How Do I Do This? The Real and Raw Truth About Raising A Child With Special Needs - Interviews With Parents

by Meredith Swift

Overview

Are You a Parent of a Child With Special Needs?Are You Feeling Overwhelmed By What This Means?Are You Needing Encouragement and Hope For the Journey Ahead?

My daughter Sarah is 28. She is non-verbal autistic. When Sarah was first diagnosed, I felt completely devastated. The fear of the unknown as to what lay ahead was overwhelming. I was forced to travel a road I had never imagined I would be on, and which was often so hard I could barely breathe. Yet on that road, I met countless wonderful people who helped and supported me and Sarah.

This is a book I would dearly loved to have read at the beginning of my journey as a mother of a child with special needs. It is a collection of interviews with 22 parents of children (and adult children) ranging in age from 7-47. Some of these parents have more than one child with special needs. Autism, sensory and auditory processing disorders, epilepsy, deafness, Prader-Willi, Down, Tourette and Asperger's Syndromes, ADHD, cerebral palsy and Fragile X are all covered.

Finding people who have journeyed on the same road that we are on can provide a road map for us, and shine a light on the darkness of the unknown.

These are raw and real stories from parents all over the world, aiming to help at all stages of the special needs journey, woven together with threads of heartbreak and hope, joy, courage and fear, tenacity and persistence, and deep, abiding love.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780648507338
Publisher:	Meredith Swift Author
Publication date:	08/08/2020
Pages:	304
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.64(d)

About the Author

Hi everyone! Welcome to my Author Bio. First and foremost, I love Jesus! He has transformed my life in every way possible and He is the reason that I write. In my books, I aim to encourage, inspire and uplift you and to point you towards the deep and transforming love of Christ. He is the One who loves us in all our brokenness. Faith in Him truly transforms us from darkness to the true light. After I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour in 2010, I began establishing a close personal relationship with Him. I turn to Him in times of joy and in times of challenge, and all the times in between, leaning in close to Him. I like to write down His words of comfort and encouragement and I offer them to you, dear reader, to bless and uplift you. I know from personal experience how very hard and painful life can be and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that, no matter what you are going through in your life, you need Jesus. He is here for you! I am an avid writer and reader, a mother to two daughters and three stepdaughters, and one of the things I enjoy most is to meet new people and hear their stories. You can email me at [e-mail]. Feel free to check out my website and read my blog at www.meredithswift.org. "Life is a precious gift and the gift of eternal life is even more precious and one that is freely given".

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Age Group 7-12

Sabine and Bobby, 7 (autism, generalised anxiety disorder, sensory processing disorder and auditory processing disorder), Australia

Diana, Scott, Rachel, David, Sadie and Becca, 9 (autism), USA

Marta, Tan and Diego, 9 (autism), United Kingdom

Francesca and Nathan, 11 (autism), Australia

Tulika, Ravish and Vedant, 11 (autism), USA

Age Group 13-19

Janine and Andrew, 15 (autism, sensory processing disorder, intellectual disability, and a learning disability), USA

Lisa, John and Mark, 15 (autism and epilepsy), Australia

Age Group 20-30

Diane, Jerry, Lena, Ian and Jolene, 21 (high-functioning autism), USA

Ruth and Emily, 22 (high-functioning autism), Australia

Teresa, Graeme, Joseph and Sarah, 23 (high-functioning autism, ODD, OCD, expressive/receptive language disorder), Australia

William, Sandra and Nowell, 23 (Prader-Willi Syndrome), Australia

Deborah, Colin, Ryan and Andrew, 24 (autism), United Kingdom

Gabriella and Jordan, 24 (autism, Fragile X, intellectual impairment), Australia

Meredith and Sarah, 25 (autism, sensory processing disorder, PTSD, epilepsy), Australia

Age Group 30-50

Lucy and Monica, 30 (autism and intellectual disability), Australia

Sue and Christopher, 30 (epilepsy and intellectual disability), Australia

Cathy and Lily, 37 (childhood disintegrative disorder, partial deafness, cerebral palsy), Australia

Lillian and Melissa, 47 (cerebral palsy), Australia

Families With More Than One Child With Special Needs

Zoe, Louise, 23 (auditory processing disorder), Harry, 12 (ADHD, autism, hearing loss and some dyslexia) and Tiger, 10 (ADHD, autism, anxiety) Australia

Amy, Jeremy, Austin, 25, and Andrew, 19 (both Asperger's Syndrome), USA

Ann and Jane, 45 (Down Syndrome), and Valen, 38 (epilepsy, autism, and Tourette's Syndrome), Australia

April, Scott, Kellis, 21 (Asperger's Syndrome), Garrett, 20 (autism), Isaac, 19 (autism), Margaret, 16, Virginia, 14, Marianne, 10 (deafness), Rhetten, 8, April, 7 (deafness and autism), and Scott, 5, USA

Conclusion

My Books

Acknowledgements and Thanks

End Notes

Editorial Reviews

I cried tears of joy with the stories of unconditional love, inspiration, and determination for these families. The questions and answers beautifully blended the information resources and encouragement support needed for parents of special needs. As a teacher, I was challenged and got the most joy from opening my heart and growing my empathy for special needs children. They taught me more about life than I could ever have taught them. A must read for families, friends, therapists, teachers, and many more, who have special needs children in their lives - Jane Vernalia, Amazon.com.

I can't say enough good about this book. I shared it with my best friend. This is an absolute 'must read' for families with children who have special needs. The author included a good sample size ranging in severity of disability, number of children and age. The 18 questions that were posed to families provided a continuity throughout the book. I loved the questions because they were all so relevant and provided the families an opportunity for expression, community, introspection and possible therapeutic benefit. The families were vulnerable in sharing their experiences and were treated with the highest dignity. Aspects that were shared by all families included love, supporting the child and deep concern about the future. one Mom described herself as a "warrior" Mom in terms of an advocating role. Isolation and burnout were addressed. One profound statement by a Mom was "Chris has taught us incredibly more than we could ever teach him". A beautiful book - Greg Archibald, Amazon.ca

From the Publisher