Special needs moms and dads

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sgv0918
sgv0918 Posts: 851 Member
Anybody out their raising special needs kids? I have 2 little "special" guys and just wondering if anyone else has this added challenge while balancing life.

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  • kooky_kiz
    kooky_kiz Posts: 22 Member
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    I have four children. two of which have 50% hearing loss.
  • Dumbell_Diva
    Dumbell_Diva Posts: 175 Member
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    Yes I have 3 kids, my youngest is being assessed at the moment for autism, he has tics and he suffers with anxiety issues so he is home from school at least twice a week. Its quite draining at times. Youve done very well and have lost a lot of weight, how do you cope? I get stressed with it and have ended up gaining most of the weight I lost!!
  • sgv0918
    sgv0918 Posts: 851 Member
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    I hit a major bad spot last September when my middle child was hospitalized and very sick. I am a comfort eater and use that as an excuse. Started by losing 17lbs all at once when my husband left and thought hey I want to keep it off. Every moment is hard though and I've fallen far off the wagon. Done much better this last month but the kids are relatively healthy (knock on wood). I have MFP on my phone and that helps and I try very hard to remind myself when I'm tempted to emotionally eat stop and feel if my body is hungry. and some days I still eat and chart and try to move one. How old are your kiddos? My fiancee has a 19yr old who I feel like is on the spectrem but never diagnosed


    and kooky kiz....are they dependant on any type of hearing aid or choclear implant. How do you deal?
  • Dumbell_Diva
    Dumbell_Diva Posts: 175 Member
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    Must be so worrying having little ones in hospital and I take my hat off to you, hpoe your little ones are feeling better now. My kids are 2 boys of 8 and 13 and a girl of 10. My 8 yr old son is undergoing tests to confirm the autism he gets very low moods and anxiety about going to school bit of a draining time, long story but Ive turned to comfort eating and just trying now to turn that around. Youve done so well though losing 46lb!! Thats brilliant!
  • dad106
    dad106 Posts: 4,868 Member
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    I don't have children with special needs but I work with them(which sometimes feels like the same thing!).

    I work with students that have autism, down syndrome, physical handicaps, hearing loss and behavioral/emotional problems.
  • sgv0918
    sgv0918 Posts: 851 Member
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    So anybody have tips on taking care of yourself while being a caregiver. My fulltime job is an RN and then home to sometime be mom/RN. How does everyone do it?
  • blonde71
    blonde71 Posts: 955 Member
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    I don't know if this classifies as special needs or not but one month ago today, my oldest son, who's 10, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Devastating doesn't even begin to cover it. It's a little better now but he spent one week in the hospital and one week at home as he was very, very sick. Honestly, the only thing that kept me going was sneaking my 1/2 hour workout in three times a week. My depression would have been much worse had I not exercised. It's been...tough, to say the least.
  • sgv0918
    sgv0918 Posts: 851 Member
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    My close friend in real life who is on here has 2 daughters w/ diabetes. You should look her up. She'd be great support and a resource. her name is smhaze77
  • svdreamer
    svdreamer Posts: 11 Member
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    I have 7 adopted special needs children, three with down syndrome, one that was shook as an infant and has brain damage and mild cerebral palsy on her right side, two the were born drug exposed and one that was in a Romanian orphanage for the first 7 years of his life. And, I, too, am a RN. I don't seem to stress out over them very much anymore, my youngest is 20 and my oldest is 30. My biggest problem was their schools trying to tell me how to raise my kids. I'm sorry, I really know my kids better than you.
  • naiils
    naiils Posts: 20
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    My 13yr old son is Aspergers. His dietary preferences are the complete opposite to mine. Each day brings a new & 'exciting' challenge.
  • fitpilatesqueen
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    My written english is poor so I hope you excuse that and hope this is readable.
    I have a rare eye condiction (missing irish among other problems with my eyes) and I only have a blurry 10% vision. I have two girls 10 and 13yrs who inherited the same condition except their vision is better than mine. I have raised them up on my own since they were 4 and 1yrs so I have had a plenty of time to adapt, my stubbornness helps me the most, I have always been set on being extremely independent and taking as little help as possible and be able to feel proud of doing things for myself instead of asking others to do things for me and I think that has helped me the most.
  • MrsCupCakeBoyle
    MrsCupCakeBoyle Posts: 259 Member
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    I don't know if this classifies as special needs or not but one month ago today, my oldest son, who's 10, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes. Devastating doesn't even begin to cover it. It's a little better now but he spent one week in the hospital and one week at home as he was very, very sick. Honestly, the only thing that kept me going was sneaking my 1/2 hour workout in three times a week. My depression would have been much worse had I not exercised. It's been...tough, to say the least.

    I have a 5yr old with type 1 diabetes hes had it since he was 3. id say its special needs.
    x
  • Bitemeh
    Bitemeh Posts: 8 Member
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    I got 5 kids one of my 8 year old twins is Autistic and my 22 month old has Down syndrome <3