BLOOM combines real family stories with the best expert advice, plus the latest news and opinion on disability.
A deaf girl writes about the pain and beauty of being different
The 12-year-old protagonist of a new book finds herself alienated from her family, who refuse to use sign language.
Sister turns step-by-step picture stories into life-skills app
Growing up Nadia Hamilton drew pictures and instructions to help her brother Troy, who has autism, do things around the house. “These w...
Wanted: Dads raising kids with disabilities
Matt Swan has been raising his daughter Leah, 16, on his own for over seven years. Leah was born with spina bifida and hydrocephalus and ...
This time my husband used a new line: 'He has a brain injury'
By D. Christine Brown We were sitting in a nice Italian restaurant in Kingston, Ont., en route home from our vacation. Our son Lucas was ...
Happiness is parenting a special-needs child
By Val LustedI never thought I'd be writing my very first blog with this title!However, when 2015 appeared on the horizon, I decided to s...
What do you read most on BLOOM?
Almost 200 people responded to our 2015 BLOOM survey earlier in the summer. We will report more fully on the findings, but I wanted to sh...
Think other special-needs parents have it 'together?' Think again
When Autism Comes To Roost: A Family's Journey From Denial to Acceptance is a new parent memoir out next week. Canadian psychologist Alic...
'I felt so small:' Parent tips on speaking up with specialists
By Sue Robins and Isabel JordanWhen my son was diagnosed with Down syndrome 12 years ago, our family was thrust into a world of medical s...
When you wish
Yesterday a colleague mentioned that she had seen my son in the distance at a park."He touched my heart merelythrough my quiet observatio...
We learned more about 'inclusion' schooling at home
By Lianna KoernerWhen I think back to the early days of November 2013, I see my son and myself as strangers.He is an eight-year-old boy s...
When it comes to disability, who and what needs to change?
When my son was young I searched for interventions that would "minimize" his disabilities.I'm embarrassed to write that now, knowing how ...
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