Raising a child diagnosed with a developmental disability or delay can be a rewarding yet challenging experience. Parents of children with special needs often have many new responsibilities, such as weekly therapy and doctor appointments, learning new therapeutic strategies to use at home, and learning to advocate in new ways for your child.
Supporting your child can be a fulfilling experience, but it also can become stressful, especially as navigating the changes in the expectations for school and therapy services and balancing home and family life becomes more challenging. Below are several tips to help parents and families address and reduce stress:
Be proactive
Some parents find it helpful to do some research following their child’s diagnosis of a developmental disability or delay. Learning more about the resources available to their family can help reduce the worry and stress that can accompany a new diagnosis. Some suggestions include learning more about IDEA; researching available therapies such as Applied Behavior Analysis, speech therapy, physical therapy and occupational therapy; and learning about local support groups such as social and parent support groups hosted by local Autism Society chapters.
Set attainable goals
When accessing therapy services, families should set attainable goals and expectations together. Is your goal to sit and have a meal together, have your child attend college, learn to ride a bike or join a club? Once you’ve set your goal, focus on learning the information that best helps you achieve your goal as a family. Focusing on these goals and the means of getting there will help maintain reasonable expectations that can be managed within your family’s daily life without becoming overwhelming.
Identify sources of support
Maintaining friendships and social interactions both within and outside the home can be challenging for parents, children and families, particularly in locations with increased COVID-19 restrictions. This may also be true for families following a personal loss or during a challenging time due to other factors. At these times, it is important to identify and reach out to sources of support. Sources of support for parents and families may include extended family, friend groups, community support groups, recreation leagues or religious groups.
Prioritize family time
Parents and families of children diagnosed with developmental disabilities or delays often find themselves attending doctor appointments, therapy appointments and school meetings on a regular basis. These responsibilities may take time that would otherwise have been spent doing family or personal activities. It is important to prioritize time for family members to stay connected and interact outside of these day-to-day responsibilities, particularly for married couples who may alternate taking on these responsibilities and have fewer opportunities to connect. Some suggestions for activities include movie and game nights at home, scheduling a check-in time to casually talk with each other, going on a family friendly outing (to movie theaters, a restaurant, arcades, the park, etc.), or scheduling a date night. While these may not be things that can happen every day, making a recurring time to reconnect may help reduce stress.
Individual coping strategies
Learning strategies to help manage challenging situations may help parents reduce the level of stress they experience. In acknowledgment of Mental Health Awareness Month, Caravel is releasing five videos created by its staff psychologists that teach parents and families to use techniques such as meditative deep breathing, stress containment, muscle relaxation and radical acceptance to manage feelings of stress in challenging situations.
Click here to view these video tips.
