Changed
I grew up watching Oprah after school so Maya Angelou has been a part of my consciousness since grade school. When I recently came across this quote, I knew it had to be included in Mikey’s Journal.
Your reality: you have become a parent to a child with special needs. Your choice: what kind of parent do you want to be? What kind of person do you want to be?
Level Up
Can you let this experience change you for the better? Can you lift yourself up and bring your child along with you?
On the worst days, can you push back on behaving in ways that make you feel diminished? Can you keep your parenting toolkit filled with positive methods and parent in a way that makes you proud?
We are forever changed once we become special needs parents. It is our job to make sure that we are not reduced by it.
Share This Post
About the Author
Erica Mauro is a mom to two teenage boys, Will who is neurotypical and Michael with Autism and cognitive delays. She holds a BA in Psychology from Colgate University and a Masters of Psychology in Education from Columbia Teacher’s College. Before staying home with her children, she worked as an elementary school teacher. For five years, she served on the Board of Directors of the Molly Ann Tango Memorial Foundation, a charity dedicated to enriching the lives of children with special needs. In partnership with her husband Dave, she aspires to parent by using daily life as an opportunity for therapeutic intervention, seizing on real experiences as opportunities to build skills and strategies for Michael in a joyful, loving home environment. On the tougher early days, she just tried to get everyone safely to bedtime and start fresh in the morning. *wink* 
Let's Connect
Subscribe to our newsletter for more updates