A mother’s love for her child is like nothing else. Like her good food, it contains her concoction of unconditional love, care, patience, and understanding. However, no matter how much you try to make everything smooth sailing, there are still times when you feel disappointed in yourself.
Especially for mothers of children with special needs—a pep talk from fellow moms and medical services are great to help the kids learn how to socialize, develop new skills, and reach their full potential. Nowadays, physiotherapy management can help children and adults with neurological conditions recover or discover their physical activities to be active and productive. Read here for more information.
8 Ways Moms Can Support Their Children with Special Needs
Being a mom of a child with special needs can be challenging. Apart from raising a family, there are regular doctor visits, therapy sessions, and long wait times for insurance companies to answer calls. Not to mention the exhaustion and anxiety kick in.
Fortunately, there are ways mothers can raise and support their children with special needs. Read on to find out.
If you’re a parent or caretaker of a child with special needs, here are some resources you might find helpful:
1. Receive Help from Friends and Family Members
When everyone else is busy, asking for or accepting help is hard. Most moms are expected to be great at multitasking while juggling their children’s needs.
Asking for help is a sign of strength, not weakness. It will be simpler for everybody to let your friends and family know what you need help with so they can sign up for tasks that best fit their schedules and skills.
Mothers may see themselves as helpless and a burden in everybody’s eyes, even though it’s not true. It’s okay to feel different emotions at a time. If you think your mental health is affected, don’t hesitate to seek professional help. To support your child, you need to be completely healthy too.
2. Make a List of Needs
Create a list of needs to make life easier. Need help in picking up your child from school? Ask a close friend or a neighbor who’s also picking up their children. One can even ask other family members to help by doing what they enjoy, like cooking home-cooked meals with the kids or entertaining them with small games.
If you feel overwhelmed by the critical tasks you need to accomplish—such as grocery errands and other appointments—take a breather and compose yourself. Having a mobile application for your schedules and essential reminders is also convenient. That way, you’ll avoid forgetting things to buy and missing engagements.
3. No One Is Perfect, and That’s Okay
Everyone commits mistakes. One can either wallow in these mistakes or move on. Beating oneself up isn’t going to change the situation. Having a steady support system to laugh and connect with others is ideal. Support groups, both online and in-person, can help a lot too.
Joining these groups is a way for parents to practice self-care in an otherwise-stressful experience. Recharging one’s batteries often will make one a better partner, parent, and person.
4. Slow Down, and Take Time to Do Things Right
Any transition can be difficult for children with disabilities, including attending school and interacting with new people. But don’t worry too much; a child with special needs can still have a successful year in school despite the challenges.
There will be a few bumps in the road, so it’s essential to take a step back and take it one day at a time. It helps to stay calm and positive to make better decisions. Also, always know the kid’s limitations, and consider those in any plan. When supporting your child with special needs, patience is key!
5. Don’t Compare
Every child is different. They grow and develop at their own pace. If a development milestone is missed, talk to a doctor. Comparing siblings, cousins, and other children with the same disability type won’t make anyone feel better. Every child is unique, and they have their strengths and weaknesses.
6. Never Give Up
Every day, many mothers may find themselves in challenging situations—stretching tight muscles, remembering medications, and dealing with hysterical children as they undergo medical procedures. They have to diffuse tantrums and meltdowns.
Moreover, parents with children with special needs have to do things doctors tell them they wouldn’t regularly do. It isn’t easy, but it can be rewarding as well. With challenges come rewards. Sometimes, one has to search deep within oneself to find these rewards.
7. Hustle
Being a stay-at-home mom doesn’t provide a full-time paycheck. That’s hard for one-income families, especially those with a kid with special needs.
Fortunately, there are still ways to earn cash without leaving the house or sacrificing family time. For instance, start selling things online, allowing busy moms to make extra cash and grow their savings. You can conveniently monitor it at any time of the day; make sure to allocate time for it in your daily or weekly schedule. It’s also rewarding to have one’s very own income and financial contribution.
8. Take Time to Enjoy with the Kids
The life of a mother can get relatively busy and overscheduled. While everything in the calendar is necessary, one still has to make time to laugh, play, have fun, and enjoy.
Engage with your kids, read them, and snuggle them to sleep. Make fun, lasting memories beyond the hospital walls.
Supporting your Child with Special Needs
Caring for children with special needs is both rewarding and challenging. Like with any parenting, no definite rulebook or manual will help decide what’s best for a child’s development and growth. Therefore, trusting one’s instincts is essential. After all, mothers will always be experts regarding their children.
If you’re a parent or caretaker of a child with special needs, here are some additional resources you might find helpful:
- Cerebral Palsy Family Network – a compassionate community that provides resources for loved ones with Cerebral Palsy.
- Learn about Financial Planning for Kids with Special Needs
- My Possibilities – a university for those with special needs
- Online courses for parents & caregivers of Autistic Children The Play Project