Dealing with isolation

There are no simple solutions. Having kids with special needs comes with a range of emotions, including grief, denial, anger, guilt and isolation. Each of these is perfectly understandable and can be quite challenging, to say the least; with all the love that parents of a child with CP can have, they are also human and susceptible to waves of wide-ranging emotions. Some suggestions for coping, and thriving, in this role of a special needs parent, include:

• Write it down- start a journal on your experiences or start blogging  
• Connect with resources/services able to lighten the load like CPS Parents group
• Educating yourself to know more and feel empowered about your child’s condition
• Celebrating “small things”
• Joining Facebook Pages dedicated to parents like you (like ours!)

Cindi Ferrini has thoughts on isolation avoidance for special needs parents that focus on relationship building and developing connections. Her suggestions tap into the idea of creating a village, so to speak that can help connect parents while spreading out the tasks required for individual success. Her suggestions include:

• Connecting with researchers or focus groups to develop a better understanding
• Writing encouraging notes to others who are struggling, even if they are not special needs parents
• Allowing others to help
• Tracking helpful methods, advice, tips or efforts by others in case that task is needed again

Her list goes well beyond these four bullets and suggests developing relationships, avoiding being defined by your role(s) as a special needs parent, volunteering, getting out of the house from time to time and searching for support and depending on it.

Unfortunately, there is no simple solution to help with the wide range of emotions parents of children with special needs face every day. The Cerebral Palsy Society was founded on the premise of making resources more easily available to parents of children with Cerebral Palsy so we are focusing on fostering a community of amazing parents on our Facebook Page and hope that if you haven’t already, you will join us there.