It takes love to be able to care for someone, especially if that someone has a need that challenges your pride and put pressure on your time.
These questions reveal the complexities associated with special need. Some of these questions remain:
- Why me; why us?
- When will ‘this’ go away?
- What brought about this need?
- For how long will this continue?
- Why is this person going through what he or she is going through?
- How can I (we) continue to support this person (child) with this need?
- What type(s) of solution (answers) are in place to help turn this need into a strength?
Most persons with special need are on a spectrum. This creates complexities in diagnosis as well as difficulties in finding specific solutions that are tailored to the specific need. LOVE, therefore becomes the most needed tool in the heart and mind for those who are caretakers, parents, and guardians of persons with special ‘need’. In addition to love, seeking medical support, prayer, counselling, as well as other community programs for the person with ‘need’ can go a long way in helping them cope.
NEVER should a person with special need be Locked-up behind close doors. Some families hold this pride (which, in a way, is fear) because they are ashamed of the stigma or discrimination that surrounds this topic. These types of fallacies pushes some families to take such action as locking their persons with special need behind close doors.
Working on a spectrum means no one size treatment fits all. The missing puzzle and the answers to the above questions would never be found or answered if a person with special need is constantly locked up due to shame and stigmatization. The missing puzzle or questions most often than not, lies in the strengths or the hidden abilities of the person with special needs. YES, a person with special need also possesses strength and or abilities. You can only find this if you engage them to their full potential. Engage them, therefore, in any manageable activity, and you will be amazed at what they can do.
Wishing you who has a family member with special need, LOVE and SUPPORT.
Respectfully,
Ablavi De Souza