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Thanks for stopping by!

Adapting Creatively is a place where special needs parenting and special education intersect. When a special education teacher becomes a special needs parent, life demands some adapting. Some creativity. From that, this blog was born.

And I'm so glad you're here.

My name is Rose-Marie.

I'm a...
     ...teacher by training
     ...special educator by even more training
     ...specialist in adapting curriculum for kids with motor and language barriers by yet more training and practice
     ...trainer of parents, teachers and therapists by passion

And, more personally, I'm a...
     ...Christian by grace
     ...wife to an amazing and wonderful man    
     ...mother by blessing
     ...devoted advocate by circumstance
     ...happily farming girl after a lifetime of dreaming to live on a farm

A bit of history...

When our firstborn daughter was diagnosed with Rett syndrome 15 years ago, my husband and I faced the challenge of coping with some pretty discouraging news. We discovered that the most constructive response for us was to jump in with practical solutions for the issues she faced, drawing from our own creativity, training, experience and whatever resources we could find. Focusing not on her limitations, we chose instead to figure out ways to enable to her participate in life as fully as possible. This path has been healing for our whole family.

Adapting Creatively is meant to help other families and teachers of kids with issues similar to our daughter's. If there are ideas that can make life easier for someone else, I'm happy to share! If you have ideas that might help others, please let me know so we can pass them along.

How can you get in touch?

You can leave a comment below or email me (using the standard format, of course):
don_gal_3(at)msn(dot)com

8 comments:

  1. my daughter wants me to make this for the little girl she takes care of, but I cannot get the hood pattern to print out, can you tell me what I am doing wrong?
    e-mail at robbins4947@aol.com

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  2. You have a wonderful blog! I'm glad I came across a link on FB.

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  3. Thanks for reading here, Carolyn! It's terrific to have you on board.

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  4. Hi - thanks for your very informative blog. Especially the post on binary choices. I'm going to use binary choices to create a worksheet to teach my son math concept of more/less.

    Thanks!
    Emma
    www.moderateautism.com

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  5. I too, am a special educator and advocate for students and those with special needs. Currently, I am helping a dear friend of mine find fine motor activities and exercises for her son who was recently injured with severe spinal cord injuries. I posted things I had found for OT ideas on pinterest. I posted the free e-book with PVC ideas, but the book does not appear. Can you help me find it. I am posted under specialkidsteacher or Becky Smith. My e-mail is specialkidsteacher@comcast.net
    Thanks,
    Becky D. Smith

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  6. Becky, thanks so much for calling the broken link for the PVC pipe book to my attention. I have corrected the problem (as of right now...it seems this gem changes host sites often) so now it takes you to: http://www.assistivetechnology.vcu.edu/files/mt/2/pvcbook.pdf.

    Again, thanks heaps for letting me know!


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  7. Rose-Marie, you are an inspiration! And you are an advocate, which children who have special needs require. I came to work with children with disabilities as an art teacher in 2006. With little training and no really good resources, I began experimenting and engaging my students through sensory experiences. After four years of experimenting and researching, I wrote a book...Making Art Special - A Curriculum for Special Education Art. Five years later, I continue to add to my experimenting, sharing the results on my facebook page, facebook.com/makingartspecial. I also have lots of resources on my pinterest board, pinterest.com/makingartspec. I am sharing all of this with you in the hopes that it will be as useful to you and your blog followers as it has been to thousands of people around the globe. Kudos to you and your great work! Helen Goren Shafton

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Thanks for joining in the conversation!