It is not a wish for any parent to have a mentally handicapped child. However, due to reasons beyond any human intervention, parents may find themselves in a situation where they have to contend with raising a mentally handicapped child.
A mentally handicapped child may be described as that child who is having problems with the development of cognitive and learning capabilities. These individuals are also referred to as mentally challenged or mentally disabled. The defining factor here is the fact that they have intellectual, cognitive, developmental as well as learning disabilities. Due to the fact that this disability is affecting the brain and general body development, they are also sometimes physically disabled.
Parenting a mentally handicapped child poses a huge challenge to the parents. It calls for very well organized plan and strategy to overcome and learn how to cope with parenting a child with special needs. But how do you tell that your child falls in the category of the mentally handicapped? Is it obvious to tell? Here are some tips for you;
Mentally handicapped children experience delays in many areas of development. Check whether your child is taking too long in learning spoken language, social skills, and simple problem solving skills as well as delays in learning self-care skills such as going to the toilet.
Also check whether your child has memory problems.
Doctors are capable of noticing mental retardation in a child even immediately after birth especially those cognitive challenges as a result of genetic disorders.
Parenting of children with special needs requires the parents to first realize, accept and then appreciate the fact. From that basis, then;
Seek expert opinion form qualified individuals as early as possible and assess whether the disability can be corrected. In most cases, these disorders are not tenable to any treatment and therefore you must learn how to cope with it.
Always pay extra attention to your mentally disabled child to avoid household accidents and hazards.
Take time to teach the handicapped child simple personal care skills, giving a lot of patience and consistency to the activity.
Do not isolate your child from the rest of the children and the society at large. This will prevent the child from proper learning and therefore worsen the situation.
Set aside a generous share of parenting resources towards the care of this mentally handicapped child. Remember that they are more prone to diseases and minor household accidents than the ordinary children.
Join a parenting support group and share with other parents on the best ways and interventions available in your area. Seek expert parenting advice from professionals on areas such as dieting.
Always keep your mentally challenged child clean, well fed and medically fit. Be careful to detect any signs of health threat and seek medical intervention as early as possible.
A parent faced with such a situation should therefore be able to understand that the child will require more, regular and extended attention for a long time. When the time comes for the child to be taken to a special school, the parents should be sure to visit the child regularly and seize every opportunity to have the disabled child at home; as home is the best place anyone would feel comfortable in.
