I’m sure you’ll agree that trying to balance the needs of everyone in any family is hard work. You’ll always have competing needs and priorities. No-one will ever be entirely happy. And you, as the parent, will always be blamed for any perceived unfairness.

Because there’s always a favoured child, isn’t there? Or, that’s what we all think as children, anyway.

But talk to any special needs parent and they’ll tell you that achieving any sort of balance is pretty much impossible.

Try as we might to give equal attention and focus to all our children, it’s inevitable that the child with special needs will command the most attention.

Because they have special and additional needs.

There is no way around that fact. It is the truth.

Quite rightly, they will need more time and attention and support to help them with these needs.

The best we can do as special needs families is to accept this is our reality and let go of the obligatory guilt that comes with it.

Guilt always seems to come as a side with pretty much every experience to be had as special needs parents.

And it just makes everything we do that much harder.

So accept this reality and let go of the guilt – it really will make things a whole lot easier.

Instead, concentrate on the ways that you can find a little more balance for your special needs family right now:

 

Be proactive in engineering opportunities to have one-on-one time with each of your kids. Never underestimate the power of a quick afternoon tea, a trip to the shops, a walk to the park or just spending quiet time with them, individually. All kids thrive on one-on-one time with their parents and providing them with dedicated attention will help restore some balance. Even taking the time on a regular basis to have a one-on-one conversation with them prior to bed can do wonders. So think about the small pockets of time available to you in your day and work out how you can best take advantage of them.

 

Find opportunities to have one-on-one time with each of your kids - www.myhometruths.com

 

Celebrate & prioritise their achievements. This can be hard, particularly if you are the sole carer and struggle to find respite options for your special needs child. But showing your support by being there when it’s time for your kids to receive awards or perform on stage or compete in a race will go a long way to helping achieve more balance in your family. If you cannot be there, making sure their achievements are rewarded with a special dinner or outing is a must. It’s important to demonstrate that their achievements and efforts do not go unnoticed, even if you cannot be there to share in their moment of glory.

 

Celebrate & prioritise achievements - www.myhometruths.com

 

Make sure they know how much they mean to you. You know you love them. They know you love them. But they also know that you spend so much more time with their special needs sibling. Even if you cannot provide them with the same level of ongoing attention, demonstrate how important they are to you. Tell them you love them. Be open with them about your situation (in an age-appropriate way) and ask for their opinion on ways you can spend more quality time together as a family. Show them that you respect their contribution to the family and that they are a very important part of it.

 

Make sure they know how much they mean to you - www.myhometruths.com

 

Consider challenging your special needs child. If there is something you would like to do as a family, or something you’d like to change, don’t automatically rule it out because of the needs of your special needs child. It might be possible to push them a little in order to benefit the whole family. In the past, we’ve been able to restore a little bit of balance by challenging our ASD son’s opposition to events such as overseas travel, the addition of pets, trying new food and the arrival of new siblings. It’s never an easy process & you can only present a single challenge at a time. However, once you accept that it’s okay to attempt to challenge your special needs child, it could empower your family to find a little more balance too.

 

Consider challenging your special needs child - www.myhometruths.com

 

Do you have any further tips for trying to find more balance as a special needs family?

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