Meet a Visionary, Creating a Village for Special Families, One Family at a Time!

It is my deep pleasure to introduce you to Sandra Pearson, a wise woman, a wonderful mother, and a visionary with a vibrant dream to support special families with resources, tools and community. Sandra created OUR SPECIAL FAMILIES VILLAGE knowing that family members needed support, resources and recommendations.

This organization is an outgrowth of Sandra's own needs. She has created the Village that she needed when her son Matthew was first diagnosed with Autism at 3 years of age, 16 years ago. Sandra launched this new venture, announced its creation via social media tools and came into my life as this new year began.

While I was regaining my equilibrium after learning of my daughter's engagement from my husband's brother who had heard the news from Aunt Jean, who had learned of this announcement via Facebook, all BEFORE my daughter had shared the news with her father and I, Ms. Pearson entered my life and I met a kindred spirit.

We immediately hit it off; Sandra Pearson got it! As a mother of two young adults, Elizabeth and Matthew, she immediately identified with my disappointment and frustration. She applauded my coping skills and I was happy to share my experience with her village. You can watch as I share my story with Sandra.



As many of you know I have been focused on helping Moms of Young Adults with Special Needs for quite some time. I put together a telesummit and created the Finally, an IEP for Mom Experience because I knew first hand how lonely I felt as I confronted challenges in the world of special needs. Knowing that Moms need support if they are to continue to support their children into adulthood, I made it my mission and vision to create an Oasis of Hope and Support for Moms who are weary, worn out and in need of rejuvenation and respite.

Like the Village that Sandra has created, my Oasis, seeks to support Moms of Young Adults with Special Needs. At the Oasis, I fortify Moms and help them to develop their own Individualized Empowerment Plans, while letting them know of resources, tools, and other Moms who have walked in the Desert, survived and learned to embrace the adventure. I love connecting Moms with other Moms who know what it is like to get regular emergency calls, to attend countless IEP meetings, to advocate for services and support and get positive results.

So, with the goal in mind, I interviewed Sandra and asked her to share her vision and Village with you. With hopes to inspire you to move forward with hope, determination and focus on the road to becoming the role model you were meant to be. Enjoy Sandra's vision and join us at the Village, http://www.ourspecialfamiliesvillage.org and at the Oasis of Hope and Support, http://www.iepformom.com. You will be glad you did!



Please share your hopes and dreams with us. Keep the conversation alive, meet other Moms and gain strength, support and community at: http://www.facebook.com/#!/believeinarayofhope

What I Know Now, that I Wish I Knew Then!

The article linked below was provocative and definitely worth a quick read this morning! It provided me with much food for thought. It provides a great message for women, like you and me, who are seeking:

to lead a good life;

to lead by example; and

to leave a legacy.

I encourage you to read the 10 Commandments/Manifesto which is linked below. Please come back to this blog posting as I have another fun commandment to add and a very funny video for you to watch!

Ten Commandments for Turning 50: A Manifesto for Any Age (Are You Listening President Obama?)

While I am sure you will agree that this is a great list of commandments, I would like to add yet another Commandment to the list:

Find a reason to laugh every day!

I have found that laughter is the best medicine for a joy filled life. It not only refreshes the body, it refuels the soul and rejuvenates your heart.

Pause for a moment, take an instant vacation from your to do list, and watch this great video. Be prepared to laugh, feel better and take action!



With this food for your heart and soul, I would like to encourage you to do one more thing for yourself today.

Join your Sisters and Moms in moving forward, provide support, and sign up for your Individualized Empowerment Plan today!

Learn more about it at http://www.believeinarayofhope.com and remember you are never alone!!

Stressed? Yes? We Must Form a Circle of Care!!

Calling All Moms, I know you are stressed, but I have another question for you.

Who has the most stress filled job in America?

Is it the astronaut?
Is it the air traffic controller?
Is it the firefighter?

No, it is Us!

Yes, it is Mid Life Moms!

Like you and me, these Mid Life Moms, strive to balance the needs of our young adult children, our husbands, our aging parents, our jobs and a healthy life style.

While I agree that all Mid Life Moms have stressful jobs, I believe Moms with Young Adults who have Special Needs, have the most stressful job of all! While Moms with Young Adults can often envision a time, when their adult children will be grown and gone, the Mom with a Young Adult with Special Needs, may not be able to see an end in sight.


While juggling elephants and carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders, who is caring for us???

Check this short video clip out and learn what we typically juggle and what we can do to fortify ourselves!

If you are like me, your days can be difficult and it sometimes we feel overwhelmed. At such times, is tempting to crawl into a ball and shut the world out. While we all need rest and alone time, when we have succeeded in feeling a bit better, we must reach out to our circle of support.

It is for this reason, that I have created the Individualized Empowerment Plan (IEP) for Moms of Young Adults with Special Needs! This telesummit is coming at the end of September and will help you to:

Create ME Time;

Learn from Self Care Experts;

Develop Self Care Practices;

Tear Down Barriers;

Access Services to Enrich the Life of your Young Adult;

and

Form Circles of Support!!

For more info on the upcoming free telesummit: Individualized Empowerment Plan ~ for Moms of Young Adults with Special Needs , follow this link and contact me at 703 371 5682 today to secure your place in the circle of support.

You are worth it! Your families are depending on you and looking to you to be around for the long haul.

In the meantime, let's begin today to:

Make Me Time,

Tear Down the Walls Between Us;

Pause to Reflect on What You Need; and

Form a Circle of Support!


In the end, I leave you with additional questions.

Do you need additional support?

What else do you need?

What works for you?

What do you do to keep showing up?

Please leave your comments and suggestions below.


With Hugs, High Hopes and Belief in YOU,
D

P.S. If you know experts that have programs/services designed to help Moms for the long haul, I want to hear from you as I am still adding to my speaker line-up. Thank you so very much!!

What the Experts Know - A Free Telesummit - Empowering Mom

Are you a Mom

* watching your young adult with special needs struggle in life?
* suffering with your child?
* feeling helpless?

If so, I would like to recommend that you listen to a special interview with Peter Tongue. Peter offers a message of hope and the interview is free for the next 24 hours and is powerful!

You can listen to it, by signing up for the Telesummit series at the following link:

What the Experts Know. You can find out more about Peter at the website and see his special offer there too.

There is absolutely no obligation and you need not purchase anything.

The telesummit series is designed to empower us to listen to our children, to question the status quo and to lead by example. Peter's message complements the IEP for Mom summit that I have designed for you.

As the interview is about to end, Peter offers us a special offer at a very reasonable cost. As part of the special offer, you can secure a 1 on 1 counseling session with him and special audio recordings that are designed to help you get into the flow and sleep soundly.

As I was listening, I thought of you all. Astrid has lined up some wonderful educational experts and I look forward to hearing them over the next couple of weeks for free.

Join me by signing up now. Simply click the link below, provide your name, email address and learn from the Experts for Free!

What the Experts Know.

Let me know what you think.

Do you now have:

More information?
More options?
More hope?

When Life Isn't Fair, How Can You Make a Difference?

LIFE ISN'T FAIR!
THERE ARE NO JOBS FOR ME!
I'M NOT SMART ENOUGH!
I CAN NOT NAVIGATE THIS TRANSITION ALONE!

In an effort to address these challenges, and to help my children to thrive, rather than survive, I decided to approach the transition process from a different angle and with a unique focus.

As a mother with three young adults with learning challenges, I have many people counting on me to “be there.” I have learned to be there for them, I had to first be there for me.

I knew that I had to work tirelessly and with purpose and resolve. I had to work smarter, not harder. Rather than focus on the challenges of my children, I decided to focus on my own competencies, my own resources and my OWN desired outcome.

In short, I decided to focus on my strengths and the strengths of my children and the teachers who were guiding them.

Like Marcus Buckingham, I had to:

First, Break All the Rules!

I had to switch gears and focus on me, rather than my children. I had to turn inward and assess my strengths. Rather than focus on the faults of the education system, the failings of my children, and where I had made mistakes, I had to focus on the beauty in me, around me and the beauty in all of us.

Take a moment to watch the short video and let me know if you are ready to focus on your Strengths, to take Action, to
ENROLL in an INDIVIDUALIZED EMPOWERMENT PLAN (IEP) FOR MOM!




Are you willing to dream?
Are you willing to take action?
Are you willing to focus on your strengths?
Are you willing to switch the focus from what is wrong, to what is right?
Are you willing to enroll in an IEP for Moms like you and me

Register today: http://believeinarayofhope.com/31101/index.html