Needs FocusJune 2011 BROOKLYN SpecialFREE Family The Best Guide for Parents The sibling Bond It’s not just rivalry 8 costly mistakes Alerting special needs parents Survival guide to sleepovers Find us online at www.webfamilyny.com AVIATORSPORTS.COM/CAMPS AVIATOR SUMMER CAMPS the NEW MAKE THIS A SUMMER YOU WILL NEVER FORGET SIGN UP BEFORE JUNE 7th FOR ADDED SAVINGS REGISTER AT AN OPEN HOUSE FOR 10% DISCOUNT Schedules are filling up quickly! Come see why Aviator Sports and Events Center provides the best summer camp experience in Brooklyn. TRANSPORTATION AVAILABLE 3 Pools Keep Me Cool All Summer! over 20 activities under one roof -Swimming -Soccer -Rock Climbing -Ice Skating -Field Sports -Team Building -Theater -Gymnastics -Dance -Night Trips Making New Friends -Day Trips -Art and Much More! BROOKLYN Family June 2011 FEATURES 6 Challenging the ‘Sib Fib’ Why sibling rivalry can actually be a good thing BY LAURA J. VAROSCAK 12 The painted ponies Prospect Park’s historic carousel still spinning BY MARY TOMASULO 16 8 costly mistakes Things to avoid when planning for your special needs child BY JOSEPH P. DONLON, ESQ. 18 Facing the stress Overcoming the challenges of raising a special child BY JULIA GARSTECKI 20 A double whammy When a second child is diagnosed with autism BY JULIANNA GIL DE LAMADRID 66 24 Sleepovers: The survival guide BY MYRNA BETH HASKEll 26 Test-taking jitters COLUMNS Seven ways students can ease nerves and improve 8 Healthy Living test scores BY DANIEllE SUllIVAN BY TUTOR DOCTOR 10 Newbie Dad 32 Best friends BY BRIAN KANTZ What to know before adopting a fluffy bundle of joy BY RISA C. DOHERTY 14 Good Sense Eating 34 She’s having it all BY CHRISTINE M. PALUmbO, RD Mompreneur manages beauty biz and family 22 Our Relationships 36 The danger zone BY JOAN EmERSON, PHD Alcohol and pregnancy don’t mix 28 Family Health BY REUEL S. AmdUR BY RONAld SOAVE, DPM 51 42 The secret’s out 30 Parents Helping Parents The chorus of Staten Island’s PS 22 grapples with BY SHARON C. PETERS fame BY MONICA BROWN 38 Twice the Advice BY JACQUELINE AND KERRY DONEllI 48 Follow your art The road to opening an art studio for children 40 Growing Up Online BY LAURA VAROSCAK-DEINNOCENTIIS BY CAROLYN JABS 44 Cinematters CALENDAR OF EVENTS BY LAURA GRAY 51 Going Places 46 Lions and Tigers and Teens Take the family out and find out what’s going on BY MYRNA BETH HASKEll in your town 64 It Figures BY CYNTHIA WASHAM SPECIAL SECTIONS 66 New & Noteworthy 32 19 Special Needs Directory The hottest new products June 2011 • BROOKLYN FAMIly 3 Letter from the publisher Wonderful month of June une is a gorgeous ing farmers are bring- opportunities. I smell grilling on my ets carefully and are cautious in month. The days ing their goods into block almost every night and I’m their expenditures, waiting to see J are the longest so many communities certain it’s in everyone else’s neigh- how this economy will play out they are going to be and throughout NYC. What borhood also. and when the recovery will really the weather is typically a great partnership it I like June as a vacation month begin. ideal. It is the month I is and how beneficial it and lately we’ve been choosing to Maybe you have a recent gradu- was born in, the month is for all of us, farmers travel as soon as my daughter’s ate or a wedding in your family, or my daughter was born and city-dwellers alike. classes are over. It’s a good time maybe, like us, a family loaded with in, the month I got mar- Day camps are start- for this and we relish the change birthdays. June is a special month ried in, the month of ing up and the kids of scenery and pace. The rates to celebrate, and speaking of cel- our graduations, and are busy doing all the are lower and everything is less ebrations, happy Father’s Day to the month when school vacation great things of summer: swimming, crowded than it is later on in the all our dads! So many excuses and for our kids usually begins here in cycling, tennis, skateboarding, and summer. We appreciate the long reasons to have a party this month the city. just being outdoors a lot. The play- hours of daylight and get the most and I hope all of them will turn out June smells good. It has the won- grounds are full and the swings are out of the possibilities. I also like to be loads of fun. derful aroma of fresh flowers, clear flying high. That’s the best part of coming back to a full summer of Thanks for reading. Have a great skies, street fairs and barbecues. June, it’s not too hot and not too beach-going, and I’m an avid fan of month. The strawberries are in and so are cold and it’s easy to be just hanging our local beaches. the blueberries, and the greenmar- out. The beaches are open and the I don’t know what your summer kets all over the city are lively parks are welcoming the throngs of plans are, but I know that a lot of with great produce and the early families who have made it through people are sticking closer to home summer fruits and vegetables. How the long winter and are relishing than they have in the past. Many lucky we all are that our neighbor- the picnics, parties and cookout people are watching their pock- Susan Weiss-Voskidis, Publisher STAFF CONTACT INFORMATION PUBLISHER / ADVERTISING / EDITORIAL: ADVERTISING: WEB OR PRINT ADDRESS Susan Weiss (718) 260-4554 Family Publications New York/CNG PUBLISHER / BUSINESS MANAGER: [email protected] or 1 Metrotech Center North Clifford Luster [email protected] 10th Floor SALES MANAGER / ADVERTISING: Brooklyn, NY 11201 Sharon Noble CIRCULATION SPECIAL ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT: (718) 260-8336 Tina Felicetti [email protected] www.webfamilyny.com SALES REPS: Laurie Falco, Linda Smith, Muriel Puder, Stephanie Stellaccio, Jay Pelc, EDITORIAL Andrew Mark (718) 260-4554 PRODUCTION MANAGER: Keith Oechsner [email protected] ART DIRECTOR: Leah Mitch PRODUCTION DIRECTOR: On Man Tse The acceptance of advertising by Family Publica- Join the conversation on Facebook. 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Copyright©2011 Courtney Donahue th York/CNG, One Metrotech Center North, 10 Readership: 220,000. 2010 circulation audit by CAC. COPY EDITOR: Lisa J. Curtis Floor, Brooklyn, N.Y. 11201. CALENDAR EDITOR: Joanna Del Buono Family Publications New York can also be CONTRIBUTING WRITERS: reached by calling (718) 250-4554, emailing Risa Doherty, Allison Plitt, Candi Sparks, [email protected] or by visiting our website, Mary Carroll Wininger webfamilyny.com 4 BROOKLYN FAMIly • June 2011 Aristotle Academy of Letter from the publisher Math and Sciences affiliated with St. John’s University Wonderful month of June Grades Pre-k to 8th une is a gorgeous ing farmers are bring- opportunities. I smell grilling on my ets carefully and are cautious in FREE Universal Pre-k month. The days ing their goods into block almost every night and I’m their expenditures, waiting to see Now accepting Extended Day Available J are the longest so many communities certain it’s in everyone else’s neigh- how this economy will play out applications they are going to be and throughout NYC. What borhood also. and when the recovery will really • Class sizes limited to 15 the weather is typically a great partnership it I like June as a vacation month begin. for the ideal. It is the month I is and how beneficial it and lately we’ve been choosing to Maybe you have a recent gradu- school year • Highly qualified teachers was born in, the month is for all of us, farmers travel as soon as my daughter’s ate or a wedding in your family, or 2011-2012 • A well rounded curriculum of my daughter was born and city-dwellers alike. classes are over. It’s a good time maybe, like us, a family loaded with academics, technology, sports & art in, the month I got mar- Day camps are start- for this and we relish the change birthdays. June is a special month • State Certified ried in, the month of ing up and the kids of scenery and pace. The rates to celebrate, and speaking of cel- our graduations, and are busy doing all the are lower and everything is less ebrations, happy Father’s Day to the month when school vacation great things of summer: swimming, crowded than it is later on in the all our dads! So many excuses and An environment fostering personal for our kids usually begins here in cycling, tennis, skateboarding, and summer. We appreciate the long reasons to have a party this month character, ethics and morals the city.