FollowProblems Faced by Families with Disabled Children
If you are the parent of a child who is disabled, you know that there are challenges that you face each and every day. Whether your child has cerebral palsy, mental retardation, traumatic brain injury, amputation, Down syndrome or ADHD, there are problems that will come up at some point.
Follow me on Pinterest.Follow me on Twitter.
Feel free to Pin This!
Financial Hardship– Financial hardship is one of the biggest challenges for parents of disabled children. When you first find out the news that your child has a disability, money and costs are the last thing on your mind. The only thing that is important at that point is how you can help your child. However, you will soon discover that the costs associated with medications, specialized schooling, therapy, rehabilitation and counseling will quickly begin to add up. If you are a family that is low income, this can be a huge devastation. You need to know where you can turn for financial and government help to ease some of the financial burden. The best place to start is with your community support offices.
Isolation– Families that care for a child with a disability may find themselves completely isolated from family and friends. There is no one to blame for this most of the time though, it just happens. Some people stay away simply because they don’t know how to act around the child or even the parents. Some families will just shut everyone out once they find out about their child’s disability because they are afraid of how the child will be accepted. Some parents will find new friends within the special needs community because they believe these people can better understand what you are going through on a daily basis. The bottom line here is that the only thing that parents of special needs children want is for their child to be accepted and loved.
Social Acceptance– As much as we hate it, there are some people in today’s society that do not socially accept children that have some type of disability. You have more than likely been out in public with your child and noticed the stares or heard the whispers. They may have even said something out loud about the way your child looks or acts. The sad part is when these aren’t strangers that are passing judgment on your child but family and friends. Your aunt may have her opinion on how you deal with the issues you face. Your best friend may tell you that you need to institutionalize your child. This is something that is very difficult to deal with as a parent of a disabled child.
Are you a parent? If so, what do you find is the most challenging?
Follow me on Pinterest.Follow me on Twitter.
Feel free to Pin This!
I’m a staunch childfree by choice woman who has recently found myself being a stepmother of two, and I think it’s all challenging! Fortunately, they’re both teenagers. I cannot imagine raising a child from scratch, disabled or otherwise. It’s definitely not for me!
I have some cousins with disabilities and it is a real challenge for their family. Both financially and emotionally. I think it’s hard for parents to realize that their child will never lead the life they thought they would. I’m just glad there are great people in the world that are accepting and are willing to help.
I really dislike the isolation and social acceptance crap! All children, people, families, etc are beautiful and need to be accepted or rather just not gawked at. When we’re out and about my 10 year old daughter will go out of her way to say hi to other children, especially those who are disabled. I am a quite proud momma, she would befriend all of these children if she could.
Mine do the same.
I can not imagine how hard it is to raise a child with disability, but there are communities that band together to help with the process. Thank you for sharing this, it does bring a lot of light for me.
Yes. Yes. and Yes. I have two kiddos with a type of special need. Wyatt is on the autism spectrum and has sensory processing disorder and my youngest, Levi was born with Clubfoot and is still undergoing treatment. Isolation is huge, just finding a place where you feel welcome is hard. I always feel like everyone is staring at us – and there are no activities we can do where he can be in public and just be himself! It’s definitely hard, for so many reasons. But our kiddos are just so darn special, and I wouldn’t trade them for anything!
Raising a child with disabilities is something I cant even imagine. I have worked with kids who have disabilities and have seen these issues first hand. It is already hard enough without the financial difficulties and lack of inclusion.
This is such a very sad truth. I used to work for the United Way and I learned that there are so many children with disabilities that are dropped off at long term care facilities and forgotten about. The parents come every day, then once a week, then once a month, to once a year, then….never. My heart broke into a thousand pieces every time I would visit the center. So very sad.
It can be such a tough business being a mom and I’ve come to the conclusion that we all have disabilities – rather they are obvious or hidden – finding them and knowing the best ways to give and receive help and love are the difficulties I’ve seen and felt for others and for our own family.
Parents of children with disabilities are some of the strongest people that I know! It is amazing how much they go through to help their child! I love that more awareness is being done to help parents out so they aren’t so alone in all of this.
I have nothing but respect for the parents of special needs kids. Parenting is a challenge to begin with, and adding special needs to the mix makes it even more challenging. I think there should be more support for families like that.
Thank you so much for sharing and putting the spotlight on issues we may not all be aware of. I will definitely try to be more aware and more conscious of my reactions and actions in similar situations.