Parents of children with special needs spend a lot of time feeling in over their heads. The world just isn’t designed to accommodate people who have a little bit of a harder time learning or moving. But just because it can feel like it’s your family against everything else doesn’t mean that that is so.
In fact, there is a significant amount of infrastructure available to support children with special needs. Your local school system should be able to connect you to many of these resources free of charge.
In this article, we take a look at some of the challenges of raising a child with special needs, but we also look at the support systems designed to make those challenges easier.
Care is Better than Ever
Special education improves every year for the simple reason that the tech supporting it continues to get better and better. Teachers are now able to take very advanced data on their students, making it easier to monitor progress and develop personalized plans for each student.
Meanwhile, doctors and scientists continue to gain important insights on what sort of accommodations can help improve the lives of students with special needs.
These revelations make it a little bit easier for special needs children to feel comfortable in their learning environment.
Hardship: I Feel Removed from My Child’s Education
When you are the parent of a special needs child, you may find that there are many choices being made on behalf of your child that you don’t have control over. After all, it is the school that decides which professionals they will interact with. It’s the special ed teacher that develops the curriculum designed to best help your child.
While these people are usually highly qualified, and certainly well-intended, it can be very frustrating to sit on the sidelines and watch them call plays you aren’t even sure you agree with.
Most of the time, the pros are going to get it right. That doesn’t mean you should be a passive observer in this process. Stay educated and advocate for your child as much as is necessary.
Yes, you might get a reputation around the school. The truth, though? Most teachers appreciate when parents actively participate in their child’s education.
Active involvement may also help clue you into aspects of your child’s school experience that simple progress reports can’t communicate. For example, is your child able to make meaningful social connections?
Sometimes children in special education programs are more subject to bullying, or just social isolation. Catching these problems early can make a big difference in the overall quality of your child’s school experience.
There are Probably more Resources than You Realize
Piggybacking off the idea that digital technology is improving the way children with special needs are cared for, it’s also important to keep in mind that the Internet also gives you a lot of power as a parent. For one thing, it makes it very easy to stay tuned into the latest developments for treating your child.
It can also help you tap into a wider support system. Many people parenting children with special needs feel isolated. That’s normal— your experience of taking care of your child may not resemble the experience your friends are having.
But online, parents in the same situation as you are just a few clicks away. Tapping into that wider community is a great way to gain comfort in your situation. It also gives you access to new information and perspectives.
Hardship: I’ve Learned About Many Care Opportunities Online. None of them are Financially Accessible
It is true that caring for a special needs child can be very expensive. If you want to tap into resources beyond those provided by your school district, much, or all of the cost may wind up being out of pocket.
However, there are still ways that you may be able to fund surplus care. Start by looking into local grants. There may also be charities in your community that will help pay for certain aspects of your child’s care.
If none of that is working, consider tapping into your support systems. No one likes asking for handouts. However, there are many crowdsourcing platforms that allow you to fund personal projects online. These digital spaces can make asking for help a little more comfortable, giving your family and friends the opportunity to provide funds anonymously should they choose to do so.
No one likes asking for help but remember: your child needs all the support they can get. Don’t let pride get in the way of giving them the highest possible level of care.
Conclusion
It would be fair to say that the world is becoming increasingly more sensitive to people with special needs. That certainly doesn’t mean things are perfect. Most of society is organized around accommodating people with typical needs.
However, if you look at the trajectory of special needs services. In the last several decades, handicap accommodations have become legally mandatory all over the country.
And now, if you go into large gathering spaces— museums, libraries, even amusement parks, you will often see spaces designed for people with certain sensitivities. For example, sensory rooms are becoming increasingly common.
These spaces are designed to allow children— or even adults— with sensory sensitivities to relax and feel comfortable in public settings.
Now, obviously, if you and your family are struggling, one little room that used to be a janitor’s closet at Six Flags isn’t going to make that much of a difference. The unfortunate truth is that you can’t expect the outside world to care for your child with the same amount of attention and devotion that you do.
Parents of children with special needs are required to fight for many of the same things that cognitively typical children get to take for granted.
It isn’t fair. It isn’t easy. But it’s something parents all over the world will continue to do because frankly, there is no other option.
Just remember that when helping your child thrive feels too overwhelming, there are support systems in place that can help relieve the burden.
Things may never be perfect but have faith that they can at least improve.
