Coping As A Family With Special Needs Children

Before I start, I just want to state that this piece of writing I am going to share was not written by myself. I am teacher in a Special Needs School in North London and this is something I came across one day and have often looked at when things are tough. It helps remind me about the wonder and amazement of the children I teach. I don't know where it came from but I'm glad I found it. Some people may say I've misplaced this opinion and some may say it's not an opinion at all but I've put it here, in this category, as it may be of help to parents and carers and anyone who works with people with special needs when times are difficult. *Welcome to Holland ...

One of the main challenges of having an autistic child is that of introducing structure to daily family life. Without some simple form of structure that he or she is able to understand, an autistic child is adrift in a bewildering world where the clock and the calendar rule. Our daughter, Joy, was like most autistic children in having virtually no understanding of the concepts of time or days of the week. Events took her by surprise because we had no means of warning her that something different was going to happen. She was often frightened and frustrated by things that were unexpected. On several panic-stricken occasions we nearly missed important holiday ...