Simple Victories

Why I built this site...hmm seems like an easy answer right? For the most part yes, I wanted a place for parents of kids with special needs to have a place to go with questions, answers, advice and support. It was more than that though I also wanted a place to recognize the struggles of these same parents. A place where we could go when we're not having a good day, when we want to rail at the world and the unfairness of it all.

 

As parents of special needs kids whether they be infants or adults we have so much we deal with in any given day. As anyone with children knows they don't come with instruction manuals. Tough enough with a "typical" child but an even bigger struggle with a special needs child. My child is ten and as I look back I see just how much I didn't realize what I had ahead of me. The monumental task of raising a disabled child can't be fully comprehended until you've lived it. The books that are out there can't touch on what it's really like to live the experience. They give you facts and a few quotes from other parents but they don't truly have a voice. That's what I want for this site, a voice for parents to share the highs and lows of everyday life. A place for new parents to learn what it's really like the good, the bad and the ugly. And a place for those of us who have been there done that to share what we have learned the hard way.  

 

I remember the day my daughter received her diagnosis of cerebral palsy she was 4 1/2 months old and it all started with what we thought was a neck injury. Various x-rays, cat scans and an MRI later and at 2 1/2 months we learned she had a neurological deficit and that her prognosis at that time wasn't entirely clear. We were blessed to have an amazing doctor who answered all of our questions regardless of how many times we asked them. But, it wasn't until 4 1/2 months old that I heard the words Cerebral Palsy. Up until that point it had been a vague terminology for an impairment with no name. Those words though were the first time I grieved for my child. For the what ifs, the what could have been and the what would be. Sounds like a pity party but really that's a lot what it's like raising a special needs child. You have your good days and your bad days. Like most people I cherish the good days and get through the bad ones. It's nice though sometimes to have someone to share those days with. Someone to ask all those questions that you can never seem to find the answers to. Hopefully this site will provide that for everyone who comes here.  

 

There are many types of disabilities just as there are many types of parents and this site is to bring the life experiences we all have together in one place. It's simple really a place for parents to support each other. Because really who couldn't use a little support now and then.