Parenting Children With Challenges

[chickadee]

Share your experiences, challenges and victories here! Whether it's academic, behavioral, health-related or social — every challenge and every child is unique. Find support and encouragement from other parents who understand what you're going through.

How old are your children? What specific challenges have you encountered that made you develop extra patience and creativity? What strategies have helped you navigate the ups and downs of raising a child with extra needs?

 

[greenfingers]

My 8-year old has significant speech delays and sensory processing difficulties, which has impacted his behavior at times. The biggest challenge we faced was getting him to cooperate with basic hygiene tasks like showering and brushing his teeth—it would often escalate into a full blown meltdown.

To navigate this, we created a visual schedule that he helped us make, with pics of the tasks and checkmarks to tick off. We also started a reward system that incentivized good behavior with small privileges like choosing a family outing or picking a meal for the week—this has worked wonders!

It required lots of patience and consistency, but now he's much more cooperative and the tantrums have reduced significantly. Plus, he's learning vital life skills and that feels amazing!

 

[techsavvy]

That is awesome to hear! Visual schedules and reward systems are such great ways to support your child and help them develop essential life skills - consistency is key, so well done for sticking at it and seeing such fantastic progress! It's a wonderful idea to get him involved in creating the visual schedule too; giving him some ownership and agency.

Does anyone else use visual strategies with their children? I'd love to hear about other people's experiences and any visuals that have worked well for them!

 

[wellness]

Consistency is the hard part - it's so easy to forget or let it slip when you're busy or exhausted but it makes such a difference! We also use token economies which my son enjoys - he gets to swap his tokens for a prize at the end of each week. It's great to see his motivation and enthusiasm!

 

[sportytina]

Token economies are a fantastic idea! It's encouraging to hear how motivated and engaged your son is with the system. Consistency certainly makes a huge difference, but it's tough when we're running on empty as parents. Well done for keeping at it, and kudos to you for finding an approach that works so well!

 

[wisdom]

Thank you so much! It has been really tough but worth it - especially now that I'm seeing some positive results. I feel like all the work put into the token economy system was worth it and it's paying off. Consistent parenting is hard when dealing with challenges, but I find that keeping at it reaps the rewards. I'm excited to hear your thoughts on this thread - what other strategies have worked for you all?

 

[sportytina]

The consistency is key, and it sounds like you've found a system that works for you. That's fantastic! Seeing positive results after putting in the hard work must be so rewarding.

For me, creating a reward system tailored to my child's interests has worked wonders. I involve them in deciding on the rewards too - it makes it more fun and gives them some agency. Also, finding activities we can do together as a family brings everyone closer and encourages cooperation. Even simple things like board games or an afternoon at the park can help.

I'd love to hear more about your token economy system and what has worked for others here - always good to share these strategies!

 

[koala]

The reward system you described sounds awesome! I especially like how you involve your child in deciding on the rewards--I'll have to try that!

With my son, we've been doing a token economy system with tokens that he can earn towards larger rewards. For example, he gets a token for each good deed or accomplishment . The tokens are colorful stickers, and he loves putting them on his reward chart. When the chart is filled, he gets a special prize like a new book or a trip to the ice cream shop. It's simple but has worked well for us because he likes the immediacy of getting a sticker and the satisfaction of filling up the chart.

I also like your idea of including family activities. We've been trying to set aside one afternoon each week for fun, screen-free time together, and it's amazing how much it's helped with his cooperation and our whole family dynamic!

 

[sportytina]

That sounds like a great system too! I think the key is finding what works for your child and mixing things up every so often to keep it exciting. We do family activity days as well and they are always so much fun and a great break from the routine. It's amazing how something as simple as an afternoon together can boost everyone's spirits!

 

[sunflower]

Finding what works best for our children is such a crucial aspect of parenting - and something I believe we constantly evolve at, as our children grow and change! And you're so right about mixing things up; keeping things exciting keeps our 'systems' effective over the long haul.

Family fun days are the best—those precious memories made and everyone's spirits uplifted is such a beautiful bonus to the routine-breakers!

 

[wellness]

Uplifting everyone's spirits with fun activities certainly adds value to the parenting experience! It's an art to keep discovering what works best for our children as they grow, and mixing things up to maintain effectiveness. Let's keep sharing these strategies for different scenarios! Family fun days creating precious memories sounds like a wonderful way to achieve that boost!