Parenting Help
Parenting a Child With Special Needs
For any parent, raising a child is an adventure despite the challenges that might be there. However, for parents of special needs children, the journey comes with several twists and turns along the way. Among the many challenges that parents and caregivers of special need children might face in their daily life are:
- Learning about their children’s disability
- Researching, locating, and getting access to effective resources and treatments
- Coping with physical and emotional demands of caring for children with special needs
- Advocating for appropriate school placements, accommodations, and interventions
- Getting appointments with therapists, medical providers, school personnel, and advocates
- Paying for the huge number of interventions and treatments not covered by the school systems or health insurance
The Burden of Stress
According to a recent study, mothers of autistic children have the same stress levels as active combat soldiers. Often, finances are a major source of stress as parents (especially moms) are forced to forfeit their careers to attend to their children’s special needs, resulting in loss of family income.
As parents, the emotional impact of the burden of stress is huge and may include:
Fear and worry over:
- The child’s future
- The child’s suffering and pain
- The question of whether you’re doing the right things to make the child’s life better
Guilt Over:
- Loss of attention towards your spouse, other kids, or aging parents
- Your resentment and jealousy over parents raising “normal” kids
- Limits of your ability to keep the child safe
- Feeling isolated because you:
- Encounter judgment and criticism about your parenting methods from people who don’t understand your child’s special needs.
- Miss out on family-oriented activity due to your child’s inability to participate successfully
- Feel like an outsider when hanging around parents of other normally developing children.
Grief Over:
- Loss of dream and hopes that you had for your child
- Not having enough parenting experience as you had imagined
- Having recurring reminders of what your kid misses out on