If your child, or, let’s face it, your husband, has recently been diagnosed with special needs, you may be concerned that life is more difficult to deal with now. The truth is, it’s about to get a lot easier. The diagnosis does not change anything about the problems you have today, except that it gives you an entity to blame, disability, and gives you a wealth of knowledge on how to change your current habits to adapt. Here are some classic examples:
Put everything in writing and in public
Learning and attention disabilities affect both children and adults in a predictable way: it causes their memory to malfunction, more often in relation to the things they are least interested in. You have probably heard the term “selective memory”; for people with these disabilities, that’s a horrible truth, because their memory is actually selective … it’s just not under their control! So posting reminders of what who is supposed to do (and by when) in a common area like the refrigerator or bathroom mirror should become a habit for everyone.
Take advantage of each person’s strengths and admit each person’s weaknesses
Each disability is slightly different and leads the person facing it to behave slightly differently. The big challenge here is getting the disabled person to admit that no, that they really don’t have the ability to deal with money (or detail work, like folding clothes, or sustained effort like rearranging the pantry, or whatever. ). If they are not equipped to deal with them, tasks can be reassigned based on strengths, and tasks that do not have a “strong” individual can be assigned to the family as a whole for collective supervision.
Allow everyone to be self-reliant
Each person in a family with special needs will need their own tools to take as much control as possible. In a family with a hyperactive child, an inattentive father, and a physically disabled but executive strong mother, for example:
• The child can have a set of fridge magnets to move around, indicating which tasks are done and which remain to be done.
• The parent may have a phone or other device loaded with a calendar app, an alarm clock app, and a list-keeping app that allows them to keep track of daily tasks using alarms, one-time calendar tasks, and more. things. like shopping lists using the lists app.
• The mother may have a walker that can be used as a stool and chair, to allow her to do basic work around the house while maintaining the ability to sit when and where needed and reach high shelves for any need. increase.
When each person is given the tools they need to function without constant assistance, the expectation of self-reliance becomes the culture and everyone benefits.
Don’t take anything too seriously
This is probably the most important tip for a family with multiple different disabilities interacting on a day-to-day basis. Learning to recognize when your disability has struck, pointing to it, and laughing at it is the most powerful tool for improving your chances of long-term success, whatever your definition of success.