Raising a Special Needs Child

I have decided to write about my experience with raising a child with special needs.

Raising a child with special needs has its challenges as well as its rewards. The challenges for raising

a child with special needs is not the same for every parent that has a special needs child.

For there is a wide range of special needs. Children that are born with Down Syndrome are not the

same intellectually. They might  have same facial markings, but this does not mean that they look the

same. Health issues can cause a lot of worry. My son was born with a heart defect. That would have

taken his life if he was born back in my grandmother's time, when she was having babies. Therefore,

I will ever be thankful to God for the advances that science had made in the medical field.  I can

remember how scared I was to bring him home after he had his little heart fixed. I thought that the

doctor was nuts for letting him go home so soon after having heart surgery. I was afraid that without

the nurse's twenty- four hour care, my son would die while I was sleeping, My son had an  AV

Canal repair done on his heart at the age of five months. I can remember, while waiting in the family

waiting room. How I prayed, that God would guide the surgeon's hand. I distinctly remembering

hearing Jesus telling asking me where my faith was. For this was one storm in my life that made me

a believe that God can and does still perform miracles. Another challenge is communication, and

making it to the restroom. Bathing is another challenge for my son, he has yet to master washing

himself. Eating he can do on his own if it is set up for him. He has mastered drinking from a bottle,

and I do not mean baby bottle. but  a bottle that either a soda or water would come in. 

He does learn but at a much slower rate. My hope for him is that after school years are over . That

where ever he lives will continue to be able to work on areas of  DLAs.