6 Sanity-Saving Tips for Parents of a Child With Special Needs

Being a parent is both a privilege and an incredible responsibility. When our children are newborns, we care for all of their basic needs. As they grow, we watch them reach milestones like learning to walk, talk, read, problem-solve, and interact with the outside world. It's a monumental undertaking.

There are countless days when being a parent is incredible. There are also endless times when it's exhausting and straight-up difficult. It still blows my mind that I've been raising eight precious human beings for over 25 years, including three with significant developmental delays. And although those delays posed parenting challenges, navigating through them was also the most gratifying time of my life.

There are countless days when being a parent is incredible. There are also endless times when it's exhausting and straight-up difficult.

With the right mindset and stress relief tools in place, parenting a child with special needs can be fulfilling and just a little less energy-draining.

How to refer to a child with special needs

Before I offer you some sanity-saving tips, here's a word on the language we use to talk about children with special needs, which can be a sensitive topic for parents.

Merriam-Webster defines "special needs" as:

Any of various difficulties (such as a physical, emotional, behavioral, or learning disability or impairment) that causes an individual to require additional or specialized services or accommodations (such as in education or recreation).

For the two decades I raised my children who were developmentally-delayed, it was common to hear them referred to as "special needs children." Today, we know that a child's condition doesn't define them, and we've changed our language to reflect that. We say our precious little one is "a child with special needs" rather than a "special needs child."

Of course, being understanding when people don't know how to refer to your child is also important. A friend of mine—who is the school psychologist at our elementary school and also the parent of a child who recently died of Rett's Syndrome—has great advice on this topic:

It doesn't matter what term you use as long as you use it with love and compassion. I've never taken offense to anyone who cares! And most people do [care].

Tara Reddington

6 tips for parenting a child with special needs

Here are six sanity-savers and strategies to make your day-to-day life more manageable as you love and support your child.  ...

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