Team Kellan

Meet Kellan:

Isn't he cute?! His parents are helping raise awareness and fighting for a cure for Angelman Syndrome. Please support them in their walk if you can. Information can be found here.

Hold Me

Source: piccsy.com via Kathleen on Pinterest

Low Tech Yes and No Response

We were looking for a good way to for my non-verbal daughter to communicate so we started with a Yes and No response. After several techniques failed it seemed she had the most consistent response with the Yes No Answers app on the iPad. However, the iPad just isn't always available and we have lots of kids in the neighborhood that include Emma and they ask her questions and it's awkward for her to have me get in the way with an iPad for her to respond. It totally ruins the moment and then Emma ignores the iPad and me because there are kids around. So I decided to try a method that works well for another family that I know. It's low tech, super easy, and everyone including the kids can use it without any help. Let me tell you what we are doing. Basically, whoever wants to talk to Emma can ask her a question and then you hold out your right hand with your palm open facing her and your left hand fisted facing her and ask her yes (shaking right hand) or no (shaking left hand). Emma thinks about her response and then reaches out for the appropriate hand. It didn't take much time to get her to be very accurate with this method. And since we've been using this a few weeks now she knows which is Yes and No so we don't have to shake it anymore. I'm hoping that eventually we won't even have to say Yes and No when giving her the hand signal but that could come in time. For now I'm super excited that we have a method that Emma and that anyone can use with Emma. I created a card to laminate and attach to her wheelchair as an easy way to remind (or introduce if it's a new person) people about how Emma answer's questions.

Some Great Resources & Ideas

I am so excited that Teaching Learners with Multiple Special Needs put together a list/review of Android Apps for children with special needs. I use that operating system and I'm sure many of you do! I'm excited to try a few

I absolutely love this conversation starter idea from Adapting Creatively for non-verbal children. So easy and simple, yet so effective and important!

Technical Assistance Center on Social and Emotional Intervention (TACSEI) is a great resource. I especially like their "Making Life Easier" series, which includes printable sheets to help with day-to-day activities such as bedtime, running errands, etc.

The Masterpiece

A beautiful poem written for Kendall of Kendall's Hope
by one of her Special Education teachers.

I know this will make your day, so enjoy....

There’s a tiny piece of heaven who will breathe Earth’s air tonight
She’s the gift you prayed for when you prayed with all your might.
Straight from God’s own hand, a vision of His heart
Flawlessly designed by angels; she’s a perfect work of art

She’ll have mommy’s soft skin and daddy’s button nose
Perfect in every way from her head to her toes.
With big brown eyes and a dimpled chin
Curly brown hair and a sweet impish grin

What’s that you say…her legs are not strong?
Oh no, God said, you’ve got it all wrong
She will dance in your heart and soar with the wind
In her own time, you’ll be amazed at the races she’ll win.

Her eyes... you say, they cannot see?
But, she sees past the sadness and into the hearts
Of people who love her and make her a part
Of the beauty around her that she’s felt from the start.

Her voice is silent and you can’t hear a word?
Yet, she sings with a rhythm of a soft fragile bird
She speaks to your soul and whispers her love
On the wings of an eagle, with the grace of a dove.

A child so precious, and uniquely your own
Chosen by God, a gift from His throne
A little piece of Heaven meant all along
To fill your life with her strength, her sight and her song.

For Kendall Briggs
With love, Terri Limon

A Few Special Ways My Non-Verbal Child Communicates

In my process towards acceptance of having a child with special needs, one of the hardest hurdles was to accept that she may never speak, or at least not in the traditional way a mother usually expects her child to speak. Along my path toward acceptance, though, I've learned a thing or two about Chloe's ability to communicate in unique and special, sometimes even superior ways!

Chloe is obviously and deliriously happy -- so much so that it is contagious. Happiness radiates through her beautiful smile and pierces into the souls of those around her! Although Chloe cannot speak, she seems to whisper words of wisdom with that smile of hers.... Her smile seems to say, "Life is so simple! Life is so beautiful! Look around, take it all in, be grateful, have hope, and be happy!" True, Chloe is non-verbal but my oh my does she communicate with that beautiful smile!

Music is another way Chloe communicates. Her apraxic condition has allowed only a few words to seep out, and one word when asked what she wanted was, "Sing." Although she typically doesn't participate in making music, I still consider music one of our special forms of communication. We have songs that make us happy, we have songs that help us fall asleep, we have songs that bring comfort, we have songs that make us feel love. Music is a pretty big part of our mother-daughter relationship and I believe that's because music speaks when words fail.





One of my favorite forms of communication with my non-verbal daughter is simply being together. Sometimes it's the simplest moments when the TV isn't on, we aren't rushing to and from appointments in the car, we aren't doing stretches or exercises, we aren't gathered with lots of other people when we communicate in a very special way. When we are quite simply together, that is when I feel what she feels and am able to feel a sacred soul-to-soul communication. I would dare say that the simplicity of existing in silence together is one of the purest forms of communication.




Strong love between two people is always a special form of communication, yet one that is hard to put into words even when you have the ability to talk! We are told to speak our love and speak it often. But when someone you love with your entire being and you know that person loves you equally (and possibly even more deeply because they are more pure), that is a sweet form of communication built on a foundation of trust. Learning to trust that feeling rather than depending on hearing the words or being the recipient of grand gestures to show love is a hard language to fully comprehend, yet one that is powerfully undeniable and a privilege to learn.









Chloe's hugs are a glimpse into heaven. Because she has little to no control over her body, her hugs are not given on demand, they are rarely the same, they are few and far between. But they never disappoint and are always worth the wait. Chloe's hugs communicate gratitude, love, and a zillion other emotions that Webster has not been able to create a word for. I'm not trying to suggest that Chloe's hugging communication is at a higher level than that of Webster, but, actually... maybe that's exactly what I'm trying to suggest ;)







Chloe draws people in with another unique form of communication: a light in her being in a sparkle in her eyes. She shines. She radiates. I'm telling you, perfect strangers flock to her! There is something in that twinkle, something in her glowing presence that speaks to people. It speaks loud and clear to me, that's for sure!





Does your non-verbal child "speak" to you? Tell us how!

(By the way, I know my wording on this post is pathetic at best. It's late and I'm tired, but I wanted to share these even if I don't have time to edit. Thanks for your forgiveness!)