Special Needs Children, Parental Help and Employer Tips
Help and hope from a parent who knows and now is the head of People Experiences for a B-Certified Pending start-up corporation inspiring change.
Homeschooling children with special needs and learning disabilities during the COVID-19 quarantine has been challenging for most parents. In addition to the immense ongoing responsibility of caring for a child with special needs, parents are now having to manage an at-home education program that includes virtual learning, physical therapy, occupational therapy, behavioral therapy, and speech therapy. Parents may also have other children to care for or jobs to maintain. Not surprisingly, many of them are physically and mentally exhausted, needing help, support, and understanding now more than ever.
As a mother of a 19-year old son with autism whom I previously home schooled for eight years, I am acutely aware of the struggles parents face as we try to balance work, school, and family life. Likewise, as a 25-year HR professional, I am also aware of the opportunity that companies have right now to build morale, retain talent, and make a real impact on the lives of their employees, including those who are caregivers to special needs children.
I am acutely aware of the struggles parents face as we try to balance work, school, and family life.
Through my role as a Human Resources leader in a Fortune 50 company, it was my responsibility to coach, train, and, most importantly, help people reach their full potential. As I saw my son slipping away and my family starting to crumble while investing six figures into the best doctors, therapists, and schools with no results, my focus needed redirection. In 2009, I left the career I loved to change the life of my son and my family. Believing in myself to use my training and skills from the workforce, I concentrated my full efforts into homeschooling and restoring the balance of my life and family.
This paradigm shift completely changed my life and brought my son back into my world. He went from sitting on the floor and flapping his hands with his eyes glazed over, not knowing I was in the same room, to this calm, focused, interactive, and social young man. Today, he has a best friend, loves to learn, and is happy and balanced—what every parent hopes for their child.
I spent over 18,000 hours working one-on-one with my son, which taught me how to best help him personally learn and grow. I spent eight years teaching my techniques to my team of 30, which included parents, teachers, and therapists, all of whom have now learned to thrive at home and at work.
What I learned about homeschooling special needs children is simple:
- Observe and listen. Get to know their interests and motivations in order give them a reason to connect with us.
- Use their motivations to inspire them to look and listen—and when connected, that is the time to teach.
- Celebrate success, no matter how small. Touching a pencil that he once refused to touch is cause for celebrating and an important step toward actually writing.
- It doesn’t have to be accomplished today. Our goal is forward progress. Allowing progress to go at your child’s pace shows love, builds trust, and allows your child to take important next steps when they are ready.
I spent over 18,000 hours working one-on-one with my son.
When stressed or overwhelmed by today’s combined at-home work and everyday life demands, these four tips keep me focused and grounded so that I can be the best teacher and mom for my son.
In 2018, I was fortunate to meet the CEO of KnoWEwell. A loving wife, sister, and mother of five sons, she too had an equally inspiring story herself after going through a series of family health crises. Her vision and passion inspired me to join KnoWEwell to help build a B certified corporation, with a mission and the resources to create a materially positive impact on humanity and our planet.
One way we are supporting one another for the greater good is through our “Recruiting without Boundaries” program. KnoWEwell recruits from an untapped pool of expertise: stay-at-home parents who want to contribute their talents in a meaningful way but need flexibility to care for aging parents or children, including those with special needs. These caregivers are able to have a rewarding employment opportunity while enjoying a more effective work-life balance. Together, we enjoy success and happiness.
Managing remote employees and parents is what we have done from the beginning. We found the following key success factors to support both our business and our working parents resulting in increased efficiency, morale, and engagement:
- Set agreed work schedules. Be honest about when team members can work and when the company needs their participation in meetings and online events.
- Have clear communication. Clearly state objectives, milestones, delivery dates, and meeting times as well as roles and responsibilities; clarity helps everyone make better time management and work-life balance decisions.
- Focus on the outcome, not standard work hours. Allow employees to balance their work hours around other obligations, and rise to the occasion and meet agreed deadlines.
We are providing opportunities despite being a bootstrapping start-up. Our employees include one with a special needs child and another who is caregiver to a parent with chronic health conditions. For our team, our priority of the work-life balance has meant the ability for individuals to be at the bus stop, take a parent to the doctor, have a last minute day off without stress, and block out hours of unavailable work time each day to meet with teachers and lead homeschool activities.
One way we are supporting one another for the greater good is through our “Recruiting without Boundaries” program.
Another KnoWEwell team member, Patricia Trenchak, has a daughter with a rare disability called Pallister Killian Syndrome (PKS). Patti had an article published in TAPinto South Plainfield, “Homeschooling Children with Special Needs during COVID-19 Quarantine: Parents Speak Candidly about the Challenges and Realizations.” In her article, Patti shares how parents are striving to teach their children at home while maintaining a sense of balance, and how parents are advocating on behalf of their children to help them reach their greatest potential. This job can be daunting. Thus, in order to help parents of special needs children find the best resources, Patti has compiled a comprehensive list for us to share here.
The love that special needs children have for others and for life is truly pure and genuine. During this unprecedented time, it can be stressful keeping harmony and balance in one’s life. But the smiles and successes we experience with our children remind us that even during quarantine, we are able to move forward and have faith that we will emerge with more clarity, understand, family connection, and strength.
List of resources for parents:
Care for the Caregiver:
https://www.caregiver.org/taking-care-you-self-care-family-caregivers - Family Caregiver Alliance
www.ReachForMeNetwork.com Care for the caregiver
www.snrproject.com Resources for parents of children with special needs
www.ncld.org/parents-child-disabilities National Center for Learning Disabilities
www.myselc.org/printable-resources.html Forum and interactive resource
www.bringingthesunshine.com/ebook/ ebook about surviving the early years of having a child with special needs
www.autism-society.org Support for parents with autistic children
www.cec.sped.org Council for Exceptional Children
www.easterseals.com Easter Seals
www.familyvoices.org Family Voices
www.p2pusa.org Parent to Parent USA
www.ndss.org National Down Syndrome Society
https://vimeo.com/search?q=navigate+autism Navigate Autism with Jane Lynn, an Autism Talk show to help other parents along their journey, and to bring community together to talk, learn, and share resources around autism.
Free educational websites or free trials:
www.kids.nationalgeographic.com
Free iPad apps for Children with Special Needs:
EMOTIONS
Autism Emotion—basic stories/songs about emotions
ABA Flashcards—reviews emotions
Touch and Learn—Emotions-field of four ID
IDENTIFYING
Khan Academy Kids—Sign up with an email account, but it is free. There is a large array of books, videos, and cause and effect games. (available on Android platform)
Touch and Learn (ABC and Numbers)
Math Flash Cards (Addition)
Big Math Flash Cards
First Words Sampler—matches letters to form words by touching and dragging letters
Touch the Sounds
CAUSE AND EFFECT
Dance Pet Piano HD Lite—young kids
Peekaboo Barn Lite—young kids
Finger Paint with Sounds
Fireworks Arcade
Singing Fingers HD
Switch Fan by Inclusive Technology
Cash Machine ATM by Inclusive Technology
HKL Photo Booth by Inclusive Technology
PBS Kids—free videos of safe, educational TV shows (available on Android platform)
Please see Patti’s entire article for more information on homeschooling children with special needs:
https://www.tapinto.net/towns/south-plainfield/articles/homeschooling-children-with-special-needs-d…?