Author Archives: bchorsburgh

As a parent of a child with special needs, life can be very much a battle; a battle for services, support, respite, acceptance and understanding. We often do this on our own, within our own family unit but broader family and community support is both invaluable and essential. Autism Acceptance Month is April. We haveContinue reading “Autism Acceptance Month”

This is kindness. My daughter had her first prom thanks to Tim Tebow and Grace Farms church. The Tim Tebow Foundation partners with local churches organize an event called “Night to Shine.” It is an event for people with special needs and is open to anyone living with disabilities, ages 14 and older.  My daughterContinue reading “Kindness”

It’s back to school time again, which can be a challenging transition for any family, but much more so for those with an autistic child in the family. With that in mind, we wanted to share some of insights from the team at MindNest Health as we ready our children to return to the classroom.Continue reading “Back to School: a guest blog from our friends at MindNest Health“

Being the sibling of an autistic child must be hard; it is often a lonely place as they grapple with stressed parents, limited resources and parental attention going mostly to their autistic sibling. Sometimes their autistic sibling’s actions – the melt downs or self-injurious behaviours – can be overwhelming and embarrassing for a young teenContinue reading “Siblings”

On this Father’s Day, I would like to acknowledge the dads who fight for their children every day and never stop trying to make their lives the best they can be.  It isn’t easy juggling work with the needs of special needs children – especially in a world were resources are scant and hard toContinue reading “Happy Father’s Day – to ALL the Dads!”

As the friends of “Not Just a Dad” have seen, in April NeuroNetworks Fund partnered with Unicef and all donations to NNF will be sent to help relieve the suffering of the children of Ukraine. In May, we are sending all donations to NNF to Disability Rights International, a non-profit that is helping disabled childrenContinue reading ““Why Ukraine?””

There are so many things that are now a part of our everyday conversations that were just unimaginable two years ago – and the “supply chain” is one of them. I bet most adults don’t even really understand what supply chain disruption really is – now imagine trying to explain it to an autistic child?Continue reading “Supply chain shortages and temper tantrums”

I remember all too well our national response to the pandemic – schools were closed and my daughter lost all her services – no speech, no OT (occupational therapy) and no ABA (applied behavioral analysis therapy.) Unfortunately, remote teaching didn’t work for us, or for many of her friends, and my daughter’s progress unraveled andContinue reading “Sunflowers”

Happy New Year, “Not Just a Dad” friends! I hope your holidays were happy and healthy, and that 2022 has started on a positive note for you. I’m delighted to share this guest blog from Peder Jenson, M.D., one of NeuroNetworks Fund’s board members and a physician who has specialized in and treated people withContinue reading “People with Epilepsy Need Better Treatments – a guest blog from one of NNF’s board members”

It’s that time of year, and it can vacillate between being magical or frantic. For families with an autistic child, there are more sensory challenges and more stress, especially as we prepare for the inevitable family get-togethers AND the added complexity of Omicron hovering over us.  For my autistic daughter this can be a bewilderingContinue reading “Making Spirits Bright”