Understanding the Challenges, Fears and Joys of Parents with Children with Special Needs
I had the opportunity to take a course regarding working through parents’ reactions to a diagnosis of a child with special needs. Just like every child is different from one another, so too is the process parents may have in response to their child’s diagnosis. Some may grieve the diagnosis – whether that be immediately following it or delayed in the weeks and months after. Some may be familiar with the Kübler-Ross model which describes the grieving process through five different stages including: denial & isolation, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. Parents and caregivers may be going through some of these stages. A thing to keep in mind is that their experience with these is not always linear and