Dear special needs parent,
Some people will never get what it is like to walk in our shoes. No matter how many times we try to explain our situation, our child, the challenges our family has to face—no matter how many details we share—the reality is that most people won’t get it. And some people might think we are exaggerating, or that we are not doing enough, and we might feel judged by their words or forgotten by their actions. So I want to say something very important to you, to me, to all of us that have been misunderstood: I know the pain and the hurt because I have felt it too, but, it’s time to forgive and let go.
Before I became a spacial needs parent, I did not understand it either. I didn’t get it. To me, disability was something to be afraid of. I did not willingly chose for disability to enter into my life. But it did.
I wonder how many things I didn’t get before this was my journey.
I wonder if for most of us it might be hard to understand something until we finally live it.
The reality is our families are impacted by disability. Sometimes disability is not a big deal and we can be a regular family, but sometimes the challenges are significant. We face behaviors, delays, frustration, copays, IEPs and roadblocks, and all those comments from other people, their words, their actions, or their stares can be so hurtful.
But they don’t know, they will never get it. And while some people say things intending to be offensive, I truly believe most people are ignorant, not mean. Yet I can so easily hold on to those words, those comments, keep them stores in my heart and allow the hurt to grow, and grow, and grow, until I can no longer find any joy.
In the end I am only hurting myself. I build thick walls around me believing I am protecting myself,but I’m not. Instead I give the power to those words or action and I isolate myself more and more. A heart consumed with anger or resentment only hurts me and my family more.
So it’s time to forgive and let go.
Let go, because when I hold on to the hurt and pain it can easily become all I see before me, behind me, and around me. It keeps me from enjoying life and I know there is beauty, there is peace, there is joy. I want that. I need that.
And the letting go and forgiving is not dependent on the people that won’t get it, it is dependent on me. It is my choice to let go and forgive so that I can allow the good to flow through me.
I try to extend grace, as much as I can afford, because I remember who I used to be.
So friend:
For the comments said in ignorance about your parenting, choose to forgive and let go.
For the comments said in ignorance about your child, choose to forgive and let go.
For the stares from insensitive people, choose to forgive and let go.
For the lack of invites to parties, gatherings, and dinners, choose to forgive and let go.
For the promises of help that never become a reality, choose to forgive and let go.
For the professionals or educators that you feel you have to fight, choose to forgive and let go.
I truly believe that as we offer grace, our words are more easily received. And while people might not get it unless they walk in our shoes, perhaps they will be willing to understand, to learn, to come along our side if we offer some grace.
Forgive, let go.
And for the times that you truly feel like nobody gets it, that nobody will understand your journey, I want you to know something—as a special needs parent I get it. And there are many other special needs parents that get it too. We get it. You are not alone.
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