Play to Podium Magazine, For Special Needs Families

Organizations

Heart of Gold

A Teen’s Gift of Sharing and Caring He is a very small animal with a timid disposition. He wants to be brave and goes about to conquer his fears. Always the loyal friend, he is Piglet from A. A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books and he’s Meaghan Walker’s favorite fictional character. Shy and understated, her genial nature refuses to allow her to indulge in the praise she deserves. In fact, her acts of kindness are not very typical of those who are so reticent and reserved. But Meaghan’s courage to reach out to help others has not gone unnoticed. Her friends, high school classmates ...

Professional’s Forum

Serious Fun  Breaking Through Barriers with Therapeutic Recreation Prior to Steven’s accident he was an active child and enjoyed many physical activities. When Steven lost part of his leg there were so many questions: What could he still do? Were there ways to modify his activities or how he participates? How will he learn new skills? More intrinsically, how much of Steven’s identity was hinged on those activities? Will he change how he sees and values himself? Are there new and interesting activities that Steven can be involved with? Helping children with disabilities like Steven to be involved in meaningful play is the natural ...

Guiding Light

A Mother’s Journey from Darkness She is her son’s eyes. She is his guide. His teacher. His friend. A mother of three. She praises those who help her. She walks away from those who won’t. She’s made mistakes. She’s found solutions. One day at a time. This is how she did it. There is a calm about Cheryl Hampson that does not befit all that life has given her to worry about. There is a gentle smile and a soft, gracious voice that lulls one to believe that this forty-something stay-at-home mom has not yet met real adversity in her life. Pragmatic ...

Resources

Life of Leisure

It’s said that there’s no other time in our life as memorable as childhood. In these precious years of life, each new day brings a world of discoveries. Being a parent of a child with a disability can bring additional challenges when it comes to ensuring that your child experiences all that you would like for him or her. Discover Leisure Education is a new online resource designed to help parents understand the value of leisure in the life of your child, which can help with successes at home and school too. Created as a project of the National Center on Physical ...

My Best Days

The most amazing thing happened to me last year! I went to swim practice at my school. This may not seem amazing to you, but it is to me. Maybe I should start at the beginning. Two weeks after my fourth birthday, I found out I had a brain tumor. Two weeks later I went into the hospital. I came out blind. I was so young that I didn't really understand what that meant. I asked my mom when morning would come. I asked my dad to turn on the lights. I went outside. I just couldn't understand why it was dark ...

Sports Clubs

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Getting in the Game

Connecting with my autistic child For fathers coming home from work and finding it impossible to connect with their autistic child, it can typically be the straw that breaks the family's back.  Dad walks in to find his son busy lining up his toys or engrossed in the spinning wheels of an overturned toy truck. Dad calls his name over and over in hopes of those bright eyes and wide mouth to come running to him with open arms, but to no avail. He even gets down on his knees in a desperate attempt for some eye contact, but his son turns ...