Came home from work ravenous, raided the pan of lasagna the babysitter had made the kids. There's a reason I haven't yet mentioned this blog to her!
On the train tonight, I got to talking with another mom and I told her that I had a "special-needs kid." Every single time I use that term, I flinch inside; it just sounds so...stiff. Still, it's less harsh than the reality of "disabled" and "handicapped" and less dorky than "differently-abled." On occasion I'll say "I have a child with some challenges" but that often triggers a flood of questions I don't always feel like answering (and for reasons I can't explain, to me "a child with challenges" sounds like I have a child who tends to light small fires in the living room or something).
Why isn't there a more cool way to describe our kids?! Like, um, "disabledster." OK, no, not that. Or "specialista" (though that's probably too femme for boys.) Or...got any good ideas? Which term do you tend to use, if at all?
![](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=http://askanrobah.blogspot.com/2008/12/labels-needs-vs-vs-what.html&media=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3VB3nSsrqh4mu2baIb_R8Zw5M37OptOuPmjuf6BznZKHjmbmwpjRQPpr4q0CtBrnF2boKff2_akKf0RPN0lBPUaPlfRQQJfMoLFmeReRuBB9B_suyKjCXXMGs-F2FHaH2nOzETIOMEGTo/s320/specialsticer.jpeg&description=Labels: "Special needs" vs. "disabled" vs. ... what???){kind=link}