Parents aren’t told or pre-warned their child will have a disability; this is because no one knows it’s going to happen. So, no parent can ever be fully prepared for that moment of diagnosis. Really though it isn’t what happens in that moment that counts, it’s what comes after.
For a parent to be able to support their child post diagnosis, and for the rest of their lives, they need support. Often more on the emotional side. This usually doesn’t come from the doctors that give them the diagnosis, or from the many professionals which will surround them from that day on. They need support from people who have been through something similar. Going through something like this alone can make it much harder to bear, so just someone to lean on can be invaluable to a parent and therefore a child’s success. Advice, knowledge and determination needs to be given to those parents, in order to give their children AMAZING lives and show them that they CAN do anything they desire.
Most parents are bombarded with a language they have never heard of after diagnosis and don’t understand. They are also introduced to new care routines, and have to develop new ways of running their families. Quite a lot to handle in one go really. This means after their appointments, not only do that have to go home and work tirelessly to give their child the best life possible, but also research all those phrases, words they didn’t understand in the earlier appointment, and look into new technologies etc? This isn’t something any parent should have do alone. Everyone needs support in this situation, both child and parent.
It’s one of our main aims at Conductive Care, to not only increase the abilities of the children and help them reach their full potential, but also to support their parents. This is because if we fail to support these parents, then the children may not be given all the opportunities possible. We want to help make parents lives easier, by giving them the right knowledge and support, for them and their children, so they are able to keep encouraging and showing their children they CAN do it. Nickki Brown expressed how much we have helped her in such a short time of being involved in her and her daughter’s lives when she said “As a parent you’ve helped me to trust in what I already know/believe that I’m capable of achieving for my daughter. You’ve shown me that there are people who see the best in both a parent and a child and the encouragement you give me to continue is second to none.”
We will continue to support our parents and ensure they are always getting the help and advice they need.