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

Braille for Children Who Have Vision Impairments
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art61342.asp
Children who are blind or have low vision can benefit greatly as toddlers if parents provide opportunities and support for learning to read storybooks with Braille text and make certain that as older students their children can both read Braille and take notes using a Braille slate and stylus.
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art61342.asp

Advocates are protesting limits on the Amazon Kindle 2 text-to-speech option following complaints from the Authors Guild that the 'read aloud' feature would have an impact on copyrights and audio book sales. Authors could withdraw text to speech access for their own Amazon e-books. Would you pay a dollar or two more for an author to offer this option?
<http://www.patriciaebauer.com/2009/04/08/kindle-protest/>

Talented American Idol contestant Scott MacIntyre, legally blind, finished eighth in the competition this week.
Patricia E Bauer has been following his story:
Fans Say No Pity Votes for American Idol Contestant
<http://www.patriciaebauer.com/2009/03/12/scott-macintyre/>

Terri Mauro comments at:
<http://specialchildren.about.com/b/2009/04/09/american-idols-first-blind-contestant-comes-in-eighth.htm/>
"If you've been listening along, do you think it was MacIntyre's turn to go? Did his disability help him or hurt him?"

To participate in free, fun online discussions, this site has a community forum also for serious concerns and supportive comments about raising children with special needs, located here -

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

Recent topics include Sarah Palin, World Autism Awareness Day, an episode of Caillou Outdoors featuring a character with Down syndrome, toddlers with diabetes, early intervention for developmental delays, Sesame Street helps military families cope with change, accommodations for children with special needs during Passover and Easter observances.

Please visit specialneedschildren.bellaonline.com for even more great content about Special Needs Children. Share this newsletter or your favorite articles with family, friends, teachers and therapists. Let me know if there is a topic of interest you would like to read about here. Browsing at Amazon.com through links in these articles benefits our website (slightly).

Easter Craft Ideas
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art21925.asp

Easter and Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art13561.asp

Transition to Kindergarten with a Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art49718.asp

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

Faith, Religion, and Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art52349.asp

Early Intervention for Developmental Disabilities
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art35443.asp

Transition to Preschool from Early Intervention or Home
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art49696.asp

Teens with Disabilities - Transition to Adulthood
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art33519.asp

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

The Disability Hierarchy, Equity and Advocacy
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art61355.asp

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

Inclusive P.E. and Childhood Disability
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art46155.asp

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

Friendship and Inclusion for Children with Special Needs
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art48700.asp

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

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

Snapshots and Children with Delayed Language
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art60026.asp

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

Cutting with Scissors and other Fine Motor Skills
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art52119.asp

Teaching Children About Money
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art58960.asp

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

IEP Preparation - Teacher Support
http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art44746.asp