The bottom line is, don’t let anyone try to tell you something is true about your child that you know is not true. You may not have an expert degree in child psychology but YOU are the expert on your child.
Sure, in all things you should check yourself for the old denial. No one wants to recognize that their perfect child is not “typically developing”. It’s not fun, trust me. So, you definitely need to have people in your life who know your child and have observed them multiple times over a long period of time in an environment in which they are comfortable that you can ask, “Please be honest with me. What do you think? Am I incapable of seeing what my child needs?” This should be a person that YOU choose to trust with this question. And you need to be prepared to trust their answer.
Be your child’s advocate. That means champion their strengths but don’t deny their weaknesses. It means being willing to say, “No, you’re wrong,” to someone with a lot more academic degrees and “experience” than you have. Or it means being willing to say, “Ok, what’s next?” after hearing shattering news from that same person that you know in your heart is true. It means putting aside your pride and putting on your big girl panties (and distance running shoes) to dash headlong onto the path that you must take to get your child every bit of help that he or she needs to be the absolute best that he or she is capable of being.
Even as you are trucking along down therapy road, never stop advocating. If you ever feel like a therapist, teacher, or clinic isn’t the right fit for your child, don’t be afraid to make changes. Your kiddo is depending on you to steer this ship, and in the long run (and it may be a long run), it will be your privilege to do so.
Do you have experience advocating for your child who has a learning or physical disability? Or just one who doesn’t quite “fit the mold”? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
