We all need some encouragement once in a while especially when life seems to be taking a toll on us. Today we would love to encourage those parents who have special needs children- who put in a whole lot of extra effort in nurturing their children compared to the normal parent with the normal child. We hope to let them know that they are not alone in their struggles... The following narrations of first- hand experiences of the challenges of bringing up children with special needs in our society today is adapted from http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/aug/16/children-disabilities-special-needs-mumsnet-campaign. We hope that we shall all be enlightened by them and at least strive to make it easier for such parents...
Jane McCready is used to her 10-year-old son being gawped at "as if he were a circus freak" but she will never be reconciled to it. "Children are one thing, they don't know any better. But these are adults. They look at Johnny and their mouths fall open and they just stare. And I think: didn't anyone ever tell them how rude that is?"
Johnny has severe autism and learning disabilities. "He looks like any other child, but he behaves oddly – for example, he might sit there banging two toys together – and he sometimes makes strange noises." Especially when he was younger, he might have a massive meltdown – at the supermarket checkout, for instance. "I'd feel 300 pairs of eyes on us – all watching us, all judging us for being disruptive and difficult," says Jane. Perhaps the worst day was when, at the swimming pool, another mother pulled her child away from Johnny "as though he had something catching"...
