What You Can Do When You Are Overwhelmed With Your Child’s Special Needs

As a special needs mom, I get stressed quite a bit. If I am not worrying about my child, I am just tired from the day-to-day of making sure he is getting what he needs and that I am able to do what is best for him. Somedays I just get overwhelmed by it all.

Do you ever feel this way? That it is just too much and you are not sure what the next step is? Or that you just don’t think you are capable of helping your child in the way they need it?

I think we all feel this way from time to time. What can we do about it? Crawling into bed and sleeping for 12 hours isn’t really an option. Here is what you can do when you are feeling overwhelmed with your child’s special needs-

• Remember how far you guys have come. Think back to when you first got the diagnosis. Think about the positives. For us it is very much a two steps forward, 1.5 steps back type of thing. If I look back at where he was a year ago or two years ago, I can see we are making progress and remembering that can go a long way in helping me work through any frustrations.

• Find your people. They don’t even have to be people who have special needs kids too. They just need to be people who can understand and be supportive. That you can lean on, discuss things with and trust with your children.

• Do more research. Sometimes it is helpful to look more into your current struggle. Or, to find a different way to approach something. The more information you have about it, the better you might be able to figure out a better way to handle it. Find good resources and don’t be afraid to ask questions to people who are in the know.

• Plan a break. It might be hard to find some time to yourself, so you will have to plan it. I remember when my son was first being diagnosed another special needs mom told me that she goes out and spends some time with friends or by herself every Saturday. By doing this, she is giving herself the break that she needed. If she skipped a Saturday, she could feel it. Going out alone every Saturday might not be an option for you but something is. Take a look at your schedule and figure out when you can schedule some me time for yourself where your children are being taken care of by someone you trust. Even if you just go out and walk around the mall for 30 minutes.

• Journal. Whenever I have any type of issue in my life, I journal it. It helps to get it out, to really think about what is going on and to get some clarity. Pick out a nice new journal, keep it by your bed or on your desk and try to write a little each day. It can also be a great resource to go through in the future when you are trying to remember what happened when.

Remember that feeling overwhelmed about special needs is normal. Figuring out a good way to handle it and work through your struggles is a good thing.

What do you do when you are feeling too overwhelmed?