Ever since I became Leo's mom and Leo became Leo, there is one special day I look forward to, every year. It's not Christmas, as the winter holiday season trumps even summer on my family's trepidation scale. And it's not the first day of school, despite how gleefully I usher my children into their teachers' care.No, it's the day of Leo's annual birthday party. Because on that day, every year, my son gets to be his own exuberant self, unreservedly.

Halloween should not be a time for parents of kids with special needs to dwell on Ghosts-of-Halloween-Past or Ghosts-of-Halloween-That-Might-Have-Been, because there's far too much fun to be had. We do, however, need to approach Halloween with clear-headed creativity and flexibility, and prioritize our kids' needs and stamina. So, if you're in the market for Halloweening advice, let me dump some on your head, courtesy of personal experience, friends' adventures, the Internet, and the Twitterverse.

Autism Science Foundation president Alison Singer is well known in the autism community for her formative role at Autism Speaks, for her controversial participation in their Autism Every Day video, and for leaving Autism Speaks to found the Autism Science Foundation.

I can't stop thinking about the story of Anita Tedaldi, who, after eighteen months of mothering an adopted special needs son, decided that the best place for her son was with another family. Anita's story hits me in two of my tenderest spots -- as the mother of a son with special needs, and as a birth mother who placed her first son in his adoptive parents' hands almost twenty years ago.

Most parents fret about their kids' hygiene and how it is affected by factors like circumcision, tooth brushing, or toilet training. Said fretting escalates when the kids in question have special needs, but hygiene doesn't have to be the skunk cabbage in the special needs bouquet -- not if parents do their best to understand why our kids' hygiene can be complicated, encourage self-care, recognize that not all hygiene needs will be rooted in special needs, and help make self-care part of a routine.