Raising a special needs child is challenging, especially when it comes to mental health. Covid-19 has had a significant impact on all families, but it has affected special needs families differently, causing an increase in mental health problems.
Challenges for Special Needs Children:
Children with special needs struggle to adapt to change, which has made the quarantine and travel restrictions during the pandemic extremely challenging for them. Families with special needs children already experience isolation, limitations to their social lives, and housebound lifestyles, which can negatively impact their mental health. Furthermore, special needs children may have a range of different abilities, which can make outdoor activities difficult for them.
The Importance of the Outside World:
The outside world is important for children with special needs because it helps to open their senses and minds. They often choose isolation as a natural defence mechanism, making it challenging for them to tackle obstacles. However, the outside world can help them to overcome their challenges, and it’s up to parents to show them the beauty of this world.
Family Days Out:
Stony our son, had massive behavioural and obsessive-compulsive issues between the ages of three and ten, which made family days out mentally draining and challenging. Stony also had a strict diet and struggled to stay in unfamiliar surroundings. This meant that we had to contact places beforehand to enquire about suitability and ask them turn off music, put us to q remote table or area, and it took a lot of explaining and gradual introduction to prepare Stony. Family days out are a mixture of emotions, and although they are challenging and time-consuming to prepare for, the family has learned to adapt to this routine.
Conclusion:
Special needs families face many challenges, and the pandemic has made it even more difficult. However, by gradually introducing them to the outside world, parents can help their children to overcome their challenges and realize their best selves in this life.
If you can’t move your child out or it is too challenging at times, there are many fun and exciting ways to extend a child’s mind and space also at home please find some ideas here and here.
But as Stony used to tell me`: mum, never give up ! keep searching and trying as that always leads to solutions and positive changes!
