My Child is Supposed to do What? When?

Copyright Cesar Robles - Dreamstime Photos

After just finishing up a telephone call with a parent, I am again reminded of how overwhelming things can be for families raising children with challenges.  Let's face it...it's challenging whether or not your child has any special needs, but think about how overwhelming it would be if it happens to be your first child.

If you have a good team around you (family, friends, a pediatrician, as examples), someone is going to help you get to the "experts," who will help you navigate this new journey.  I quote the word "experts" because many of us have tons of professional knowledge and expertise in specific areas, but you are the child's parent and your voice is equally, if not more important, in many ways.  You know your child, know what is important to your family, and know how you hope your child will function in that family dynamic.  That is all vital information to the professionals involved.

As professionals, we try to remember that you are likely in uncharted territories of your child's life and try to guide you through those choppy waters. Part of our job is to ask you what you'd like to see your child learn, how you'd like him/her to communicate, behave, etc.  We want to know what is important to you as a family and how we can best help, how we can help your child be successful in schools, in social relationships, and in the community. We do sometimes forget, especially when it is your first child, you may not really know what is typical development.

I've included a link to a great outline, offered up by PBS.org, to help you see what typical development looks like in children through age five. Note: this does not cover academics, but social skills, communication, and more.  It is a nice resource for parents who aren't sure "what comes next."  As professionals, we are seeing where your child's current levels are and start building from there.  Even though your child may be age four, s/he may only be demonstrating skills a year or more behind that.  We would not skip right to the skills for age four, but would increase our expectations from that starting point (the baseline). 

The ABC's of the Whole Child

When in doubt, reach out for help.  Talk to your child's pediatrician.  Contact a local support agency.  Speak to other families. Contact your local school district.  We are here to help you!

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Until next time...

Diane

 

This Was NOT What We Had Planned!

Photo courtesy of the Mead Family

"We always wondered how Carter would wear a wedding ring without a left hand. Today we discovered he likes to wear a wedding ring on his twins. I think he looks adorable wearing Daddy's wedding ring!"

 

Just think...

All your life, you've planned to become a parent.  You've looked forward to the day when you would be raising children, coaching Little League, watching gymnastics routines, the first day of school, prom, graduation, weddings, watching your child become the next MLB star, or President of the United States.  And then...something happens to change your world.  Your child is born, but not as you had planned. 

Over the past two decades, I have had the pleasure of working with many families who have experienced this revelation.  Some families were aware that there may be a physical or neurological issue prior to the birth, some found out immediately in the first few moments of birth, and others experienced it within the child's first few years.  The timing has never been important with these families.  They all experienced fear, anxiety, and nervousness that they would have no idea how to help their children to grow and succeed.  Yet somehow, even in spite of some professionals telling them that their children would not succeed or even survive, they have faced the odds and are raising some of the most amazing and accomplished children I have ever met!

This poem, by Emily Perl Kingsley, has been used often to try to better explain what life is like when your child is born with challenges.  Although at times it is certainly hard to find a silver lining or keep up a positive attitude when faced with what seem to be insurmountable struggles, just think about what you might be missing...

WELCOME TO HOLLAND

by Emily Perl Kingsley

c1987 by Emily Perl Kingsley. All rights reserved

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......

When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.

After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland."

"Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."

But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.
The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.

So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.

It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.

But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."

And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.

But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.

Academic & Behavioral Consulting of N.H. Website
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