I first suspected I had ADHD as a teenager, but finding the right professional to take me seriously was much harder than I expected. Previous attempts only ended in frustration and tears.
Enjoying the holidays with a food allergy sounds like an oxymoron doesn’t it? After all, eating together is an integral component of the holiday season. I looked forward to making our traditional holiday foods until I was diagnosed with a dairy allergy in 2012. What was to enjoy about the holidays when the foods associated with it were off limits to me?
It was a short, ten-minute drive from the hotel to the residential facility. I maintained composure while I navigated the busy public roads, and then residential streets. I had a whole range of emotions racing through my body, mind and spirit as we pulled into the campus. This was not just a pleasure drive or a routine errand, this was a significant milestone in the life of my son and our family.
While Halloween is a fun time of year for many children, it can be a really difficult time for some, including many children with additional/special needs. For them it can be a confusing, anxiety-inducing, or even utterly terrifying time. But it doesn’t have to be like that. If we stop for a moment to think about the things they might find hard and how to put things in place to help them, children with special needs can safely join in the fun, too. So what are some of the things about Halloween that children with additional needs can find hard?
“While we’ve had many years of travel speaking together on marriage, discipleship, and other topics, we are seldom alone and ‘just us’”Joe & Cindi Ferrini write on the struggle of never truly being along as special needs parents, and the importance of making time “just for us.”
Special needs parents are often weary, and wonder God notices the efforts needed to care for their families. Melanie Gomez shares how after Noah's flood, God made a promise that can encourage special needs caregivers: there will always be times of both sowing seeds and harvesting what has been planted.
Our first Christmas away from home was a gift wrapped in our son's special needs. It was not the first Christmas away from home I would have chosen. But it was the gift we were given. It was and is one of the most valuable, precious gifts we have ever received. If your child's special needs are shaping the holiday into something different than what you expected, take heart.
The next song in our Post Tenebras Lux series is a song by Matt Papa and Matt Boswell called "Christ the Sure and Steady Anchor." Listening for the first time, I couldn't help but think of how our recent struggles with the effects of autism made me feel like a tattered boat with torn sails, like the first verse describes.
Being a special needs parent and serving in disability ministry has changed how I approach relationships. For example, disability teaches me benefits of slowing down, and trusting deeply, including the treasure of trusting God. But I’m also reminded me that serving in disability ministry is much like serving in a mission field. We learn how relationships were meant to be lived.
