Ask Temple Grandin Questions about Your Child and About Autism

Temple Grandin, whom I respect and admire beyond words, has now added a Q & A section to her website. This is SO cool! You can now ask this living legend questions about your child and/or questions about autism and she will answer them! Don't miss out on this fantastic opportunity to get your questions answered by Temple Grandin.

Love Your Child More Than You Hate Your Spouse

When you are going through divorce, it can be exhausting and stressful. You can get caught up in fights with your spouse and lose sight of how the fighting affects the children. Children are terrified when they see their parents fight. Parental discord can be particularly stressful on children with disabilities or special needs. When you feel yourself getting sucked into conflict - with your spouse during the divorce, or with your ex after the divorce - keep repeating this mantra to yourself:

"I Love My Child More Than I Hate My Spouse/Ex"

Single Parents with Special Needs Children in Abject Poverty

Did you know that many single parents with special needs children are in abject poverty within 2 years of divorce? When you think about it, it makes sense. Things are often more difficult financially after divorce. Two households are now trying to make ends meet on income that might not have been enough for one household before divorce. Also, when both parents are living together, they can avoid some childcare costs by taking turns with the children while the other parent works, runs errands, etc. When there is no other parent in the house, childcare costs are often higher. When there is a child with a disability or special need, the primary caregiver parent sometimes has to work part-time or not at all, in order to take care of the child. Taking care of a child with significant disabilities can be a full-time job. So do the math, and it is not surprising, after all, that many single parents with special needs children are in abject poverty within 2 years of divorce.

HACKER ALERT!

Some jerk hacked into my email account today and sent out messages to people in my address book, saying that I was in London, had been robbed at gunpoint and needed money. PLEASE disregard that stupid email - I did NOT send it! I have anti-virus and anti-hacker software on my email account, but apparently it did not work. I heard it could have something to do with the fact that AOL and Facebook are now somehow connected, and that this is happening to alot of people.

Click here: Link to my new Autism inspirational quotes book on Kindle

Down Syndrome Affiliates in Action conference

I spoke at the Down Syndrome Affiliates in Action national conference in Kansas City last Friday. It was a fantastic conference, with an amazing amount of valuable content. There were 15 sessions going on at one time, but everything ran smoothly. The organizers really know what they are doing. I highly recommend the conference. If you missed it this year, check it out for next year!

New Autism Kindle book

My new book has just launched on Amazon as a Kindle book! "Awesome Autism Quotes: Inspiration, Humor & Reflections."

It Doesn't Matter What They Call It

There is a massive outcry now because of the controversy on autism, the autism spectrum and Asperger's syndrome.
Who cares what you call it? Those are just labels. Each person's autism (or whatever you want to call it) is different.
It is time we stopped seeing the labels and started seeing the people - the beautiful individuals.

Special Needs Community getting along better

I am so glad to see the special needs community has had much less in-fighting lately. We need to help each other, and not attack each other. Whatever differences we may have in beliefs about certain treatments, medications, diets, supplements, the bottom line is that we are a community. We should use our energy to help each other. As Abraham Lincoln said, "A house divided against itself cannot stand." Blessings, friends.

New Resource for Families

Our families need information specially written for their unique needs, to survive when going through the divorce courts. I have created a new website, www.PegiPrice.com, on which I have click and print booklets packed with information our families need when going through divorce with special needs children. More click and print booklet will be added every month.

New book

I have written another book to help our families. The law book I wrote for the lawyers and judges, The Special Needs Child and Divorce, was published in April 2009 by the American Bar Association. It is just now available on Amazon.

The newest book is a guide for parents. Divorce and the Special Needs Child: A Parent Guide is being published by Jessica Kingsley Publishers. Jessica Kingsley Publishers is the world's leading publisher of autism and special needs books. The publication date for this book is June 15, 2010. JKP has already placed it on Amazon for pre-orders.

Our families are finally getting the resources we need to get a fair shake when our families go through divorce!

Temple Grandin HBO movie

I understand that the Temple Grandin movie will be available on DVD in August 2010. Good news for those of us who do not subscribe to HBO!

I'll Be Speaking at Conferences in Chicago area, Tulsa and Oklahoma City in July 2009

I will be speaking at the national conference of the Autism Society of America on Friday, July 24 from 12:45 - 2 pm, on the subject of Child Custody and Child Support in Divorce with a Child with Autism. The conference will be in St. Charles, Illinois, about an hour outside of Chicago. People can get more information at ASA's website: www.autism-society.o rg

Also, I will be speaking on this topic at Oklahoma State Bar Association seminars in the Oklahoma City area on Thursday, July 16 and in Tulsa on July 17.

I am trying very hard to reach out to our families and let them know there is now help for them - and I am working hard to educate the lawyers and judges about our families and what they need.

These seminars and conferences are also a good way for people from around the country to get to talk to me in person and ask me questions. My son, who emerged from autism at age 8, will be traveling with me to these 3 speaking engagements. We are trying to spread a message of hope, which is so desperately needed. Please help me spread the word so our families can finally start to get better results from the family court system. Thank you!

Share your Divorce Stories

As a community, families with a special needs child have a divorce rate of 85 - 90%. I went through divorce when my autistic son was 6 years old. I have walked this path and lived this. When we are going through crisis situations like this, we need each other more than ever - yet we are so busy just trying to survive the crisis that we lose contact with each other.

The purpose of this posting is to invite all of you to write and share your experiences, war stories, advice, support, suggestions for families with a special needs child going through divorce. I am trying to open up our lines of communication so we can help each other. Now it is your turn - help each other and connect with each other!

Autism Bites

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Divorce Rates of Families with Special Needs Children

Divorce affects over 1 million children each year in the United States. The number of special needs children in the United States and throughout the world is skyrocketing. The family courts are already overwhelmed with their caseloads of divorces, paternity and modification cases. The divorce rates for families with a special needs child are 80 to 90 %. When our families go through the court system for divorce or paternity cases, we can't just be treated like other families. We need to connect with each other and educate the lawyers and judges about what our children and our families need.

I have been a lawyer for 23 years, and practice only in the area of family law. My son was diagnosed with autism when he was 3 years old. His father and I divorced when my son was 3 years old. I wrote a special Parenting Plan to make sure our individual issues were thoroughly addressed when we got divorced.

Lawyers, judges and families ask me every day for information on how to handle divorces and paternity cases involving special needs children. I developed checklists, special forms and other extensive materials to be used when our families go through divorce. These checklists, forms, samples and other materials have now been published in a law book by the American Bar Association. The Special Needs Child and Divorce was published in April 2009.

I am going around the United States speaking at law conferences and special needs conferences trying to get this information out so our families have a better result when we go through the family court system. I can't do it alone.

We need to connect with each other, as parents, grandparents and other family members of special needs children - as lawyers and judges - as teachers, therapists, doctors, nurses and others who work with our children - to share this information.

With millions of children worldwide every year being affected by divorce, we have to get the word out, to increase awareness of the issues, to teach the legal system how divorce affects our daily lives when we have special needs children, and to offer solutions and guidance.

One way for us to get the word out is to share our stories of things that happen in our lives when we go through divorce. Some of you are going through divorce right now, and raising a child with special needs. Tell the lawyers and the judges what your daily life is like. Many of them don't know. Many of them really do care, and would care even more if you can humanize it for them.

Please share your stories so we can all connect and make lives better for our special needs children and for our families.