Family Voices Indiana

Self-care for Parents of Children with Special NeedsPrioritizing time to reset and recharge


Aug 09, 2016


Maggie Loiselle

An airplane is not a place you’d expect to pick up sage parenting advice, but there’s a particularly relevant tip that you hear every single time you fly: If the cabin loses pressure and the oxygen masks drop down, secure your mask first before helping others, including your children. “To help yourself before your children goes against the grain of our biological intuition, but you have to take care of yourself first so you can help your children, and that translates to daily life,” stresses Megan Peck, a licensed clinical social worker who owns Mustard Seed Center for Growth in Hamilton County and a mom of two, including a son with Down syndrome, with another on the way. Making time to relax, recharge and address your own needs is one of the trickiest parts of parenting, and it can be especially difficult for families of children with special needs, who must manage typ…

Holly Wheeler is the executive director of Family Voices Indiana. A Fishers resident, Holly most recently was the assistant director of Partnership for a Healthy Hamilton County and coordinator of Smoke-free Hamilton County, a grant-funded program of the Indiana State Department of Health Tobacco Prevention & Cessation Commission. Prior to moving to Indiana from her native Cincinnati, she was statewide affiliate coordinator of Ohio On the Move, a national organization that promotes increased physical activity and good nutrition. 

Holly brings an understanding of system-level healthcare from her experiences at TriHealth, a two-hospital health system serving southwest Ohio, and nonprofit development from her time as fundraiser for United Way of Greater Cincinnati. After moving to Indiana, she built a freelance writing business, contracting for such publications as The Indianapolis Star, The Indiana Lawyer and The Indianapolis Business Journal Custom Publishing. She holds a bachelor’s…

To: Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services, Bureau of Developmental Disabilities Services participants, providers, families and stakeholders
From: Kylee Hope, Director, Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services
            Cathy Robinson, Director, Bureau of Developmental Disabilities Services
Date:August 30, 2017 Public comments on Rate Increase Waiver Amendments The Division of Disability and Rehabilitative Services (DDRS), Bureau of Developmental Disabilities Services appreciates the comments and suggestions received during the July 12 through August 11, 2017, public comment period for the proposed rate increase amendments to the Family Supports waiver and the Community Integration and Habilitation waiver. The state’s responses are available on the DDRS Announcements Web page and indicate which suggested changes were made to the waiver amendments. The proposed amendments were submitted to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on August 28, 2017. 
The DDRS …