eSpecially Ben

It was the third snow day and with cabin fever setting in and school a distant memory in my mind, we needed another new indoor activity. Thank goodness, this gift from Santa was overlooked! The kids made clay animals while I did a sun-come-out dance in my bedroom. For more works of art, go to 5 Minutes for Special Needs . Eight More Days to VOTE. Please take a moment to vote.

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The involvement in the About.com Readers' Choice Awards has been a whirlwind experience for me over the past couple of weeks. The word obsessed has been thrown around by some while I prefer to use conscientiously involved . I admit, I am extremely competitive and I have taken this contest seriously. It has become a family affair. My father advises me to work the phones. My mother has sent emails to every contact she has ever made. Logan asks me every day if I am winning. My husband gives me updates on my statistics before I get out of bed. My step-parents have their office mates, bicycling buddies and extended family all voting for eSpecially Ben . My husband does mutter under his breath that if I put all this energy to other uses, I may be able to cure a disease or run a small country. But that is for another day...and another contest. I can see it now, advertised in The New Yorker : "Person who comes up with best caption for this cartoon becomes President." I

  About.com has added an area to each of the finalists' pages where enthusiastic positive words may be shared. If you have an opinion and would like to encourage others to read eSpecially Ben , then share your thoughts here . Many of you send me personal notes through my email and I save every one of them for days when I need uplifting thoughts. Thank you for doing this - it makes my day every time. If you have the courage to make those comments public, please do so. I truly appreciate all the help everyone has given eSpecially Ben during this About.com Readers' Choice Awards event. The support has felt like a great big giant hug (and that is a virtual hug, because those of you who know me, I am not all that into hugs.) The love is flowing from friends whom I see every day to family members, some who have never met me to those who have not seen me since I was a baby to other friends that have not seen me since high school graduation - you get the idea. And if this is not

In 2009, Ben participated in a pilot literacy program developed at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The program went so well, that Attainment Company is now marketing it as a teaching tool for schools. Last week, Ben's teacher sent a link of Ben in the training video for this product. It is a commitment to watch the longer video, so I asked the Attainment Company to edit it to a shorter version for this posting. You will not regret the time you use to view either of the videos. Ben's 2 Minute Training Video   The Big Commitment: 18 minute version - Ben is in the Level 4 Video Literacy Training Video From Nydia Hoard, Ben's special education teacher, and the facilitator in the video: In this video clip Ben is featured in a training video for a literacy program called Pathways to Literacy , published by Attainment Company.  This literacy program is designed for students with more moderate to severe cognitive disabilities.  Its goal is to have stude

Mommy and Daddy found sofas to sleep on. How could we refuse?

I know it is hard to believe, but the Readers' Choice Awards are not limited to just the Favorite Special Needs Parenting Blog. There are other categories to see and other sites to vote on. Check these out and you might just learn something new today: Favorite Special Needs Childrens Book Best Special Needs Online Community Favorite Special Needs Memoir Vote Today - only 2 more weeks!