Article: Why My Child Doesn't Look Like They Have Special Needs

I can so relate this article here. Through J, I realised the challenges of having a Special Needs Child with invisible disability. In the past, I only thought Autism as Autism, but after having known that J is autistic, only to realise that some behaviours are invisible because they looked so normal.

 

Many times, people told me, "J don't look autistic at all. Are you being paranoid? Was there a mis-diagnosis? Am I being too overly concerned." Well, as J has been with me 24 by 7, as months pass by, his symptoms were becoming more obvious.

 

Quote from the article:

When you see my kids, please know that they “look” normal because instead of playing with friends they were in therapy. Because we advocated for them and spent hours dealing with doctors and insurance companies so they could be where they are today. Instead of going on playdates or hanging out with other moms I was working with our kids at home and taking them to therapy. Special needs parents sacrifice so much and my kids are an example of that.

My kids may “look” normal, but when I look back to see where they were, I am so grateful. I am so proud of my kids and so proud of how far they have come.

The next time you see a special needs child that doesn’t “look” like they have special needs, I hope you remember that the reason for that is because of how far they have come and because of all the hard work it has taken to get that point.

And yes, we spend lots of time going to therapies, home intervention and early intervention and that have been a part of our lives.