Table of Contents
What impact does a child with special needs have on a family?
For parents, having a disabled child may increase stress, take a toll on mental and physical health, make it difficult to find appropriate and affordable child care, and affect decisions about work, education/training, having additional children, and relying on public support.
What are the effects of disability on a family?
Many families actually report that the presence of disability has strengthened them as a family—they become closer, more accepting of others, have deeper faith, discover new friends, develop greater respect for life, improve their sense of mastery, and so on.
What are the struggles of a parent with special needs?
There are struggles these parents face are different than most. Being a parent is hard for anyone. For special needs parents, however, it can be even harder. Autism, down syndrome, sensory processing disorder, muscular dystrophy; those are just a handful of the special needs that children can face.
What do you need to know about special needs children?
Medical care, physical therapy, occupational therapy, special equipment, medications and all of the other things that a special needs child might need, on top of the things that any other child would need… Food, clothing, shelter, activities, education, childcare (which is even more expensive when a child has special needs)…
What are the hardest things about parenting children with disabilities?
There are hard things about parenting children with disabilities. Social isolation: We don’t want to be isolated, yet sometimes because of our children’s needs we find ourselves alone. We want friends. We need friends. We feel like we are not doing enough: Deep down we often wonder, could I do more? Could I try harder?
Why are so many special needs parents facing financial hardship?
It can lead to serious financial hardship. Instead of saving for vacations with their kids, special needs parents have to save for the care that their kids need, and those are costs that are never ending. A lot of special needs parents end up in financial turmoil in order to provide their children with the care they require.