A Little About Us

I am Sandy. I am author, entrepreneur and digital content creator. I have two children: a sweet little boy called Lennox and the precious little girl in the picture, Mara. Mara was prenatally diagnosed with Down syndrome when I was 11 weeks pregnant. Her diagnosis came as a shock, but it only took me 4 days to get back on my feet and take charge of the situation to make sure that my little girl would have all the resources and support she may need.

I spent my entire pregnancy learning about neuroplasticity and how we can improve the physical and cognitive abilities of our babies. Since Mara’s birth, I have spent countless hours implementing a routine that includes daily physical, cognitive, visual, and tactile stimulation. I keep getting surprised by how much we can assist our children and equip them to conquer anything they want if they receive proper early stimulation.

My motto as a mother, and more specifically as a special needs mom, is “information is power”. That is why I decided to create this website. I know that every single child can reach their maximum potential if we, as parents, have access to the right information.

about us

How We Got Started

After repeated requests from many of my loyal @Instagram followers for more information about what we were doing to help Mara in her development, @MaraTheWondergirl Instagram was born. It was a great way for us to share Mara’s progress, her infectious smile, and her huge personality. It was also a great way to connect with other mamas who had questions and were seeking advice.

Little by little, the “How did you do _____?” questions grew. And it was becoming increasingly clear that one-on-one messages did not allow me to serve the needs of our growing community in the way I wanted. We knew that the impact could be bigger and that we could reach more families. And so, MaraTheWondergirl.com was born. It is an important next step to provide a new home for all of us. Thank you for being a part of it.

Glad You Have Joined Us On Our Adventure

Top Posts

Understanding the Basics of Thyroid Function

A few months back, I read the BEST simple explanation about thyroid function and why checking only TSH and T4 is not enough. Most importantly, why TSH and T4 alone may not be the right way to choose treatment if medication is needed.

How To Free Your Baby From Container Syndrome

Did you know there’s a billion dollar industry trying to make you think that you NEED certain toys to put your baby in? So you can be more productive. Work more. Do more. Be back to your “pre-baby” lifestyle. But did you also know that placing your baby inside of toys and not on the floor can actually limit development and delay typical milestones?

Why We Should All Be More Like Ironman Chris Nikic

Quitting is not an option because my dreams are important to me. My dreams are always bigger than my pain. When it gets hard and I think about quitting, my dad reminds me of my dreams and my dreams always win. I think if I didn’t have big dreams, I would probably quit.

Crying It Out: Not As Useful As Some Think

Have you ever heard “Babies need to learn to self-sooth”. That’s the premise behind “cry it out”. Well, I am here to tell you that allowing your kid to cry it out may have terrible long term effects. And I am not sharing this to shame anybody. I am sharing this because we can only do better when we know better.

Special Olympics and ESPN Announce the Top 5 Unified Champion Schools for 2020

After announcing all 36 Honor Roll Unified Champion Schools earlier this month, ESPN and Special Olympics recently announced the Top 5 Unified Champion Schools for 2020. Delaware: Postlethwait Middle School Iowa: Theodore Roosevelt High School Minnesota: University of Minnesota Twin…

National Organizations Join Forces To Publish New COVID-19 & Down Syndrome Resource

According to a press release by Global Down Syndrome Foundation, an important new educational resource was released today by a consortium of national Down syndrome organizations. It has a great deal of undated information related to the impact of COVID-19…

en_USEnglish