(This article is partly adapted from “Polypharmacy: What Is It and Are You at Risk?,” a workshop presented by Jay Gupta at the Houston 2022 Abilities Expo.) Polypharmacy: the simultaneous use of multiple drugs by a single patient, for one…
Author: Katherine Swarts (page 31)
Abilities Expo Houston: 2022 Overview
Read Time 4 Minutes Public attitudes toward disability have come a long way in the past few generations. From a topic that was rarely acknowledged in polite society, disabilities or “special needs” have evolved into an everyday concern that few…
The 7 Categories of Rest
The outline for this post is adapted from the book Sacred Rest: Recover Your Life, Renew Your Energy, Restore Your Sanity, by Dr. Saundra Dalton-Smith. See also Dr. Dalton-Smith’s website and “Rest Quiz” (you don’t have to take the quiz…
Counting Disability as a Blessing
Read Time 5 Minutes “It’s not the ‘challenge’ of having a child with special needs. It’s the privilege of having a kid with special needs.” –Alan Roesch, father of a teenager with neurological disabilities Whether a disability is diagnosed before…
School Assistance and Free Lunches: Programs Born in the COVID Era
Read Time 5 Minutes In 2020, as COVID-19 outbreaks forced education online, it became painfully obvious how heavily many families depended on in-person schooling. Among the federal assistance programs originated in 2020–21 were a number specifically designed to bridge the…
BridgingApps Reviewed App | WW / WeightWatchers
BridgingApps just published the following BridgingApps Reviewed App on the site: The WW / WeightWatchers app is a user friendly “healthy eating” app. Rather than counting calories or requiring a certain daily amount of servings per food group, it assigns…
Special Needs and Unwanted Surprises: Dealing with Last-Minute Disruptions in an Uncertain World
Read Time 5 Minutes If there’s anything worse than having your plans spoiled, it’s having plans spoiled when they include someone who has autism or Down syndrome, who never heard the unspoken “circumstances permitting” behind “we’ll go to the beach…
Emotional Support Dogs (And Other Emotional Support Animals)
Read Time 5 Minutes Service dogs have been around for over a century (or much longer than that, if you count “unofficial” service dogs that have been trained by individuals since early domestication days); but the concept of Emotional Support…
Getting the Word Out: How You Can Help Others Find Affordable Digital Access
Read Time 2 Minutes As discussed in our recent post, “Library Hotspots and Lift Zones,” lack of reliable high-speed internet is an educational, economic, and vocational disadvantage. Fortunately, there are many options for getting advanced digital access on a limited…
Straight Talk on Vaccinations
Read Time 3 Minutes August is National Immunization Month, and also back-to-school month in many parts of the United States. An appropriate combination, since preparations for starting or returning to school typically include bringing a child’s immunizations up to date.…