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About Us

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Katie is a bright, eager 15 year old who loves adventure, fast cars, computers, and girl scouting. She is one of the stars in numerous television commercials, billboards and news articles of the Amazing Kids campaign in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. She has served as the ambassador from Pennsylvania for the Children’s Miracle Network, been to the Whitehouse and has recently joined the Screen Actors Guild as a professional actress. 
 
Katie also has severe spastic cerebral palsy as the result of a traumatic birth injury.

When first informed that your child has a birth defect or disability it feels as if your world has just gone spiraling out of control. Your life becomes an emotional rollercoaster that leaves a lump in your throat and tears in your eyes.
 
The information contained in these pages was gained from my experiences in raising our daughter Katie, who has cerebral palsy. It is intended as a resource for new parents of a special needs child and for those who are involved in the care of our children.



It seemed to me that each time I met new parents of a special needs child; they all posed similar questions and concerns beginning with “What do I do?”

 

Each time a special needs child is born, it became a learning experience, typically by trial and error for the parents; each starting down a road, seemingly alone in their struggle to care for their child. Endless questions with few good answers.

 

For the professionals who are involved in the care of our children and our ever curious relatives, friends and acquaintances this site is meant to serve to answer the questions that you may feel too uncomfortable to ask. The “Why is your daughter like this?” or “What happened to Katie?” Most people feel “funny” around a person with a disability. Before Katie, I did too.

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Harry (BS.Ed) and Betsy Lieb (BSN) Special Needs Advocates and founders of Accessible Home Builders Corp. are Katie’s parents. We share our lives with our daughter who lives with complex mobility and communication challenges and three other supportive children. We have long been involved in Education in the area of Special Needs Children, advocacy for special needs individuals, innovative service development, community-building and the issues of accessible housing. We support individuals, families, government, educators and community agencies, parent associations and self-advocacy groups through speaking engagements and the development of specialized presentations and training.

Copyright 2006, Exceptional People