You’re The Parent of a Special Needs Child….Now What?

You’re expecting a child and you find out that they may, or may not be a special needs child, or maybe you’re child is a few months old and you begin to notice things about them that are unexplainable or that you may question. After having tests run and other medical examinations, you discover your child has special needs. You may wonder, “Now what?”

Having a child with special needs will definitely change your life. It takes a special person to deal with a special needs child, and you will be all the better for being a parent of one of these unique children, but you will also realize that you have a lot to learn as well.

Parenting a child with special needs does call for having to learn new things, deal with new things, and tackle new obstacles that you may have never had to as a parent in the past. Be ready for these new challenges so that you can truly see the “specialness” of your child even through all the difficulty.

The following are a few things you should be ready to do as a parent of a special needs child.

1. Become an advocate. There are so many things that you will want for your child, and many of these things you will have to fight for. Proper education, special rights, understanding, all things you will want for your child and therefore you may have to head up the fight in order to receive these things.

2. Dedicate your time. It will take more quality, one on one time from you in order to ensure that your child get the care and support that they need as a child with special needs. This may mean that your lifestyle changes, and /or that you change jobs, homes, or maybe even where you are living in order to be able to provide the things that your child needs. Be ready to do so.

3. Protect your child. Often times special needs children will need to be protected more so than a child without those needs. Many times this extra measure of safety may need to be from things that the child themselves can do to harm themselves. Safety for the special needs child is of utmost importance. As a parent there are things that you can do to ensure safety for your special needs child.

My Precious Kids is available to help you keep your child with special needs safe. Call Kay Green at 503-693-2832 to talk about how to protect your child. She has many products that will give you peace of mind.

Written by Alyssa Avant
A Writer for Hire
Copyright 2009

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