A Parent’s Guide to Special Education

Each child who has special needs brings special gifts. But often, when we start our journey of parenting our children with special needs, it doesn’t feel that way. We might be really struggling to parent, or to watch them fail at learning or socializing. We sit in an IEP meeting or school meeting and hear how something is going wrong and the struggles our child is having. It feels pretty awful, and our human brains tend to focus on what we need to improve – what is going wrong.

 

Then, when we know our child is struggling, it is easy to hyper-focus on those challenges and all that feels messy, confusing, unsuccessful. I, Mary, have seen it happen with clients, and I have done it as a parent myself. When we know our child cannot read, or when we know they are disconnected socially, we swoop in to bolster those areas, and ultimately, put our focus there. 

 

However, there is a balance to find. And, in my opinion, it takes knowledge and actionable leadership to create it. Whether you are a teacher, tutor, coach, mentor, parent, grandparent, or caregiver – you have the power to set this bala