Comments on: Raising a Special Needs Child

By: Debbie Bridge

Debbie Bridge — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 17:19:13 +0000

It is good that you reached out to share with us. We are a loving,open, and varied community here and I will personally pray for you and your family. I pray that in time you will be able to say, “All is well with my precious family and myself.

By: julie

julie — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:13:00 +0000

I am a single mom of a disabled son (who is also medically fragile). My life has changed in every possible way because of my son. I relate to people differently and they certainly relate to us differently! My days are different, my work is different, all of my experiences are different now that my son is in my life. I can truly understand your questions: is god punishing me or giving me some big honor?! Actually, I tend to believe that my son chose me, he chose to come to me because I would give him what he needs. I love him unconditionally, I love him because he Is. Period. I give him respect and so he knows he deserves respect where ever he goes. I help him to be as complete as he can be and I find that he is helping me to be as complete as I can be.
I believe that what happens in my life is here to help me develop and certainly I have taken this experience with my son as a teaching toward developing in many many areas.
A disability, no matter how severe, doesn’t have to be a restrictive thing. We all have disabilities, we just don’t call them disabilities because we ignore them or have adjusted to them. Many of us learn differently from the norm (if you were tested you’d find you have a disability), we wear glasses and contacts (this disability is so common we don’t even think about it anymore), we don’t play football because our arms just can’t get strong enough for that(disability), we study a lot of math but not psychology because math is easier and psychology is so difficult to learn (disability), we tend toward hiking rather than running because we’re not good runners (disability)…. A person who has an obvious disability or an unusual disability is always a person first and can learn to deal with their disability either as a plus or will work around it.if the person focuses on one thing for hours and can’t seem to move on to other interests, well, that person could easily use his talent/disability to invent some amazing thing. she’ll use her focusing ability to study, to probe, to learn all there is about a subject. That is very good!
A person who can’t use their legs but wants to dance will teach the rest of us that dancing has nothing to do with legs but rather it has to do with expressing oneself…rolling, swaying, wheeling, whatever.
A person who is blind can certainly teach workshops, run the country, whatever.
Disabilities are only a problem when we view them as a problem. Therefore, my height (I’m short) can be a disability if I choose to feel and live deprived, depressed and unable to Do…just because of seeing my height as being a downer…
As a parent it is our job to teach our children that no matter their situation they are whole, wonderful and capable..and then they will be.
My heart is with you,
jt

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 22:46:00 +0000

I’ve never been in a situation like yours, but I think the best thing to do is see this is an “unqualified blessing” as Dr. Chopra put it. Your child has special needs for a reason and this reason wont mesh with the what society or even yourself says is the best for everyone. Some of the greatest people of all time have had mental handicaps, physical handicaps, and/or chronic illnesses. I would try to see this as a blessing and I would constantly emphasize to your child that he/she can use their “disadvantages” to accomplish great things. The funny thing is that we call these people handicapped or disadvantaged, when in fact they have the ability to accomplish things that “able-bodied” persons cannot.

By: Joel Skelley

Joel Skelley — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 15:14:33 +0000

Not to be rude, but I personally think that if you think god is harsh on you for giving you the son you have at this very moment, then you are very far away from understanding god. Thanks to Mr. Chopra you were given this information in a more proactive way. 🙂 wish you the best
Joel