DomesticAdvocate wrote:
if you were to write down all of the attributes that makes you a successful parent of your special needs child?
I've been thinking about the same topic recently, in case I were ever able to re-enter the working world.
-detailed medical knowledge
-ability to educate medical staff and school staff on my child's specific issues
-occasional mind-reading
-over time has developed BDR, better known to us as "BS detecting radar"
-keeps detailed records of correspondence, telephone calls, and treatment/therapy regimens
-ability to juggle the logistics of non-negotiable circumstances when dealing with the general public (ex.: severe food allergies on a school field trip or family gathering; knowing where the closest hospital is at all times; knowing who to--and who NOT to--deal with to help your child)
-coordinates schedule of multiple doctor visits, therapy appointments, school meetings
-awareness of legal issues that pertain to the situation (school adherence to IEP, or patient privacy laws, for example)
-ability to look at the big picture, knowing full well that the tiniest things can trip up a perfectly planned outcome...and still be able to roll with it
-knowing when to be serious and when to relax
-knowing when to say "no"; not being a doormat
-considers all life experience up to this moment has in some way prepared you for current experiences and future ones...that even the most inconsequential or bad things can in some way be used for positive growth
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Apathy is a dominant gene. Mutate.