp

Orthotics and Shoe Inserts for Children
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art63716.asp

TV Actors with Down Syndrome
http://tinyurl.com/dsActrTV

Down Syndrome and the Acting Gene
http://tinyurl.com/dsActgGn

Sensory Processing Disorder in Children
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art960.asp

Pain Management for Children at Clinics and Hospitals
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51895.asp

Interviewing Caregivers for Your Child
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art62519.asp

Teaching Relatives to Care for a Disabled Child
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art62563.asp


Teaching Math Skills - Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art38411.asp

Recess Skills
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art432.asp

School Bus Rides
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art45298.asp

Teaching Children to Plan Meals and Cook
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art38064.asp

To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum all about Special Needs Children 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!

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


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

Teaching Handwriting - Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51022.asp

Proloquo2Go for iPod Touch and iPhone
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art63999.asp

Nintendo Wii Therapy Rehab for Children and Teens
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art63675.asp

Amazon Kindle and Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art60812.asp

iPhone and iPod Touch Apps - Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art62136.asp

Photography Lessons for Children
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art63595.asp

The iPrompts Application and Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art63982.asp

Nintendo Wii Therapy Rehab for Children and Teens
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art63675.asp

Teaching Printing and Cursive Handwriting - Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art51023.asp

Sign Language and Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art49898.asp