Saturday, May 30, 2009

Great free stuff for kids with disabilities



I came upon these recently, and wanted to share.

Free music! Songs of Love is a foundation that provides personalized songs for kids and teens facing medical or emotional challenges. You fill out an online profile of your child, and about a month or so later a CD arrives in the mail with the finished song. We just got one for Max that's very boppy and all about his love of transportation; we play it in the car and he loves it.

Free professional photos! The Littlest Heroes Project is a group of good-willed photographers who offer free photo sessions to kids with disabilities and serious illnesses. I filled out an online application, got approved and now I just have to choose a local affiliated photographer and pick a date. Hard to resist—professional photos of Max make me giddy.

If you've found any good services for kids with challenges, let the rest of us know!

10 comments:

  1. As a professional photographer I'd prefer you buy photos of Max.. But groups such as this serve a great cause... Two groups I also like are the American Child Photographers Charity Guild, who provide photos for terminally ill children - www.acpcg.com and Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, baby bereavement photography - www.nowilaymedowntosleep.org for the littlest angels.

    Thanks for the Littlest Heroes Project, Ellen, I'll add it to my list.

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  2. Wow, Ellen, thanks for those links. I had heard of the song one, but the pictures one is news to me!

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  3. Songs Of Love made a song for Daniel, too - it's so sweet! I've also heard of Littlest Heroes and got to set up a photo shoot with them, but we had to cancel due to schedule conflicts. Anyway, I think Angel Flight is a good one. They provide free flights to children who need medical care.

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  4. Thanks for the great links, Ellen! How fun...you made my day! I'm going to go check them out RIGHT NOW :-)
    Did I happen to mention how glad I am that you're home? Just wonderin...

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  5. Kate, I [heart] you. If only you were my boss. :)

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  6. Some more:
    Canine Companions for Independence - www.cci.org (Service . Companion Dogs for children)
    Challenge Air, free FUN flights for disabled kids... - http://challengeair.com
    Miracle Flights for Kids, free / low cost MEDICAL flights for kids (like to a hospital)... - www.miracleflights.org

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  7. We've gotten both of these things for Daniel. The photos we got were beautiful, it was a wonderful experience.

    Also, we were lucky enough to get Daniel a wish for terminal or life threatening illness through The Rainbow Connection (Michigan based) and he was able to pick his wish.

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  8. We have an appointment on Thurs with the Littlest Hero project!

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  9. thanks for sharing those links! I signed up with the Littlest Heroes Project a few months ago but haven't heard anything yet.

    That CD sounds interesting - have bookmarked it so I can check in to it later!

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  10. Love the CD offer -- I'll sign up for one as soon as I post here!

    But this is probably going to be a life-changing post for me and my family because of the comments. Rich, thank you so much for posting about the Canine Companions program.

    Although DS wouldn't qualify for a dog through their program (they don't train dogs to assist with balance/mobility issues), it's something that I've thought about for a long time, and this comment gave me the inspiration to look into it seriously.

    DS's balance is very precarious. He falls 1 or more times a day even with no obstacles, walking on a flat surface, and it's extremely frustrating to him. It makes him very frustrated & he cries.

    It's worse at school or around other kids, though, because he can fall down with the slightest touch.

    Anyway, I'd thought about it for a long time, but reading about the Canine Companion program really inspired me to look into other programs (they do exist) that can help with balance issues.

    I'll post back if I find any that may be of interest to others.

    Ellen, thanks for providing this forum!

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Thanks for sharing!



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