Friendship Circle

An inside perspective of special children, their families, volunteers, community members and Friendship Circle coordinators who bring them together.

Steven is an 8 year old boy with autism, but in Friendship Circle’s world, that just means he’s unique, like all of us, and that his special talents and abilities make him outstanding. I turn into the neighborhood, and pull up to the house...

I know opposites, my left and right, the alphabet, and simple addition. Sounds easy right? Wrong. For some people in this world these are hurdles they are unable to climb over.

If Mike was a car salesman he would be the most honest and straightforward in the business. If Mike was a car journalist his assessments would be unbiased, frank, and very thorough. If Mike was an engineering technicianhis descriptions of the vehicle prod...

Among all of his autistic issues, his biggest problem is impulsivity. When a thought enters his head, he acts on it. There’s no waiting for the right time, no deciding if it’s okay. He goes. And too often, when he does something destructive or inconvenien...

When I was younger, I assumed a special needs child just needed a little extra attention at school and, maybe, at home. Almost three years ago, when my daughter was born with special needs, I found out that I was very wrong!

Sometimes I allow the sadness to soak... and seep... and saturate... until everything is colored sad. But that's a skewed picture. Because the reality is that between the sad there is so much to celebrate...

I am a person who likes to take charge of things and make them happen. Control freak? Sure, you can call me that. But here was a situation where things felt out of my control. My baby had irreversible brain damage...

Later that night, frustrated after feeding and bathing my special needs child, I gave in to self-pity. I looked at her and thought, "This is too difficult for me."

“Just what my daughter would say if she could,” said one mother. “How I wish I had read this five years ago. It took my husband and I such a long time to ‘learn’ these things...”