Monthly Archives: October 2013

Listen To SPC On WGVU Morning Show With Shelley Irwin

Listen To SPC On WGVU Morning Show With Shelley Irwin.

On Thursday 10/24/13 John Pellegrini stopped by the WGVU FM studios for an interview with Shelley Irwin on the WGVU Morning Show to talk about Special Parents Confidential.

You can listen to the interview here. Either click the play button or click download to install it directly on your computer or Mp3 player.

Be sure to check out the WGVU Morning Show With Shelley Irwin for all kinds of great information on Grand Rapids and West Michigan.

Many thanks again to Shelley Irwin for inviting me to talk about the podcast!

SPC On WGVU FM Morning Show With Shelley Irwin.

SPC On WGVU FM Morning Show With Shelley Irwin. Tomorrow morning 10/24/13.

If you happen to be in the listening area of WGVU FM in Grand Rapids, MI tomorrow morning (10/24/13) you can hear John Pellegrini talk about Special Parents Confidential with Shelley Irwin on the WGVU Morning Show.   88.5 FM in Grand Rapids, MI and 95.3 FM in Muskegon, MI.

If you’re not in the listening area, you can still hear the program by clicking on the Streaming Live link on the WGVU Morning Show website.

John will be on the program around 10:15 AM, but we recommend you listen to the entire program from 9:00 to 11:00 just because it’s a great show!

That link, once again, is the WGVU Morning Show With Shelley Irwin.  Please be sure to share this link with everyone you know on social media. Use the convenient buttons below.

Thanks for listening!

Deciding Who Sees Students’ Data – New York Times Article

Deciding Who Sees Students’ Data. New York Times Article.

Privacy issues are becoming more and more prevalent in almost all aspects of our lives. Now we’re starting to see concerns over the way schools are keeping and storing the private data of their students. For a parent of any student this raises issues but especially for parents of special needs children who’s private records can include medical records such as their diagnosis, therapy information and prescription medications and much more personal information.

This article from the New York Times is a must read for parents and educators. While there can be benefits to utilizing cloud-based data storage, there can also be many concerns over security and potential theft of records.  Deciding who sees students’ data is an issue that should include parents, teachers, school administration, and the school board, not just a few people. While no system may be truly perfect, this is issue far too important to be simply made without real investigation and research.

Deciding Who Sees Students’ Data – New York Times Article

7 Myths About Medication – From The Cleveland Clinic

7 Myths About Medication and The Facts Behind Them. From The Cleveland Clinic

Medications of any kind are always a difficult decision for not only parents of special needs children but all parents. So we are pleased to be able to share an article that has great common sense advice on taking medications from the Cleveland Clinic:

7 Myths About Medication – and The Facts Behind Them

This article is mostly about over-the-counter (OTC) medications and information for adults, but much of the information applies to prescription medications and children taking medications as well.

We would add one more bit of advice that we have been given from our own pediatrician as well as other people we know in the medical profession: When giving any kind of OTC medication to a child, make sure you use your child’s weight for the dosage, rather than their age. Why? Body mass has much more of an effect on how you absorb medication than your age, and to a far greater degree with children. Some kids don’t grow as quickly as others and can weigh much less than the average for kids their age, which means for those kids a dose measured to the amount for their age would actually be too much.

Always get your medical information from reliable sources, like the Cleveland Clinic. Other good sources are The American Academy of Pediatrics, The Mayo Clinic and Web MD. You can also find links to excellent information from reliable sources on our Helpful Links page.

Avoid the myths about medication and always follow your doctor’s advice.

Special Parents Confidential Episode 13 The Friendship Circle

Special Parents Confidential Episode 13 The Friendship Circle

One of the recurring themes we have in our podcasts is how some of the best information and support comes primarily from parents of special needs children. We know what our children need for help and it’s incredible when some parents step forward and create groups and organizations that fill those needs when other avenues are not available.

This is certainly the case with the group we are talking about in this episode. The Friendship Circle was created by parents and family members of special needs children to help those children find friends and support. They’ve grown in just a few years from a group of a few parents who started bringing their kids together in Detroit, Michigan, to a now nearly world-wide organization. They pair up special needs kids — all children with physical, developmental, or learning disabilities are welcome no matter what the diagnosis — with ‘normal’ or ‘neuro-typical’ kids to be friends and help each other. As it turns out, all of the kids get something incredibly rewarding from the experience. The Friendship Circle offers sports activities, tutoring, play time, and they even have a mock-village where special needs children can learn life skills like going to the bank, the store, and other social situations that happen in every day life. They also have a phenomenal anti-bullying program, which was created by the parents and the kids called the Upstander Project, that is making an amazing difference in schools across the country.

Our guest for this episode is Rabbi Tzvi Schectman, who is a family coordinator at the Friendship Circle. Most people first encounter The Friendship Circle through the daily emailed newsletter, known as The Friendship Circle Blog, that Rabbi Schectman compiles. These emails feature articles on many different kinds of information that parents of special needs children can use.

Links mentioned in this podcast:

The Friendship Circle.org  Website for The Friendship Circle organization. Learn more about this amazing group.

The Friendship Circle.com Friendship Circle International – to find Friendship Circle programs and groups in locations around North America and the world.

Weinberg Village The mock-village facility run by the Friendship Circle.

Upstander Project The anti-bullying program created by The Friendship Circle.

The Friendship Circle Blog The newsletter from the Friendship Circle with great articles and advice for parents of special needs children. You can subscribe to have the blog sent directly to your email each day.

As always a reminder that if you like this episode of Special Parents Confidential or any episode we’ve done, please share our site with your friends, family, and all your connections on social media. You can do this easily with the social media buttons located right below this paragraph. Like us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, add us on Google Plus, or any of the other sites like Tumbler, Linked In, Pintrest, Stumble Upon, Reddit, and others. You can also sign up for our email service and have new posts and podcast episodes delivered right to your inbox the moment they’re available online. That form is located to the right of this text.  We’re also on iTunes and Stitcher and if you have a moment, feel free to write a review about our podcast there. Anything you can do to help spread the word about Special Parents Confidential will help us be able to continue these podcasts.

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