{"id":1688,"date":"2015-09-30T10:54:25","date_gmt":"2015-09-30T17:54:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/specialneedsresourcefoundationofsandiego.org\/?p=1688"},"modified":"2021-09-22T12:51:42","modified_gmt":"2021-09-22T19:51:42","slug":"special-circumstances-does-this-sound-familiar-you-are-not-alone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/specialneedsresourcefoundationofsandiego.com\/special-circumstances-does-this-sound-familiar-you-are-not-alone\/","title":{"rendered":"Special Circumstances: Does this Sound Familiar? You are Not Alone."},"content":{"rendered":"<p>From the moment that wriggling, wailing, beautiful bundle was placed in your arms, you knew your child was special. But the word &#8220;special&#8221; assumes a new dimension when it is paired with the word &#8220;needs.&#8221;<br \/>\n<em>Special needs.<\/em><br \/>\nAll children have needs, but some children&#8217;s needs are &#8220;special.&#8221; That may mean challenges beyond what any parent expected\u2014but unexpected joys, too. Accepting a diagnosis for your child is an ongoing process and some parents struggle more than others. Remember, a diagnosis need not define you, your child or your family. Every family&#8217;s experience is unique, but certain things are universal. Perhaps you will recognize yourself\u2014or someone you know\u2014here.<br \/>\n<strong>You might be a special needs family if\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>You spend more time talking to doctors, physiotherapists, psychologists or speech therapists than to your friends.<\/li>\n<li>When caller ID shows your child&#8217;s school calling, you know they\u2019re not calling about the latest fundraiser.<\/li>\n<li>Every outing must be planned with more precision than a military operation and you have a backup plan for your backup plan.<\/li>\n<li>Your bookshelves are overflowing with titles containing acronyms such as: ADHD, OCD, ODD, ASD, CP, LD<\/li>\n<li>Planning and preparing a gourmet dinner for the Queen of England seems like child&#8217;s play compared to navigating the food and behavior issues at your table.<\/li>\n<li>You are so experienced with tantrums that a child needs to approach the sound level of a jet engine to get your attention.<\/li>\n<li>You have had to excuse yourself (or forcibly remove your child) from a store or restaurant more times than the average security guard escorts people out in his entire career.<\/li>\n<li>You spend more time and energy securing a sitter than most Fortune 500 companies spend finding a CEO. And you still rush home because you\u2019re uncertain the sitter is qualified.<\/li>\n<li>You know more about your company&#8217;s health plan than the HR department.<\/li>\n<li>You dread the large-scale, special occasions at school or at a relative&#8217;s house.<\/li>\n<li>You dream about a night of undisturbed sleep, even while you\u2019re asleep.<\/li>\n<li>You feel like an emotional bomb detector, picking your way carefully through the day to try and avoid an explosion.<\/li>\n<li>Your patience has expanded beyond what you ever dreamed possible; yet on some days even the patience of Mother Teresa isn\u2019t enough.<\/li>\n<li>You can laugh at what others see as a disaster, knowing that this too shall pass, and this too could have (and has) been worse.<\/li>\n<li>Some days you do more coaching than an entire NFL team staff.<\/li>\n<li>You often worry about siblings feeling left out and can\u2019t find a formula to divide your scant 24 hours a day fairly (but you keep trying).<\/li>\n<li>You feel more understood by strangers who &#8220;get it&#8221; than friends and family.<\/li>\n<li>You feel like throwing a huge party to celebrate that your child has made a friend or been invited to a play date or birthday party.<\/li>\n<li>Finally, you might be a special needs family if others see what you already know: that your kid\u2014despite his challenges\u2014is terrific.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><em>Sue LeBreton is a health and wellness journalist and a member of a special needs family. She finds laughing is often more helpful than crying.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>From the moment that wriggling, wailing, beautiful bundle was placed in your arms, you knew your child was special. But the word &#8220;special&#8221; assumes a new dimension when it is paired with the word &#8220;needs.&#8221; Special needs. All children have needs, but some children&#8217;s needs are &#8220;special.&#8221; That may mean challenges beyond what any parent [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1691,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1688","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-general-info","8":"entry"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/specialneedsresourcefoundationofsandiego.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1688","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/specialneedsresourcefoundationofsandiego.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/specialneedsresourcefoundationofsandiego.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/specialneedsresourcefoundationofsandiego.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/specialneedsresourcefoundationofsandiego.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1688"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/specialneedsresourcefoundationofsandiego.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1688\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8566,"href":"https:\/\/specialneedsresourcefoundationofsandiego.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1688\/revisions\/8566"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/specialneedsresourcefoundationofsandiego.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1691"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/specialneedsresourcefoundationofsandiego.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1688"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/specialneedsresourcefoundationofsandiego.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1688"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/specialneedsresourcefoundationofsandiego.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1688"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}