Our CEPT Counselors discuss what happens when your child is first diagnosed with a disability or learning difference.
Topic: What happens when your child is first diagnosed with a disability or learning difference?
- Knowledge is Power
Get to know your child’s diagnosis or condition and understand it. Find out what treatment options are out there and educate yourself on what is available to you and what treatments have worked. I would be leery of costly, unfounded treatments because there are people/businesses out there that like to market and profit off our children’s conditions. Research treatments that have been founded and have proven to make significant differences.
- Your Child May Require More Than One Discipline
It takes a village to raise a child, but with children that have special needs, that saying has a whole new meaning. Individuals with a developmental diagnosis or learning difference may need to add people to their village that are experts in supporting certain deficits. For example, your child may need a mixture of things, such as Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy, ABA Therapy, Physical Therapy, Counseling, feeding therapy, aquatic therapy, etc.
- Go Low and Slow
Adding new treatments or therapies can be hard enough for a child with special needs, so it is important to try things one at a time and see what works and what doesn’t before trying to add more to their already full plate.
- Find a Support Network
Whether it’s an in-person counselor-led support group or an online FaceBook group, it is important to connect with other parents and families who are going through the same situations that your family may be going through. I can imagine 99% of the time, someone has been through what is causing you stress and can give you advice from their experiences.
- There are Pros and Cons to Every Treatment
We see mixed reviews on any treatment or therapy option, but it is really figuring out what treatment works best for your child. Who is to say that one therapy is ineffective if it is something that you have seen positive change in your child with. Your family is the only family that gets to decide which treatments are right for your child.
- See Treatments Happening Live
If possible, see treatments and therapies being conducted live and in-person. You will find all sorts of comments or opinions negating certain treatments, but it may not be accurate or appropriate for your child or you family. Seeing these treatments in-person can help give your family a gut feeling of what might work for your child.
Please reach out to our counseling team for more information or if you have other questions you’d like for our team to expand upon.
