Public Awareness of Children With Special Needs

As I have mentioned before I am a firm believer of support groups for parents with children with special needs.  Yesterday I had a meeting with one of my support groups for "moms with special needs children".  We have been asked to do a short presentation at a luncheon to spread awareness of children with disabilities.  Many of the people attending this luncheon will have no concept of the vast spectrum of special needs.  Many times when a person hears that a child has a special need, they may automatically think, "Oh, he must have ADHD," or one that I have heard personally, "She goes to a special class, she must be retarded."  But in truth, these can be misconceptions, and there are far more categories of special needs that affect children in our society ranging from autism to learning disabilities, from muscular dystrophy to down's syndrome.

According to the U.S. Census, there are more than 54 million Americans with disabilities in the United States--that is almost 20% of our population.  However, most of those special needs are not visible.  The child looks just like every other child.  Our support group is trying to take baby steps to spread awareness of these wonderful, special children.  We would like for people to realize that things may not always be as they seem...that the child that is "misbehaving" during the sermon at church, continually knocking on the pew despite his parents attempts to make him stop, is not being disrespectful--he has autism.  Furthermore, his parents are not lacking in parenting skills, they more than likely go above and beyond each day to be sure their child is afforded each service he needs to accommodate for his disability.  And that child who is in fourth grade, but her parents still point to the words in the hymnal to her as the congregation sings, she is not stupid, she has a visual processing disorder and actually has above average intelligence.  These two children look just like all the other children.  Sometimes, it makes their disability even harder to deal with.  It can also make life challenging for their parents.

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Taking Care of Yourself (as a Parent)

Tomorrow is Wednesday.  I look forward to Wednesdays and dread them all at the same time.  It's one of those days when I just don't stop, and by the end of the day (sometimes by the middle of the day), I just want to crash. 

A Wednesday at our home starts at 5:45 am.  I start getting ready, because this is my volunteer day at school, then I wake up the kids.  It is my day to carpool because I volunteer in Madison's class at 7:00 am.  I am usually in her classroom until 7:45 or 8:00, then leave to help in the media center until 9:00.  At that time I go to Andrew's classroom to volunteer until 10:15. 

I cherish the time I get to spend in my children's classrooms.  As a former teacher, it enables me to use my skills, but also be a part of my children's education.  It also allows me to see how both of my children are coping at school with their different needs.  Madison and Andrew are always so excited for me to be in their rooms.  I know this will not always be the case, so I am savoring it while it lasts.  Even so, this is the beginning of an extremely taxing day.

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