disability – Pollywog's Place Blog

Special Needs Resources: Cerebral Palsy Toolkit

Published on October 23, 2025October 9, 2025 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place BlogLeave a comment

Recently, I came across a glitch on the blog that had caused the requests put through on my ‘Contact’ form to not be delivered to my email anymore. I found several questions and requests. I have made a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ page to hopefully answer some of those. One of the requests was to post this special resource.

Finding out that you are expecting can be one of the most exciting times of your life, but it can also be very scary. We know from experience that things can be downright terrifying, especially when faced with the knowledge that your child may have special needs.

Our youngest daughter, Shyanne, was born with multiple diagnoses and health conditions. Before she was even born, the odds were stacked against her. The doctors never expected us to make it through the pregnancy, and things got very scary towards the end when both of our lives were at risk.

It felt like someone had taken our life and made a HUGE jigsaw puzzle out of it, then added some extra pieces in there that had to fit. Every time we thought we were making progress, someone would come along and mix it all up again or ‘find’ a couple more pieces that needed to go in. Her story was complicated, and no one knew what the big picture would even look like… but God did!

He helped us through that very emotional time, and even though we couldn’t figure out how we were going to make it all work, HE gave us a sense of peace. We had to hand it over to HIM and HE put the pieces in place… one at a time, to create a BEAUTIFUL masterpiece that we could have never imagined.

HE made a way when we couldn’t see one, and we have witnessed miracle after miracle in our daily lives… That is why we created her blog:

Sweet Shyanne: The little girl who could

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The ‘Ten Fingers, Ten Toes’ Book Is a Game Changer!

Published on March 24, 2022March 19, 2022 by Susie @ Pollywog's Place Blog2 Comments

I have done more than my fair share of research on Down Syndrome and ways to help with development when my older son came into our family. I never expected that ten years later we would be blessed with another very special addition. When we learned of her diagnosis I began researching more and buying more books geared towards babies and younger children.

We all know that our brains and central nervous system dictate all of our functions so I was terrified of her multiple diagnoses and many of the doctors were not very optimistic either. I knew I would need as many tools and resources as I could find to help her reach her full potential.

With certain disabilities like Down Syndrome and Dandy-Walker Malformation, the brain can be adversely affected. Both of these conditions usually cause some degree of developmental delays along with various health issues. The degree of disability will vary from individual to individual so there is no ‘one size fits all’ therapy program to use. When you add in the diagnosis of Hydrocephalus with chromosomal abnormalities and other birth defects there is an even greater chance of severe delays and disabilities.

Even with all of my other research, I’d never even heard of neuroplasticity training before Shyanne was born but I had been doing some research for therapy ideas when I came across this book. (Maybe I had read it somewhere but forgot?) I wish I’d had this book for my first child as I could’ve learned ways to help all of my children with their development.