Friday, August 22, 2014

Remember Reflection Can Be Encouraging


It is hard to describe the feeling when your special needs child finally reaches that goal or milestone you have been working towards. The best way to describe that feeling is magical, a beautiful experience removed from everyday life. Recently, we have experienced a lot of those magical feelings with our children. So today I wanted to write this post to encourage other parents to reflect back on your journey, and see the magical experiences you have had in your child’s life.

 My daughter, who has been in feeding therapy since birth, has recently met all of her goals and will soon be released from that program. We started therapy at birth since she struggled to eat to her own. Two years ago when I heard our doctor talk about a feeding tube seems so distant. My daughter now is sitting in a chair and using utensils to feed herself everyday food items. Although she still struggles with textures and is picky, she has the muscle tone now in her mouth to eat. Magical.

My daughter, who wasn’t responding to pain and doesn’t want to be touch or held after falling, is now responding. She fell twice this week. Not only did she cry, but she finally allowed me to pick her up after a fall and allowed me to comfort her. At this moment, I felt like crying too. I have longed to be able to comfort her. Magical.

My son, who wasn’t able to dress himself, got dressed this morning all on his own without any help or prompting. He was even able to do buttons and zippers! He also didn’t complain about his clothes hurting him. Magical.

My son, who only had five foods in his diet two years ago, ate an everyday breakfast today. I was so proud to watch him eat eggs, fruit salad, and toast. Magical.

I could go on for days about the magical experiences we have had on our journey. These are our most recent magical moments. On the hard days or on days where it all seems overwhelming, I hope the reminder to reflect on your magical experiences will help turn your day around.

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