What About Me?
Something is not right, even though friends and family tell you, “Don’t worry, he will grow out of it…it’s just a stage.” You are not so sure. You don’t sleep because you know in your heart something is different about him. You are glued to the internet to find out everything and anything that will help you help your child. You try so hard but nothing seems to help and so you call the doctor. You pray that the doctor will tell you that there is nothing to worry about and that you just have “new parent nerves”, but that voice inside tells you there is something different about your child.
You have just been told that your child has a “special need”. What does that mean and how will that affect him. So much new information that your brain can’t keep up with your racing heart, but then a calm sense of relief comes over you. Relief that a least you have a diagnosis and have a direction on how to help your child. And then the life long journey begins.
“About 1 in 6 children in the United States had a developmental disability in 2006-2008, ranging from mild disabilities such as speech and language impairments to serious developmental disabilities, such as intellectual disabilities, cerebral palsy, and autism. As of February, 2014, About 1 in 68 children has been identified with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) according to estimates from CDC’s Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring (ADDM).” Networkhttp://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/autism/data.html
So much attention is directed at finding help for a child, but what about the caregiver? The parent carries the load of doctor’s visits, school meetings, therapy appointments, behavior management, sleepless nights, and the list goes on. For the parent that asks, “What about me? HELP, I need support!”
We have discovered a blog post that might help:
Ultimate list of encouraging blog posts for special needs families {and those who love them}.
