eSpecially Ben

I write this, in hopes that the feeling of being emotionally drained will dissipate. I attended a meeting coordinated through North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services. The meeting's purpose was to listen to feedback from parents, caregivers, providers and consumers about the Innovations Waiver and other services through IDD Services (Intellectual and Developmental Delays) and Mental Health. The Innovations Waiver is a program designed to help parents keep their IDD or mentally ill child at home and out of an institution. Ben has been part of this program for about 4 years. With state and county money, he receives managed care in the form of direct service providers that help with personal care and skill-building activities in the home and community. There is a long wait list to become part of the program, typically taking years to get the services. Reluctantly, I went to the meeting with the only incentive being that my long time friend, Karen, would be ther

Five Years 2009 When I started, it was 2009; Ben was six years old, Logan was four and Sean was one. My first post, Love at First Sight , was an "all in" jump. I stayed up well past my bedtime, writing and creating a name for this site. It posted on September 18 at 11:43pm. At that point, I did not have any long-term goals or expectations for the blog. I knew I wanted to write, wanted to share and for as long as I had something to write about, I would keep doing it. That was it. Not much more thought went into it. Good Stuff Five years later, I could not have imagined the outcomes from writing eSpeciallyBen . We have this incredible record of Ben's progress, helping us to see patterns, changes and growth. We made connections across the world with people who care about similar issues. My confidence in my writing increased and I sought out paid writing opportunities. We have become closer with distant relatives who came to know us through eSpeciallyBen . And