Parenting a Child with Developmental Disorders

Being a parent is already a difficult job, right? But when you receive confirmation from medical professionals that your only child has developmental disorders, what do you do?  How do you process this new and scary information? When I heard this very news about my son, I can remember exactly what I thought, “This just confirms what I have been seeing with him and how are we going to make this better for him.”.

I am blessed as I have multiple professional skills that come in handy to help my son to my fullest capacity. But what if I didn’t have those skills?  What would I do? Panic, cry, become sad or scared?  These are all normal reactions.  

I was saddened by the news and couldn’t help but cry. No one wants to hear that kind of news.  Was it the end of the world? No, but I was glad to receive medical validation for the behaviors exhibited.  I had been noticing things for a while and had mentioned to my son’s father--my husband at the time. He wasn’t as accepting of seeing the behavior.  Most people just assume that the child is hyper or defiant or just being a boy. 

This was NOT the case. 

I knew deep, deep in my heart that something was not right and wanted to make sure that we found out the truth. Whatever the truth was, I knew that we would be ok. 

It has not been a long time since we received the diagnosis’ and are blessed to have a wonderful support system with a therapist, the school district, doctors, the proper diet, and the many resources that I have within my network.  

But not everyone has these resources at their disposal and I realize that.  If I hadn’t chosen the career path that I have, I wouldn’t either.

Being a parent to a child with disorders is about ensuring that you can advocate for them in the best manner that you know how, asking questions, following up, and always pushing for the best results. 

We are here as parents to listen actively, learn from these children, accept, pivot, and above all else LOVE them.