Supporting Other Special Needs Parents

I have read several blogs lately where one or more parent disagree with the handling of care of someone else’s child or other parents’ beliefs about causes and treatment of Autism. The fact that there is no definite theory for the cause and treatment of Autism has added controversy among parents and professionals alike.

As caring people when we see something that works our own child and someone else is not doing that for their special needs child we want to help them. The problem is that in our enthusiasm we sometimes forget that what works for one child doesn’t work for all children.

When packing to move it was obvious how many books I bought trying to find help for Billy Ray. Many of these books gave specific approaches for every child with a certain diagnosis. Most of those approaches did not work for Billy Ray as specifically suggested. It became frustrating. Eventually we gleaned what we could and adapted our own approaches. Thus I tried very hard in Parenting Your Complex Child (AMACOM Books April 2006) to share what worked for us and to give methods for finding out what works as opposed to telling other what to do for their child.

One commenter on Susan Senator’s recent blog post mentioned that she is uncomfortable being around those who use “the diet” because she doesn’t have her child on the diet. That is a sad but true commentary on how parents are made to feel that we must use everyone’s methods for our unique child. Since reading that I keep thinking of Rodney King’s words “why can’t we all get along”.

True support for each other will recognize that a parent must do what works for their child as an individual.

Until tomorrow,
Peggy Lou Morgan
http://www.parentingyourcomplexchild.com/
http://www.lighthouseparents.com/