How to live daily with a disabled child?
The daily life of a child with a disability is both enriching and demanding.
Every day is an adventure, parents, loved ones, and the child himself, are faced with challenges that encourage them to exceed their limits.
Daily life management
Managing daily life with a child with a disability can be complex, but it can be made easier with careful planning.
Parents often need to balance caring for their children with managing other family responsibilities.
Here are some concrete tips to optimize your time:
Establish a structured routine: A well-established routine can provide a sense of security to the child with disabilities. A set of reassuring markers for these individuals who may be faced with physical, emotional, or cognitive challenges.
Communicate and collaborate: Communication is essential, whether with the child himself, family members, health professionals, or educators.
Promoting inclusion: Encouraging children’s participation in family and social activities is an important aspect of managing daily life.
For example, involving your child in meal preparation or games tailored to their needs can strengthen their sense of belonging and self-esteem.
Managing family relationships with a child with disabilities
A child’s disability can undoubtedly impact family relationships, creating both opportunities for bonding and challenges to overcome.
Family rapprochement and solidarity
A child’s disability can strengthen family bonds by encouraging solidarity and mutual support.
For example, siblings can actively participate in the care and education of their disabled brother or sister, strengthening their relationships and sense of responsibility.
Parents, for their part, can support each other through difficult times, sharing their concerns and successes.
Disability can foster empathy, understanding, and the development of communication skills within the family.
Family challenges and tensions
Disability can also lead to challenges and tensions within the family.
The educational choices available to parents in this situation are multiple, ranging from traditional school integration methods to more specialized approaches. Each family member may have their vision of what is best for the child, based on distinct values, beliefs, or personal experiences.
These disagreements can create tensions within the family, often exacerbated by the emotional stress and social pressure that comes with caring for a child with a disability.
Parents may find themselves at odds over key issues, such as what type of parenting to do, what therapies to pursue, or what adaptations to make at home.
Siblings can also be influenced by these disagreements, creating jealousy among siblings.
Yet it is important to remember that these conflicts usually arise from a shared concern for the child’s well-being.
Reaching compromises, encouraging open communication, and seeking outside support, such as professional counseling or sharing experiences with other families in similar situations, can help resolve these conflicts and establish a parenting approach that meets the specific needs of the child with disabilities while preserving family unity.
Understanding your child’s disability
Understanding disability is crucial to promoting inclusion, avoiding prejudice, and encouraging positive relationships.
Promoting inclusion and tolerance
Understanding disability is a pillar of inclusion.
When friends, family, and peers understand the specific needs and challenges a child with a disability faces, they are more likely to include him or her in various activities.
They are better able to adapt their interactions, offer appropriate support, and foster an atmosphere of acceptance and caring.
Combating prejudices and fears
Ignorance of disability can lead to unwarranted prejudices and fears. For example, people may fear interacting with a child with autism, mistakenly assuming that their behavior is unpredictable. Understanding disability helps break down these prejudices by explaining that autism does not necessarily mean that the child is aggressive, but that they may respond differently to sensory stimuli.
How to respond to other people’s stares and questions
Parents and children with disabilities may face stares and questions from others. Raising awareness and understanding of disability can help constructively address these situations.
Awareness can help create a caring environment for children with disabilities.
How to manage the schooling of disabled children?
Every child with a disability has specific educational needs that must be taken into account to ensure an appropriate education.
Schooling in regular school
Regular schooling involves enrolling a child with a disability in a regular school alongside students without disabilities.
This can be done with the support of a school support worker (AVS) or a support worker for students with disabilities (AESH) to help the child in their learning.
Benefits: Promotes inclusion, provides an opportunity to interact with non-disabled peers, and encourages child’s independence.
Cons: May require extra support, and may be difficult for children with severe disabilities.
Schooling in a medical-social establishment
Social care facilities are designed to meet the needs of children with disabilities. They provide a suitable environment, specialized resources, and staff trained to work with children with complex needs.
Benefits: Access to specialized health and education professionals, adaptation to the child’s specific needs, inclusive environment for children with severe disabilities.
Distance learning
Distance learning allows the child to take courses online or receive instruction at home. This can be an option when attending a regular school or a medical-social establishment is not possible.
Advantages: Flexibility, adaptation to the child’s specific needs, possibility of avoiding anxiety-provoking situations.
Disadvantages: Loss of socialization with peers, need for increased discipline and structure at home.
Tips for keeping a disabled child busy
It is essential to diversify activities to occupy a child with a disability and to offer them enriching experiences.
For children with disabilities, these sensory activities are especially important because they can be a powerful way to stimulate their senses, promote their motor skills, and awaken their minds.
It is with this in mind that we offer you the product ” Tactile recognition for motor skills and awareness “.
Designed especially for children with disabilities, this innovative tool aims to improve hand-foot coordination while developing their sense of touch.
The main exercise is to recognize the same tactile structures with the foot and the hand, thus encouraging sensory understanding and motor coordination.
Board and construction games
Board and construction games encourage problem-solving, collaboration, and fine motor skills. They are more than just fun; they are educational tools that promote the development of essential skills.
For children with disabilities, these games are of particular importance because they provide opportunities for growth, socialization, and discovery.
It is with this in mind that we present to you the products “ Tour à forme ” and “Les perspectives jeu de construction ”. These games are specially designed for children with disabilities, offering a stimulating and inclusive learning experience.
Outdoor activities
Outdoor activities promote motor skills, discovery of nature, and socialization with other children.
The benefits of spending time outdoors are numerous, both physically and mentally.
For children with disabilities, these outdoor experiences are of particular importance, as they offer unique opportunities for holistic development.
It is with this in mind that we present to you the parachute game, a classic of motor skills, which is a group activity open to people of all ages, including children with disabilities.
This game is designed to encourage cooperation between players, stimulate the coordination of movements, and contribute to motor development.
Children with all special needs can participate in this fun activity, which involves holding the parachute together, coordinating their movements to create undulating motions, and exploring interaction with wind and sunlight.
This experience strengthens social bonds by promoting communication and collaboration within the group while developing motor skills and self-confidence.
We offer a sensory simulation chair designed especially for outdoor use The Protac Sentit Nature
Reading and stories/Relaxation activities
Reading stimulates imagination, language learning, and the emotional bond between adults and children.
Relaxation activities promote emotional well-being and stress management.
It is possible to use an sensory stimulation chair such as the Protac seSensitrame for this activity.
A sensory simulation chair can be suitable for both children and adults. It is intended for people with ADHD, autism, psychiatric disorders, dementia, brain injuries, spasticity, and developmental disorders.