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What better time to write about finding inner-peace than during the Holidays? Here is my story. I hope that I can touch at least one person in a positive way with this post...

I remember all too well the horrible feeling I had when it actually sunk in that our son Nick was severely disabled. It took awhile....a few months after we received the 'diagnoses'. I don't know if I was in denial, or if it's just human nature to protect our psyche by suppressing our feelings as much as possible at first so that we can cope with the day-to-day care of our loved one with Special Needs.

• Age group
• Price range
• Area that the item is helpful in (gross motor, fine motor, visual, etc.)
• Who the product is appropriate for (special needs person, caretaker, any child)
• YouTube video ID #, so you can display a video of the product if you wish
• Amazon ASIN (product ID#) if you wish

I've been in search of some unique gift ideas for this Holiday Season and have been busy adding products to our online network called Shopping and Reviews. You can quickly find products that will help in certain areas: fine motor, gross motor, sensory, etc.. You can search by age, and even by price range.

Today I added an online service for kids from Nickelodeon. It's called Nick Jr. Boost. It's target audience is preschoolers up to first grade. It cleverly disguises learning through what kids are most interested in - FUN. Not only do they get to be BIG kids and use the computer to go online, but they will be interacting with their favorite Nickelodeon characters while sharpening their skills for school.

They are rewarded for their efforts with digital rewards. And mom and dad aren't kept in the dark of their progress. The Parent Center is designed to keep them in the loop, providing an inside glimpse of their child's progress. As kids complete activities or advance to the next level, Nick Jr. Boost clues you in on new achievements and skills. Just as important, if your child is struggling in a particular area, Nick Jr. Boost sends a heads-up plus tips for easy, do-together games and activities to help your child master that challenge.
And that's not all, mom and dad!

• There's a 7 day free trial!
• One very affordable monthly subscription can be used for up to 6 kids!
• With your paid subscription, you will receive Nick Jr.'s Time for Play DVD (NOTE: The cost of pre-paid cards does not include a Nick Jr. DVD).
• This gift won't get lost in the toy box ;0)

• Made of silicone (softer).
• It has raised feet for greater air flow resulting in a healthier stoma site. But does that mean that shirts, etc. will get caught underneath?
• The balloon is supposed to last for at least 90 days. We replace Nick's button every 30. Not because the balloon is bad, but because it's nasty with germs. The stoma site gets all red and sore quickly after the Calmoseptine ointment that we use wears off. Who knows what it looks like between the inside where the balloon is and the outside that we can see. He has a suppressed immune system, so maybe this is contributing to this issue. I really hope this doesn't mean infection problems are on the way because insurance will only pay to replace the button every 3 months!
• Allows the parent/patient the option to actively lock the extension set or passively lock the extension set. So, not more tubes spinning and getting disconnected, or not pushed in all the way? That'll be nice.

• Read disAbility News through The disAbility Support Network's Twitter account and Google RSS feeds. For your convenience, you can find both of these on the disAbility News page through the Main Menu above.
• Connect with other people! This is one of the main features here. If you are a member of Facebook, you know how easy it is to find others with the same interest as you, or in the same geographical area as you. When you find a member that you wish to connect with, you send a 'friend request' and await their approval. Once approved, they are added to your list of friends. The same holds true here. Whether you are looking for other parents of a child with a particular diagnosis, or other professionals in the same field as you. It can all be done quickly and easily. Just use the Advanced Search search feature.
• Add and subscribe to Events.
• Find and add resources in the Yellow Pages. You can add any resource you like so long as it has something to do with Special Needs. And the unique feature about the Yellow Pages here is that YouTube videos can be embedded into the ad.
• Classified Ads. Free for members to post special needs equipment and supplies for sale or donation. The general public can view them.
• Review your favorite, or least favorite products. One thing I've found is that some things that I buy for our son are awesome, and some are just plain crap. So I thought allowing people to add product reviews would be helpful. If you know that you can find it on Amazon, you can even add the ASIN (Amazon Standard Identification Number) if you want so others can find it quickly. *
• Tweet to your Twitter account: Yellow Page listings, Classified Ads and Reviews. Your own listings and others that you like.
• Create a list of your favorite Yellow Page, Classified Ad and Review listings.
• Blogging. We have blogs here, too. Categorized and with tag clouds, you can find what you're interested in.
• Helpful Hints: whether you've discovered an easier way of doing something, or hints on getting approved for a service, please share it with everyone else! You could save someone a whole lot of time and aggravation!
• Join and create Groups. You can create a group for a particular diagnosis, profession, or concern. Group founders can post announcements under the Group, invite members and decide if the Group is open to all members or if you need to approve new Group members.
• Share photos.
• Share personal videos. This is my favorite feature. Pictures are great, but videos are even more fun. One thing, video sizes are huge, and they eat up bandwidth (this equals very expensive hosting). Therefore, we need  to utilize third party sites like YouTube or Yahoo! for storing the video. But everyone can browse and watch the videos here, on this site. All you do is upload the video to the third party site, go to our Video area here and add the link. The Video section is organized by Member's Videos & Other Videos, so if you find a public video that you think others will really enjoy, and the video allows embedding, you can add those here as well. Check it out, you'll see what I mean. It is very cool!
• Share other videos that you find. YouTube, Yahoo! and more. They're full of fun and informative videos, and many of them can be pulled into our video section.
• Use the internal messaging system to send and receive messages from people in your list of friends.
• Invite people who are not yet members to become a member here.
• Subscribe to the Newsletter.

I sincerely hope that you find this site to be a great resource and a whole lot of fun!