Sheila Arias

Sheila Arias is a Health Coordinator for Early Head Start in Durham, North Carolina. She is the proud mother of two beautiful children, daughter Jaslene and son Enoch. She currently working towards her Bachelor's Degree in Psychology and looks forward to

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July 5, 2016

What is it like to be a parent of a child with disabilities? This has become a very common question as I’ve started to share more publicly about the challenges my child faces and how they impact her and our family. The truth is that there is no exact answer. Each parent has their own unique story and each child’s disabilities and strengths are completely different. Each day more kids are born with disabilities. You would think that by this point our society would have grown to have tolerance, understanding, and empathy for these individuals and their loved ones; sadly, this is not always the...

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April 23, 2016

Como madre de dos hijos, incluyendo una niña que tiene necesidades especiales y un defecto de nacimiento, he podido ver cómo los padres, hijos y la sociedad se benefician si las familias tienen acceso a atención infantil de alta calidad, programas de aprendizaje temprano y programas de salud mental que toman en cuenta las necesidades socioemocionales de los niños. Hace algunos años tuve que sacar a mi hija, que en ese entonces tenía dos años, de un centro de atención infantil porque había perdido mi trabajo y no podía seguir pagando la matrícula. Apliqué en el Programa Head Start y fue...

Blog Carnivals childcare & early education

April 18, 2016

As a mother of two, including one with special needs and a birth defect, I have seen first-hand how parents, children and society all win when families have access to high-quality affordable childcare, early learning programs, and mental health programs that take children’s social and emotional needs into account. Several years ago I had to take my daughter, who was two at the time, out of child care because I lost my job and couldn’t afford the fees. I applied for Early Head Start, and she was accepted. It made a world of difference for her. You see, my daughter has special needs. She only...

childcare & early education

January 9, 2014

From the moment I received that email I got excited. An email where it said “MomsRising was looking for a mom who has a unique story to share on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C.” At work everyone was extremely excited for me, we were anxious to see if I would be selected for this outstanding opportunity. The process was actually very joyful for me because each individual I spoke to was very interested in my story, my life, and most important my kids’ life. At one point I felt like I was educating people since they were not familiar with Sensory Processing Integration Disorder, which is the...

childcare & early education

January 2, 2014

Several years ago, I lost my job as a contract interpreter for North Carolina and my daughter, Jaslene, who was two at the time, was in day care. It was a great program, but I couldn’t afford to keep her in daycare while I looked for a new job, so I met with my Coordinator from Durham Children Development Service Agency at time and talked with her about my situation. Echo advised me to applied for Early Head Start. She told me that Jaslene would probably qualify for Early Head Start and encouraged me to fill out the application. Just three weeks later, Jaslene was accepted into the program...

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Sharing stories - building tolerance

Mi historia #InsideOut: Cómo el aprendizaje socioemocional ayudó a mi hija

My #InsideOut Story: How Social and Emotional Learning Made a Difference for My Kids

A new door opened

How Head Start Helped My Daughter with Special Needs