How we do it
Print
Monday, February 09, 2009
"Being THE parent of a special needs child forces you to ride the special parent see-saw. It's like riding a bull for the first time with no instruction. Some days you are up so high your feet are lifted off the ground and others you find your feet dragging in the mud. No matter what your child's special need may be, the see-saw ride is a challenging one. You have to hang on for dear life, hang on to your child, hang on to your spouse and the rest of your family."
Walter Burden, Palos Heights
"THE IMPORTANT THING for our family is to set aside time for each
of our three children. We also talk to them about what is going on.
It's important that they know and understand that the 'special'
treatment they feel Sadie is getting isn't 'special,' it's just
'adjusted'. They are so young right now that it's hard for them to
understand, but eventually they will, and hopefully they will
appreciate the effort we put in to make our family cohesive and
full of love."
Mary Edgar, Wheaton
"ONE OF THE THINGS I would like to share is to involve the other
children in the family that do not have special needs. Give them
some ownership, especially when your child with special needs has
some type of success. My son Tommy, who is 6, absolutely loves his
little sister. She has a lot of medical needs and is
developmentally and physically delayed. When she does something
new, we try to give Tommy credit for helping her learn how to do
it."
Jen Antonson, Geneva
