For me, the most difficult part of home schooling was determining and allocating the materials I'd use to teach. Before I could buy materials and programs however, I had to first decide what 'type' of home-schoolers we were and what methods I'd use to teach.

Since home schooling my son with autism, I've had numerous parents contact me asking how the process begins. In other words, what do you have to do in order to home school your child?

The process isn't as bad as it sounds. Paperwork, policies, regulations and more acronyms are part of the process, but like anything else when it comes to special needs, you become accustomed to it. The added bonus is, once you're prepared and have done it initially, the work is lessened, as you reuse the documentation (as a template).

A few months ago, my nephew was diagnosed with autism. That makes 4/5 children in my family with 'psychiatric disorders diagnosed during childhood'. In talking with her this morning, I was horrified to hear how little help her son was getting - she's not even getting "the basics" let alone any additional help.

She's simply not getting the services available to help her son. I think this occurs more often then I realize, so I wanted to talk about it today in case anyone here needs more support for their child.

I'm not surprised to hear that more and more parents are opting to home-school their children with special needs to avoid having their child get vaccinations. I am surprised by the many people who pass judgment and assume those that decline immunizing are somehow bad parents.

Unless you've experienced a vaccine related trauma, I doubt it's easy to understand. In the U.S., it's considered near abusive if you choose not to vaccinate. That's because most people believe immunizations are safe for every single child and that's simply untrue.

Do you travel with your children that have epilepsy, autism or other special needs? If you've ever taken a trip, for pleasure or otherwise, how did you prepare and what modifications did you make?

I want to surprise everyone with a family vacation. Then I began imagining the trip and I wasn't so sure this was a good idea! Maybe I should plan a girl's weekend at the spa instead...

My son Ian, who has autism, returned to school this week after being home-schooled since the beginning of the school year. I chose to home school him after not finding a classroom for him.

With the help of my consultant, I found a great classroom for Ian and he was supposed to begin almost two weeks ago. Except everyone in my house became quite ill and, as luck should have it, we (me and all three of my children) were home sick for weeks. So, Ian has only attended school two days and neither of them in a row!

It seems the younger a child is, the more birthday party ideas there are. At least, that's what I thought until I started reading about theme parties for tweens and teens. The ideas are the coolest and I'm so excited because I have a teen who pretty much dislikes everything- He won't be able to resist smiling with these ideas though...

I was reading some parent's stories and this one caught my eye and yanked on my heart... As a mom, I know how much she must of anticipated this special event and the sadness watching her son that morning, but it's what we can learn from her that is so important.

The best part of birthday parties for kids with special needs, is making memories. With so much technology available, there are countless ways to capture your child's special day and share them with others.

The past few days I've been telling you about Birthday In A Box - an unbelievable company that literally has everything you could possibly need or want to have an extraordinary party. They have over 100 themes to choose from and you're sure to find whatever delights your child. This is where I order our birthday party supplies.

Are you always looking for ways to help your child make friends and have typical childhood experiences with other children (i.e. - fun)? Have you found opportunities for 'real -everyday' socialization are limited or difficult to find?

I did! But thanks to my thinking out-of-the-box (a pun you'll appreciate later in the post), I've found a great way to help my children make true friends and have fun.