Archive for 2014

Chanukah….It’s the little jug of oil that lasted for 8 days. It’s the holiday of lights. It’s the holiday of miracles. It’s the holiday of presents, latkes, oil, candles, music, parties…and meltdowns. Too much, too fast, too loud, too smelly and maybe too many parties. Sound familiar? If you have a child with special needs…

Way back in 2011 Friendship circle wrote up a list of online toy stores for children with special needs. In 2 years a lot has changed. They decided to dig around and see if they could come up with more toy stores selling products for children with special needs. Here are 15 stores that provide great toys and educational products…

During most discussions about IEPs, we talk about the times that things went wrong and disgraceful things were said.  But not all IEPs are like that!  Recently a commenter on the Friendship Circle blog wrote, “Instead of ridiculous and offensive comments, why don’t you write about helpful and compassionate things heard at an IEP meeting?” After a few rough…

Apple is highlighting a growing number of apps catering to individuals with special needs with a featured special education section in its App Store. The section titled “Special Education” launched late last week and includes 72 applications for the iPhone and 13 applications for the iPad in 10 categories ranging from communication to emotional development…

Are you a teacher or a parent looking for a resource to help foster understanding and acceptance of children with disabilities? Books are a wonderful tool for parents to use to teach their children about the world around them and the many different children they might meet in their neighborhood, school, or community. The children’s…

One of the top topics of conversation on our online community is sleep… how to encourage your child to settle, how to stop them waking in the night, and how to make sure you’re getting enough yourself. So, we recently decided to run a Q & A with Scope’s sleep practitioners  and here are some of the…

Child care drop off can be difficult for children and their parents, but it may also create a challenge for child care teachers.  As the teacher, it is your responsibility to make sure every child you are caring for feels safe and comfortable in the classroom. This can be difficult when dealing with a child who…

 Is your child more active than usual? Is his/her attention or focus hard to maintain? The start of a new school year can be a chaotic and stressful time for both kids and parents. This is especially true for kids with sensory processing challenges, as changes are difficult and can be hard to manage. To support this transitional…

It’s finally cooling down–or maybe you live where it’s already cold! Either way, this is my favorite season of the year. I LOVE the colors, the crisp cool air, and honestly, I think fall is the best time of year to enjoy the outdoors. For kids with special needs and sensory challenges, the outdoors is…

  Walk Now for Autism Speaks, the nation’s largest grassroots autism walk program, is Autism Speaks’ signature fundraising and awareness event, taking place in communities across the United States, as well as in Canada. Powered by volunteers and families with loved ones on the autism spectrum and local businesses and companies that employ those on…