Parenting An Older Child With Additional Needs
There is a wealth of information available about school-aged children with additional needs. There is a bounty of support available, ranging from IEPs to entertaining toys and adaptive equipment. However, things can become more difficult as your child grows older.
Here, we look at some of the things that may be important when parenting an older child with additional needs.
Encourage independence
Allowing your child to make mistakes while under your supervision when they are younger can help them develop self-soothing, problem-solving skills, and independence. Allowing your child to develop personal and practical life skills encourages them to mature as individuals. Of course, this does wholly depend on the level and form of additional needs, but in general, even a little bit of independence can go a long way. The truth is that you will not always be there for them, and this does not have to be a bad or frightening thing. It is essential to be a fighter for your child, but it may be just as important to allow them to encounter success and failure for themselves.
Understanding that there are elements of your child’s life over which you have no control is a critical first step in transitioning your additional needs child into adulthood and making the experience a little easier for them.
Look into programs where your child can interact with other children. There are day programs, respite, camps, Passavant Memorial Homes, and so on. A respite program will do wonders not only for the child’s independence but also for the family.
Plan for the future
Aging is an unavoidable side effect of life, whether we like it or not. Your child is not Peter Pan and they will grow up. This can be especially challenging for people with special needs. Thinking ahead to their adulthood can be an excellent strategy for reducing stress and consequent confusion that comes with parenting an adult with special needs.
If legal guardianship is required, it is recommended that they seek legal guardianship at the age of 17 before becoming a legal adult at the age of 18. The process can be time-consuming, and you should have everything in place and scheduled with the courts before your child turns 18 years old.
Take steps to prepare yourself
One thing that some parents overlook is the fact that their children will not always be young. It is impossible to pause time, and y our child will grow up. Learning how to help them become more self-sufficient and independent can make you feel useless. When your child grows up, you may have to transition into a new phase of your life – it is the perfect opportunity to find some new hobbies!
This will be much more difficult for the family than it will be for the child. Families who have devoted their lives to their children may find that they must give up certain things or interests for the sake of the collective good. It will take some adjusting when you discover you have more time on your hands.
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28 thoughts on “Parenting An Older Child With Additional Needs”
A very informative post and great tips. Useful one. Thanks for sharing.
I am glad that you found value here.
this is true!
you should let your kids have some mistakes and stumble and fall. so that she’ll learn to deal with it on her own if she can..
Allowing our children to stumble, fall, pick themselves back up again is actually giving them the gift of learning.
Thanks for sharing tips about this kind of parenting. This is very helpful for us to better understand parents who are in this situation.
Understanding different circumstances help us all to better people.
Take steps to prepare yourself is really important. This needs utmost care and also special attention. Have more patience too!
Preparation makes everything easier to deal with.
That honestly is a tough situation. I feel bad for parents and it takes a lot of love and strength to get through that.
Parents have a special kind of strength.
It’s already a tough job parenting any child. A child with special needs certainly doesn’t make the job any easier.
There are certainly challenges.
This article is very helpful. Thank you for sharing this to all of us.
You are very welcome.
iI cannot imagine a family whose one of the members have special needs. I have seen a friend struggling to raise his son with autism. Fortunately, he has survive the growing up years.
Families are wonderful in all different ways.
This topic is over looked, and I’m so glad you were able to shed light on it. I love the fact that one suggestion is to encourage independence. I see so many parents with additional needs kids keep them dependent on them, which could be dangerous.
Complete dependence on parents stunts the growth of children. When we allow them to be independent (within reasonable abilities) we foster great confidence and feelings of self-worth.
Parenting is a huge responsibility and we need to be prepared to face a lot of challenges. Excellent blog posts.
Parenting is an important responsibility. Preparation and a willingness to ask for support go a long way towards helping us to be the best parents that we can be.
Taking care of the legal guardian issue is important. It is something that parents of special needs kids often forget.
It is important that all caregivers also get care.
Encouraging independence is crucial. Especially allowing them to make mistakes and learn from them. It’s a great skill they can have to help them as they grow
Making mistakes is part of growing up. Learning lessons from those mistakes is also a large part of growing up.
This is great to know. My eldest son has special needs so we’re doing our best to prepare for his and our family’s future.
Ivan, you are working on a plan for continued beautiful care for your eldest son, and your entire family.
These tips can truly help people manage their feelings as they get used to the situation. Great article!
Thank you. I really appreciate the feedback.