Dina has 3 children and lives in Avon Lake.

How are you and your family dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic?

The pandemic has impacted us significantly and added even more stress in addition to our family moving to a new country. There were months of living separately and this is not over yet as my husband is still abroad. Given this, I have no other choice than managing all by myself and making sure everybody stays healthy. We love sports and this helps a lot. We also have became much more flexible, open to new things, new connections, etc. We love traveling and explored several states during the last couple of years. I am very thankful to people who supported me through this difficult time, and there were so many. Our school does an amazing job supporting the kids and they had a great time in the summer camp for kids with disabilities, Finally, most of the changes of the last couple of years proved to be positive.

What do you do to relax?

Sports

What benefits has Connecting for Kids brought to you and your family?

Connecting for Kids has provided information about resources I can tap into for my kids.

Which have been your favorite Connecting for Kids resources?

Music Therapy & More

My greatest lesson learned is...

To be patient and work in small steps. It may take months and years for goals to be achieved.

What I worry about most…

My son with autism’s lack of self-regulation and self-control. He is behind in certain academic skills too. He gets very frustrated that he cannot achieve the same goals as his peers and this gap becomes more and more visible. I worry that I cannot help him to deal with this frustration.

The hardest thing for me to learn was...

Not to compare his achievements to other kids.

Do you have any recommended resources such as blogs, websites, or books that we can share?

The books Sensory Integration and the Child by A. Jean Ayres and Engaging Autism by Stanley I. Greenspan.