Author Archives: carl

Feel Guilty? No!

Attention grabber isn’t it? As a stay at home dad of five kids, or which three have a special need of some kind, I am at the forefront of all activities in our home.  As it should be.  With our youngest son David and his increasing need for near constant attention, the pace is increasing.  He requires more and more energy to keep up with him. As an individual with more than one chronic illness, my health is finite.  The last two months have definitely put a stress on my health. This week, I left home on Wednesday for two days in Denver doing a Title V Block Grant Review.  More about that can be found here. Even though it has only been two days, I can say unequivocally that my body hurts less today than it did two days ago.  I like to blame the altitude.  I remember in

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Title V Block Grant Review

Well, I just spent the afternoon as a Family Reviewer for Block Grants with the Department of Health and Human Services. Here is a tip, if you ever want to know where your federal and state dollars go, volunteer to review a Block Grant for Children’s Special Health Services.  To see people do so much with so little is a humbling experience. I met some fabulous people who are passionate about their jobs. My most quoted line “How can you get father’s more involved in the lives of their children?” My second line “How can you educate moms on the dangers of prenatal drug use?” All in all, it was a fantastic way to spend a couple of days in Denver. More at another time. Tweet #fighting4answrs

Special Needs, IEPs, and Back to School – Time to Boogie or Worry?

When Our Kids with Special Needs Return to School Feel free to grab this button and put it on your own site, or use it in in a Restraint and Seclusion post on your site. Right Click and Save As … We all have to be our child’s best advocates. Just a few days ago I planned to write a back to school post about the kind of “back to school boogie” I’m doing as my children with special needs go back to school. But, my sweet mental boogie was derailed yesterday with a surprise note home from Logan signaling a change of teacher this year for his special needs classroom. Those of you who have followed the Cafe for a little while might remember a post I wrote a while back concerning Logan, restraint and seclusion, and the teacher who thought a rifton chair was good placement for him way too

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