Parenting Your Child with Special Needs

Preemies Today-Creating Holiday Traditions Podcast!!!

Last Monday, I co-led a tele-conference with Preemies Today founder Mary Beth Hazelgrove called Creating Family Traditions or How to Stay Healthy and have Fun Together.  With permission of the callers, the one hour meeting was recorded and theDownload Preemies today 121508 is available for listening at your convenience. As a follow-up, I compiled a brief handout which can be shared with family and friends explaining the issues with illness and how it can affect a premature baby.

Our next tele-conferences are scheduled for Friday, January 16th and 23rd, 2009 at 1:00 ET/12:00 CT/ 10:00 PT and we will be discussing discipline and the impact of prematurity on sensory development. Plan on joining us live and participating in the conversation. If you would like to register, send me an email!!!!

In a Foreign Land or School Daze

What’s it like for parents as they get ready to send their preschooler with a disability off to school?

Imagine that you are the parent of a three year old who has developmental issues or a medical condition. For the past three years you have grown accustomed to a new language and new people. You have welcomed strangers bearing bags of toys into your home who have given you tips about how to play with your baby to enhance development. To change or add to your child’s services in early intervention, in general all you really needed to do was ask, maybe have a re-evaluation of your baby’s current level of strengths and needs and attended a meeting. Sometimes your early intervention team even used finding from the hospital follow-up clinic to implement changes to your Individual Family Service plan.

Just to reach today, you had to learn that your baby has a diagnosis affecting her growth and development. You had to learn about the differences between physical and occupational therapy, allow strangers into your home and into your life.

All that as changed…This morning you put your three year old daughter or son with special needs on the bus and sent her to school for the first time. You made it through the first three years of your child’s life. (click to continue reading)

10 Tips for Moms Parenting a Child with Special Needs

Here are some tips that I have gathered from conversations with parents and some ways to put them into practice. Let me know what you think!!
Cathy

1. Focus on Today— Today is the only place in time that you have true control over. You can keep the future in mind and still focus your energies on the tasks at hand. Every parent needs to feel like they can accomplish and finish something.

2. Help your baby learn to sleep—80% of all babies with developmental issues have some type of sleep issue. Sleep issues can become a mountain for everyone. Your baby may begin to show some subtle signs that she is stressed. Many of the stress signs are familiar such as, crying, irritation, and agitation and arching. Other signs might include squirming or restless movements, twitches, droopy eyelids or eyes closed, grimacing, and presenting a worried look.

 

Tell Me Your Story

So glad that you found my site! I know you are worried about how you are going to handle everything that you face in the future parenting your child with special needs. The future can include the next hour or the next month and beyond. This site is devoted to providing a place to give voice to your concerns, priorities, strengths and resources €“all focused on parenting your child with special needs, ages birth to three.

So what are the concerns about parenting that you face? What priorities are most important for your child, yourself, your partner and your family? Are you able to use your strengths to tackle the tough times? What are the areas that you need more resources? I want to provide a safe place to discuss these issues and express your thoughts.

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