“Having a child with DS has changed my life...my life is brighter…..my life is more wonderful…my life is filled with love.”(Lorene Kay) After talking to Sadie’s mom I came across this quote and I thought it fit perfectly. Parents develop wishes, expectations, and dreams for their children, even before the child is born. At a minimum, parents wish for a healthy baby ("We don 't care whether it 's a boy or a girl, just as long as it 's healthy" is the cliché that is repeated over and over), and they assume that it will be so. The discovery that the wished-for child has a disability can be seen as destroying the hopes and dreams held by the parents. Parents need to grieve the loss of these hopes and dreams (Bristor, 1991; Klein & Schive, 2001; …show more content…
There is always a greater risk of disabilities with multiples. The three of us were born eight weeks early and were healthy as can be. I know my parents are very thankful to have four healthy kids. I have always wanted to have multiples (one boy and one girl) but now I realize I should not be so picky. I will love my kids no matter what, but I will pray every day for them to be healthy. I could not imagine being in Sadie’s mom’s shoes.
Question: If you were giving advice to professionals who need to explain to parents that their child has a disability, what would that advice be?
Parent’s response: Be honest from the very beginning. Gentle but honest. Make parents aware as soon as they even suspect a disability. Have resources to give parents to inform them the pros and cons of diagnosis.
Reaction: I realize that you have to be extremely organized when you have a child with a disability. You have to let people know about your child’s disability right from the start. I think it would be easiest to have a paper stating your child’s disability and information about their personality, home routine, ect.
Question: What have been the positive aspects of having a child in the family with a disability?
Parent’s response: Life was no longer the same. My family drew closer to God and out faith to trust in the Lord
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Not every child learns effectively with the same technique. You need to find what works for each individual child. (Take parents advice. They usually know). Example: My child is easily distracted. Even if you have a shirt on with a lot of words or designs, she will read a bit and keep stopping to look your shirt. Patience is a must! My daughter may learn something one day and the next not remember it. Down syndrome children learn with repetition. Eventually they will get it. Being a mother to a daughter with Downs is the hardest but yet most rewarding job. It is important for parents to work with their child at home as well. Unfortunately not all parents
Unfortunately, a lot of parents may have a difficult time accepting their child, and coping with their needs and the responsibilities. From the book “The Elephant in the Playroom,” some families dealt with depression and physical and mental deterioration of their health. These struggles were shown in the story by Laura Cichoracki. Laura’s son’s name was Patrick. Patrick was a 6-years-old boy with autism. “I wasn’t eating right, I wasn’t showering regularly, I wasn’t sleeping well” (Brodey, p. 64). I also read the story told by Susan Marrash-Minnerly, which highlighted emotions that parents face. Susan also shed light on how wonderful children with special needs can be to a family, such as her ten-year-old third grader who had autism. Susan talked about how it was normal to feel angry at times, especially with the ups and downs a child’s disability may come with. “When I look back, I want to tell other parents that a child’s future is worth grieving over – but it’s not the end of the world” (Brodey, p. 75). After reading these stories, it became apparent to me that families who are raising kids with special needs, need support, kindness, and available resources. “I was fortunate to be surrounded by other moms who understood my pain…who could be supportive and emphatic.” (Brodey, p. 67). Overall, educators can use this kind of information that was shared in “The Elephant in the Playroom” about family systems and risk/resiliency by creating lines of open communication between families. This is to connect parents together that share similar struggles. By creating open communication is can allows for the teacher and parents to be on the same page when it comes to the issues affecting special needs students and
Raising a child with a disability will have an impact, positive or negative, on the structure of a family system. Research concerning how various disabilities affect the family functions focuses primarily on the parents. Siblings are seldom included in the research, yet they can provide a stable, powerful developmental context for socioemotional development.
Graziano’s article over the handling of his son’s disability in the classroom also involves issues that relate to teachers detecting signs of mental illness in the classrooms, how teachers identify a behavioral troubled child, and training school counselors on the Section 504 policy that are all happening in the world today. Realizing these issues can help parents with giving their child the best out of their education and can also help teachers understand the importance of their relationship with students. Everyone should have the opportunity for a brighter future and having a learning disability should not be the end of the road for any student.
...r tended to her activities of daily living – feeding her, grooming her. However, her mother had no insight on her condition and how to help her take care of herself. I, personally took her to school and talked to teachers who advised to have her join a school for the disabled, she was falling behind in classes and it was affecting her mentally and emotionally. She was visually impaired and no one in the family knew until she took a vision test catered to her. She is now 22 years old, and it amazes me to see how she has flourished. A young girl who used to be glued to the television, watching cartoons and the likes, she is now on her iPad watching videos on YouTube, face-timing with friends and family. When our grandmother passed away a few years ago, she took it upon herself to console everyone. Had her growth been hindered, she wouldn’t be the person she is now.
Living with a child with special needs can have profound effects on the entire family including the extended family members, siblings, parents, and the child with the special needs. It can affect all aspects of family functioning, since they have to be on the watch for the child. On the positive side, living with a child with special needs can expand horizons, develop family cohesion, increase the family members’ awareness of their inner strength, and promote connections to community groups. On the negative side, this child will need time, physical and emotional demands and financial cost in order to make the child’s life comfortable. However, the impacts will depend on the child’s condition, and its severity, as well as the emotional, physical, and the financial resources available to take care of the child.
As a parent, learning that your child has developmental disabilities can be a life-altering moment in time and can cause a devastating chain reaction of events. These events have the potential to change family priorities and structure, hurt relationships, deplete financial savings and stability, and emotionally drain everyone intimately involved with you and your child. How do you find human services programs, agencies, or advocates, whose primary job is to help you provide everything your child needs? It certainly can be an overwhelming barrier, but it's the first step in giving you, your child, and your family a plan of action, goals, success, good mental health, and bringing everyone back together. What are Developmental Disabilities?
My mom has bipolar disorder and depression. Most of my life I had to deal with her denial of not being mentally ill. There were hard times but now that she accepted her mental illness, her behavior is leveled out. However, my dad has diabetes and high blood sugar. Even though diabetes and high blood sugar are categorized under a disability, I worry these illnesses will cause my dad to obtain a disability. When I compare my parents, I know that my mom does not have modifiable factors contributing to her disability. However, my dad does. He can make small changes to his diet and activity level. If he made the small changes is overall health would improve and lessen his chance of acquiring a disability. Recently, my dad has started to eat healthier and increased his activity level. When it comes to disabilities and how they would affect, they make me want to be proactive and advocate that particular person. I want them to overcome the hardship of the disability while having the resources and the support system they need. That what makes me excited to be an Occupational Therapist working with individuals with
Siblings who have sisters or brothers with disabilities express a number of special concerns they have a...
There are several challenges and blessings to being a parent of a special needs child. Additionally, the challenges have changed as our child has grown. When she was little the greatest challenge was probably accepting the disability and how others perceived the disability as well. As she grew, it was the worry about educational and medical options that would best benefit and assist our child. Currently, the greatest challenge is learning how to handle the frequent outburst and tantrums our child is having at home and at school. Every new stage in growth and development seems to present its own blessings and challenges.
I interviewed a woman who has a child with special needs. The child is now in kindergarten. The mother reported having a normal pregnancy with no complications. This was the second child for the mother, who has another child who was five years old at the time. The mother disclosed that during the pregnancy, she was in the process of separating from the child’s father and that this caused a moderate level of stress. At the time of the pregnancy, the mother was also working full time as a waitress in a local restaurant. The mother reported that her job required her to be on her feet for long periods of time. She was able to work until around a week before her child was born. The mother reports that the child was born around two weeks early but that labor was easy and the child was born healthy.
Sara Palin said “sometimes even the greatest joys bring challenge, and children with special needs inspire a very, very special love.” When I was a child my mom had to open a home day care. The reason for this was my cousins have special needs and their mother could not find a day care that was willing to help them. Having my cousins with me as I grew up help me understand that people with special need are no different but just need more love. This is why scenario three seemed the best one for me to choose.
As a grandson and nephew of a disabled grandmother and aunt, the struggle of disability is commonly experience in our family an...
People with disabilities face many obstacles throughout their life. There are many things that can be done to ensure that a person with disabilities reaches their full potential. People with disabilities face many issues pertaining to lifelong learning such as; the beginning diagnosis, early intervention, assessments, educational progress and transitional programs.
Praise God; that was the phrase I would here every morning when my dad would drop me off for school. Although my family has gone through many hard times, they have grown to know Christ and wanted to share that with their kids. I grew up in the kind of household that if you said “shut up” then you were going to be spanked several times. I knew one thing on Sunday morning and Wednesday nights; you go to church. Church became a hobby to me, I didn’t hate going there but it was just what you did. I thought that all families were like that also, I didn’t realize till my teenage years that not everyone goes to church every Sunday morning and Wednesday night. But as I grew older and started really listening to what my friends would talk about at school, I saw that life wasn’t all about going to church and being a Christian for some people.
Robin Roberts, a parent of a multi-sensory disabled student from Moore, SC states “Early intervention is key to parents who have children with special needs. From the moment you bring them home, all it takes is a phone call. The first phone call I made was to SCSDB.”