I had a parent of an ARC Marion client leave my office a few minutes ago, and because she’s also a friend, I told her that her story was “blog worthy.” (in my opinion of course)  Here’s what she’s dealing with right now.
Her son, who has Down syndrome, is nearly 26-years-old.  When he turned 18, [...]

The last couple of posts I’ve made refer to parents holding their developmentally and intellectually disabled children back from activities and participating in society as a whole at times.  The segregation has not only impacted the lives of those with disabilities, but it has impacted communities of people who don’t quite know how to act [...]

Tuesday’s post was about holding children back that are born with disabilities.  I don’t quite get it, really.  I suppose I can understand the protective nature of parents wanting to keep their children from harm and uncertainty, possibly shielding them from ridicule and pain.  However, isn’t that real life?  It doesn’t make it any easier, [...]

I have to privilege to work alongside wonderful individuals at ARC Marion who care deeply for the clients served here.  They take great pride in their work and rejoice in every “victory” in a client’s life and feel pain and anguish when clients are hurt and sad.  Great things happen here every day.  Too many [...]

No sooner did I post the blog about Brian’s League did I hear about yet another amazing baseball organization in our local community that is catering to the needs of the disabled children right here in Marion County, Florida!   The organization called “Dream Catchers” is a baseball league backed by Little League International for disabled children from [...]

In our quest to find sponsors for our annual Hog for HopeTM events, one new local company stepped up to the plate at the Silver Level.  As a first time sponsor, that’s a pretty big accomplishment, but now we know why.
Recently I noticed an ad in our local newspaper for a Marion County Baseball League [...]

Over a decade ago when autism was rarely talked about except among parent circles with like-minded children, educators at Lee University in Cleveland, Tennessee started a new project with the autistic child of a Lee alum in Florida.  In 1999, Lee students traveled 500+ miles to interact and help the child and family, who eventually [...]

April is autism awareness month, and I can think of only a few causes that have caught on as quickly as the color blue and the blue puzzle pieces representing Autism Speaks, an international organization of advocacy and research for the disease.  The Empire State building turned “blue” last week in honor of the month, [...]

While our Florida state lawmakers continue to do things that baffle me, I’ve got a new one that should ruffle your feathers, too.  The Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration who regulates and oversees service provider agencies across the state for everything from hospitals to nursing homes, mental health centers to those facilities serving the intellectually [...]