Iron Caterpillars
Stories of courage and strength about children and youth. “The soul is healed by being with children.” Fyodor Dostoyevsky
There And Back Again
By Alexandra Green Two years ago I wrote an article for the Iron Butterfly Project detailing the bullying I faced in middle school and into high school. I wrote about my bike being smashed past the point of use, my older sister standing up for me, and the profound...
The Unplanned “Normal”
By Christie Oates Life is seldom what is portrayed in magazines, Pinterest and Facebook. Pregnancy is not always a quick push and 7 hours later you look like your ready for a romantic date night with your hubby. Things happen, and we are surrounded by disillusion...
Loving Jaxon
By Rachel FriendI don’t know if I can fully express the range of emotions I went through once I discovered my son had “special needs.” Specifically, a rare genetic disorder that would be the reason for his global developmental delays. Our journey began after we took...
Asking for what you want and need
By Janet Favorite People are often surprised to hear that there is a syndrome that mimics food addiction. You may not have heard of it. It is called Prader-Willi Syndrome. If I were to say that some people lock up food to keep it away from their children, you might...
It’s All for Her
By Marty Barnes In 2006 my husband and I welcomed our first and only child into the world while living in Santa Monica, California. About one month before the due date we were rushed to the hospital where they performed an emergency cesarean. Due to a traumatic...
Mazel Tov, Shayna
It has been a pleasure watching Shayna Levy grown this year in her preparation for her Bat Mitzvah. As part of her mitzvah project, she helped us interview Iron Caterpillars for Iron Butterflies Project....
Born An Iron Butterfly: The Trevor Noah Experience
By Shelley Friend Trevor Noah, host of Comedy Central’s The Daily Show (TDS), was, literally, born a crime. His existence was illegal in South Africa in 1984 because of apartheid. His mother is South African and his father is German. When you read his book...
Brave Boy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9H1iDdiuCY&t=9s Sam is an active 11-year old boy who loves to play roller hockey, football, and basketball. He has loved participating in his school’s theater club where his inner thespian gets to shine. This summer he’s excited to...
Heart Smart
https://youtu.be/myBXvPWHXII
Old Man Take a Look at My Life: I’m a Lot Like You Were
By Kimberly Spicer Standley This month marks ten years without my Dad. I think of him everyday. I hate that he is dead, and I hate how he died. I hate it that alcohol is so powerful that it can consume anyone. A person can be smart, kind, successful, and respectable;...
My Road Less Traveled
My Road Less Traveled by Nikki Abramson I have always felt like an ‘outcast.’ Different. Perhaps it was because I was a Korean adoptee or maybe it was because I have a disability. I was six months old when I was adopted from Seoul, South Korea. As infants we learn...
Creating a Stage for Special Needs Children
By Joshua Levy My passion for enriching the lives of children with special needs is rooted from my experiences as a teacher’s aide throughout my middle and high school years. While in eighth grade I had the opportunity to work with special needs students; I recall...
A Reason To Fight
By Anna Harwin As the family scapegoat for a drunken stepfather, I knew it wasn’t safe to go home. Too many meals missed, too many head ringing punches, too little sleep, I knew I wouldn’t survive if I couldn’t find a place to go and so, one night at the age of 12,...
Finding The Courage
by Lynn Doelger My brother and I grew up playing in the vast woods of Alabama. I started running at a young age and recall running with my Dad in the morning before he went to work. My parents married at a young age. Home life was less than pleasant. Mom and Dad were...
A Veteran Traveler’s Roadmap to Resilience
By Caryn M. Sullivan I'd just made my First Communion when the woman who gave me life betrayed my trust and eroded the foundation that should be afforded to every child. Under the auspices of taking a vacation, my beautiful, brilliant, willful mother loaded our...
The Corkscrew Effect
By Misty Raley Gassaway Fourteen years ago, my whole life changed. At twelve years of age, I was tucked in the back of my closet, banging my head against the wall attempting to soothe my fearful soul. Tears streaming down my checks, I repeated at least a thousand...
The Muck and Murk of Grief
By Cathy Knutsen My son has Neurofibromatosis, or NF, a genetic central nervous system disorder in which tumors can form on any nerve of the body. It can cause deformity, learning disabilities, scoliosis, vision disorders, mental disabilities, epilepsy, cardiovascular...
Listening To Those Whispers
By Molly Patrick I used to drink. A lot. I was 14 the first time I got drunk. It was at a New Year’s Eve party and my best friend and I snuck pink Carlo Rossi from a box until the numbing effect of the sweet nectar led us outside to the cool night air where we laid on...