Keep Moving
Learn how children with special needs benefit from sports, dance, swim and other types of physical activities.
Empowering Abilities, Enriching Lives
Designed to address the unique needs of individuals who have physical, cognitive, or emotional disabilities, these therapies and treatments can help individuals improve their abilities and enhance their quality of life.
Editor's Picks
A Growth Mindset
LiMai Montessori Academy is setting the bar for expansion of the famous method…
Special Lessons
From comic books to virtual reality, therapists and teachers look forward at innovations in special needs programs…
Recent Articles
Animals for All Needs
From dogs and goats to cows and horses, animals offer calm, joy and acceptance for children with all needs. Irvine Heritage Park Library’s Read to a Dog program
Keep Moving
Learn how children with special needs benefit from sports, dance, swim and other types of physical activities.
A Growth Mindset
LiMai Montessori Academy is setting the bar for expansion of the famous method…
Special Lessons
From comic books to virtual reality, therapists and teachers look forward at innovations in special needs programs…
Sensory Summer
How to support your child’s sensory needs this summer. For many kids, summer is a time for fun, play, rest and discovery. But summer can be difficult for kids.
Leonard Cancer Institute
The doors to the highly anticipated Judi and Bill Leonard Institute for Cancer Prevention, Treatment and Wellness opened in November 2019. The new $80 million facility brings a comprehensive approach to cancer prevention, treatment and wellness at Mission Hospital’s Mission Viejo campus as a one-stop, standalone center. Philanthropists Bill and Judi Leonard made the largest charitable donation in Mission Hospital’s history and helped make it a reality. The 100,000-plus square foot, four-story institute houses a research and clinical trial program, a nurse navigation program, radiation oncology, imaging services, an infusion center, complementary therapies, an education center and a demonstration kitchen....
Autism and Fanfiction
‘Harry Potter’ fanfiction may help those with autism tell their stories. A study led by UC Irvine researchers and published in January in the Journal of Literacy Research found that those with autism—along with family members, teachers and advocates—use “Harry Potter” fanfiction to cast autistic characters in their stories that can help challenge stereotypes. “We expected to find that fanfiction authors with autism, or friends, family members and close advocates of autistic individuals, would write about autism in ways that challenged pervasive stereotypes about neurological difference that are often found in popular media,” said Rebecca W. Black, UCI associate professor...