Category: special needs

A Young Man With Autism Inspires the Community Through a Coffee Shop

NORRISTOWN, Pa.—“I’m Jacob MacFarland. I’m from Coffee Closet with Barista Jake; I make coffee, hot coffee, iced coffee, hot tea, iced tea, lemonade.” Barista Jake MacFarland said. When an Epoch Times reporter walked into the Coffee Closet with MacFarland, the proprietor introduced himself and asked his mother, “You want me to give him a tour?”…


Raising a Special Needs Child: An Expert Offers Guidance

Parents of children with special needs face a number of challenges, so here’s some advice from an expert. “Raising children is an adventure for any parent, but the journey for parents of children with special needs often has a few more twists and turns,” said Dr. Thomas Challman, medical director of the Geisinger Autism & Developmental Medicine…


Couple With Down Syndrome Gets Married

Their love is sweet, pure, and unconditional. There are no demands or secrets, just the joy of being together and feeling complete.


Mom of Boy With Special Needs Responds to Stranger Telling Her Child, to ‘Just Keep Walking’

After passing a curious child at the supermarket, Melissa Schlemmer, a mom of three, was dismayed to hear the child’s mother subdue her curiosity and interest in learning of Melissa’s 8-year-old son, Christopher, who has special needs and is a wheelchair user. Melissa’s older son, Alexander, was pushing his brother around the store with gusto,…


Teenage Girl With Special Needs Left Without Prom Date—so This Young Gentleman Steps Up

A young man from Utah has been lauded for stepping up to accompany a disabled girl confined to a wheelchair to a special-needs prom. Carson Bruce, 17, a student at the Utah County Academy of Sciences, offered to accompany Isabelle, or Izzie, to her prom after her planned date contracted a virus and could not…


Incontinent Puppy With Spina Bifida, Stood Up by Potential Adopters, Finds Perfect Fur-Ever Family

A 9-month-old American bulldog, who happens to have spina bifida and went viral on social media when his potential adopters didn’t show up, has found the perfect forever family. Nonprofit Peaches Bully Rescue of West Chester, Ohio, posted on Facebook when the puppy’s 40-minute journey to meet potential adopters on Jan. 23 ended in a huge…


Girl With Down Syndrome Asked Him to the School Dance; Now They’re Planning the Wedding

Last year, a 21-year-old man with Down syndrome attracted media attention for “defying the odds,” graduating from college and landing a job at UPS. Now, he and his girlfriend, who also has Down syndrome, are serving as a source of inspiration for special needs communities. Jake Pratt, now 22, and Grace Davies, 19, met at…


Once Neglected, Four Kids With Special Needs Adopted by US Family Thrive Five Years On

When Keshia Melton, a registered nurse of 11 years from New Zealand, shared a heartfelt post on social media about a Ukrainian child with special needs desperately needing a home, the perfect family answered. Five years on, Amelia and three additional children with special needs are thriving with the same adoptive family. Keshia’s involvement with orphanages…


Woman Adopted Abandoned Baby With 3 Percent of Brain, Giving Her a Home While She Lived

After taking on a 10-day abandoned baby girl with a disease that left her with only 3 percent of her brain, missionary Addisyn López felt in her heart that there should be a place for terminally ill children to be “loved until the very end.” She thus established one at her family’s children’s home in Guatemala….