This page is for parents, grandparents, siblings and friends of children with special needs. This is my fumbling start to reach out to other parents who may also be feeling as alone as I did for several months.
For those parents just starting this journey let me assure you, YOU ARE NOT ALONE! For months I felt like my own little island. It was hard to be excited when someone else's baby met a milestone no matter how happy I was for them. I couldn't help but focus on the fact that Chris was still so far from those milestones.
It's okay to hurt. Don't let anyone tell you it could be worse. It can't. So many well meaning people told me how much worse it could be. I felt I had to be strong, because it could be so much worse.
But it doesn't matter "how bad" it could be when you are facing challenges with your child. We never want our children to suffer heartbreak. When our babies are faced with challenges that most children would never know, it is devastating.
This page is for YOUR voice. For your heartbreaks. For your triumphs. This page is not going to flashy. It's not going to be pretty. It's being made by a mother of four kids who is struggling as much you and getting on-line after nine.
It took me months to realize there is an entire society of people like us, who dream different dreams for our children and deal with more on a daily basis then most parents will ever know.
Christopher is ten months old. He can sit up. He can coo, say momma, dadda and baba. He can roll over.
He is not yet crawling. He is not yet able to stand, even with support. He has low muscle tone, so he is not able to support himself in the crawling position.
He has severe vision problems. He is in glasses, but they are not working. He will have surgery in July, in an attempt to improve his vision.
We see a neurologist, opthamologist and physical therapist. He is visited by Rainbows United a couple of times a month.
We don't have a name for his challenges. I can't say he has Down Syndrome or Cerebral Palsy. But the lack of a name does not make it any easier. All we know is he was born with a small cerebellum.
But he has a smile like no other. He laughs, and he lights up the room. He is charming, and beautiful, and doesn't know a stranger.
As for the things he can't do yet, I know he will.
Please know you are not alone. Please know your pain and heart break is just as real as the mother who is dealing with so much more.
