Finding the Perfect Specialist for Your Special Needs Child

July 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Finding the Right Fit for Your Special Needs Child is Important

When you have a child with special needs, finding the right specialist is important and hard to do.  Children with disabilities sometimes need multiple specialists, for specific concerns like autism or ADHD, to more general concerns like developmental disabilities.  Whether you are looking for that first diagnosis or not, you should always strive to follow four basic steps to ensure you are finding the right fit for your child and family (not to mention insurance).

Breaking it Down: Steps to a Specialist Who is Right for Your Special Needs Child

Whether you are looking for a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder, learning disabilities, or a genetic disorder, finding the right specialist for the job is the first step.  Ask your child’s pediatrician or research the type of specialist you need first.  For example, some psychiatrists specialize in diagnosing autism, but a neuropsychologist could diagnose a wider variety of neurological disorders, including learning disabilities, ADHD, and more.

This brings us to the second step, after picking the type of specialist you need for your child, use all your available resources to research.  Research:

  • Which specialists are covered under your insurance plan; make sure to include a local list of those specialists.  (call your customer service number for help if you need it)
  • Do an internet search for each doctor’s name, and see what other parents of children with disabilities had to say about their service – look for reviews.

Your third step is to evaluate the results of your research.

  • Narrow your choices to your top three and call the provided office numbers.  Ask to speak to the person who can answer questions about “if this specialist would be the right one for my special needschild.”
  • When you talk with someone, or they call you back, make sure that they know what your child needs from the specialist. Is it a diagnosis of learning disabilities?  Is it ongoing care for a disability or condition thathas already been diagnosed?  Are you looking just for a second opinion?

Your fourth step, and the one most people forget or ignore, is to pay attention to how your contact answers your questions about whether their office is the best fit for your special needs child.  Listen to any questions they ask you and answer them completely – this tells you a lot about how well they can help you and your child.

Remember: You Know Your Special Needs Child Best!

Never ignore your gut instinct here.  If, after all your research and phone calls, you still have trouble finding the right specialist to help you, whether you are looking for a diagnosis of autism, ADHD, or something else entirely, you want an office that will treat you with respect and treat your questions as important.

What are some of the biggest obstacles you have had to address when finding a specialist for your child? Do you have something to add that might help another parent?

 
Filed Under: Home & Family, Medical Needs, Special Needs, Special Needs Parenting Tagged With: , , , , , , , ,
This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Organizing a Coupon System That Works for You

July 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Coupon System = Saving money

Organization is the key to successfully using a coupon system—whether that is a binder, container, or envelope—and it’s the key to saving money. The truth is, most people never think about how they are going to organize those coupons and then wonder why they haven’t been saving money at the grocery store. Let’s break down the key steps to organizing those coupons and have you ready for that next sale in just minutes a day.

Couponing Tips the Coupon Queens Use

  1. Create a coupon wish list by going through the brands that you already use, and the products you buy weekly. When you stick to only one brand, put it down, but when you don’t care about brand loyalty just list the item (like “toilet paper” instead of “Cottonelle”).
  2. Scour the Sunday paper for those Sunday coupons and always pull those inserts out. Subscribe to the newsletters at your favorite brands’ websites and be the first to know about their printable coupons.  Do your own search for printable coupons—but only print the ones you know you will use!
  3. Concentrate first on the brands you know you will use—search for grocery coupons on products you buy already, or which are on your own coupon wish list.  Quickly search through inserts for these products and clip those coupons first. When you choose printable coupons always check for these first and make sure they are worth your ink.
  4. Decide if you want to organize each coupon alphabetically by product name or if you want to organize them by categories.  If you are thinking of categories, think about the layout of your favorite store and list categories similarly (like pastas and rice, or prepared foods).
  5. Put a cheat sheet together to help you remember how you are organizing each type of coupon, if you choose to use categories.  For instance, you’ll never find the peanut better if you are looking for it under prepared foods but you decided to list it under the kids’ food category instead. Write or type the list on a small piece of paper and add it to the beginning of your system.
  6. Most folks have a favorite way to organize their coupons, either by using a container of some kind (even a shoebox!), a binder, or a trusty envelope (easy to lose and not so trusty!). In another series of articles we’ll go through all your different options, but if you are just starting out you don’t need anything fancy.  Consider a basic organizer you can get at any store, which looks like a mini accordion file.
  7. Spend a few minutes every day either clipping, filing, printing, or otherwise getting your system into order—this is important!  You need to spend a little time each day, otherwise you will stare at a mess of coupons and tell yourself if isn’t worth it!Saving money is always worth it!
  8. Test your system out and refine as needed.
That’s it, the simple way to get those coupons organized, one coupon at a time, in just minutes a day.  What are your favorite or most-used tips for organizing coupons?


Everything you need to Get Organized
Filed Under: Coupons 101 Tagged With: , , , , , , ,
This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Mommy How-To: Making Time for Me

July 1, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Child art, mom

Moms are pretty special, inspiring great artwork! Used under CC-by-SA 3.0 by Maia

Did you add “Making Time for Me” on your Mommy To-Do List?

We all have ‘to-do’ lists a mile long. You know. The lists that start whenever our little angels get up and end whenever we fall asleep in exhaustion at the end of a long, long day. In the craziness of balancing school and family, balancing time, balancing sanity (insanity?), have you also been making time for yourself? Or have you allowed your needs to slip off the never-ending to-do list?

Why “Making Time for Yourself” is Important

Being a mom is hard work. It isn’t the same gig as the one our moms and grandmothers before us mastered. Where in generations past a woman’s priority was centered in and around her family and household, today’s mom is concerned with earning a living, stretching every dollar to make it count, and still mastering being the kind of mother that would make our own mothers proud. A certain skill goes into juggling it all. Balancing school and family, or even balancing work and home, means that there is less time available for things we feel are less important, like “making time for me.”

But at the end of a long day, unless you are the kind of mom who is born with the ability to balance it all, you might find yourself starting to fray around the edges. Depression can creep in. In all the different ways to balance time, you might find your temper more easily sparked, your nerves more easily shot, and your house? Shot all to … well, you get the picture. Things fall apart when mom’s balancing act starts to tip over.

How “Making Time for Me” Can Make a Difference

Making time for yourself doesn’t mean that you suddenly stop being a mother. You aren’t denying your kids or your family by deciding that you are going to start making time for yourself. It’s hard, though, isn’t it? To admit that you might need something for yourself in this delicate balancing act called life. You don’t have to think about this as a massive undertaking, though. Start small, with just a few minutes at a time, and think about what it could mean.

5 Ways of Making Time Work for You

  1. Take a moment to pray.
  2. Take deep breaths to help calm and relax.
  3. Laugh out loud. Dance. Sing. Make silly faces.
  4. Make a to-do list of only three must-do things each morning/evening. The catch? These are three things you will only do for yourself.
    1. Read a devotional.
    2. Read a magazine article.
    3. Call an old friend and chat.
    4. Take a bath (preferably alone, with candles, music, or whatever else relaxes you).
What are some ways that you balance time, making time for yourself while still balancing home and work (or school and family)?
Filed Under: Home & Family, Remembering Yourself, Time for Mom Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , ,
This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Coupon Planning for Your Trip to the Grocery Store

June 29, 2011 By Leave a Comment

Saving money at the grocery store takes a bit of planning, but it isn’t hard to do if you have already organized your coupons. After physically sorting and organizing your coupons, planning for the trip is the most important thing you can do to help save money on groceries. Spending just a few minutes a day, you can plan for your next trip to the grocery store and maximize your own savings. [Read more...]
Filed Under: Coupons 101, Deals and Steals, Grocery, Grocery, Saving Money, Top Coupons, Top Online Coupons Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page

Sensory Play: Fun Kids’ Activities for your Special Needs Child

June 29, 2011 By 1 Comment

When it comes to summer-time fun kids’ activities for children with special needs, it’s sometime hard to find activities that will help your kid with their sensory issues. In our busy, busy worlds, we want to help our kids develop skills and challenge their sensory development. But how do we know what kinds of kids’ activities are best for our sensory-challenged kids?

The first thing to remember is that summer is, for most families, when you are able to challenge your sensory-seeking or sensory-avoidant child the most. Why? Because you can play outside—a natural sensory playground—and you can more easily make the kinds of messes that will not only help your kids, but delight them as well.

3 Tips for Summer Sensory Play:

  1. Water – one of the most beloved and fun kids’ activities any parent can offer is for their kid to run through a sprinkler, go wading in a baby pool, or just splash around in large plastic bowls filled with different amount (or colors!) or water. You don’t even need to change this for your special needs child, just be willing to adapt to their specific sensory needs!
  2. Sand – also one of the easiest kids’ summer activities you can set up for your child. You can use a traditional sand box, build your own, or appropriate a plastic storage bin. For fun on a smaller scale, use all the senses and try this handmade toy that will delight your kid, whether they are special needs or not:
    1. Rinse out an old plastic soda bottle, whatever size you want to play with.
    2. Fill it half way with sand.
    3. Go on a scavenger hunt for very small items to place inside and ‘hide’ in the sand:

i.      Marbles

ii.      Little Army guys (cut off their feet!)

iii.      Tiny accessories (from a doll or action hero!)

  1. Fill the rest of the container with sand.
  2. Use super glue and glue on the lid as you twist it on.
  3. For extra security, wrap brightly-colored duck-tape around the lid as well.
  4. Challenge your kid to find the objects inside (see if they can find them all!)
  5. Bubbles – another one of many easy kids’ summer activities is to play with bubbles! See whose bubble is the biggest. Try to count all of the bubbles before they pop. Try to catch them. For special needs children, especially, this is a fun and enjoyable way to sneak in touch and feel, as well as vision tracking skills. And the best part is that you can all have fun doing it!

See how easy it is to mix in some developmental and sensory play into regular kids’ summer activities? What are some of the best ways you have found to challenge your child during the long summer months?

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Filed Under: Family Fun, Fun at Home, Special Needs Tagged With: , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
This post may contain affiliate links or sponsored content. In most cases, products are provided to Moms Living Thrifty for review. All product reviews are written according to the writer's honest opinion, experience or beliefs. Your opinion may vary. To see more on our disclosure policy, please visit our Disclosure page