Wednesday, February 17, 2010

HOW DO YOU FACE THINGS?



Do you face things head on or bury your head in the sand?

I was listening to a show on the radio recently a well known host was bantering with a side kick of sorts about his child. His daughter who is around two seems to be having some problems. There isn't anything overly specific, except for crying. Not crying like colic but crying in what seems to be pain. The radio show host let's call her Penny - well Penny has been encouraging let's call him Joe to get his child evaluated. He is resisting. Penny is almost insisting. She has a son who has sensory processing disorder and has experience with children who have a variety of special needs and although she won't come right out and say it, it seems to me that she thinks Joe's daughter might have autism.

But my point here is that although Joe seems to be concerned, he just will not relent to taking her to be evaluated. They have seen a doctor - but the doctor said everything is fine. We all know that you have to be your kid's advocate...so the doctor giving the a-ok might not be enough.

So, what do you think? Do you think that if someone outside of your family kept telling you that you should have your child evaluated (early intervention from the state is what was suggested) would you take that advice? Or, would that bother, insult or irritate you?

In this case, from listening to this issue being brought up for weeks now - I think that the parents are in some sort of denial. There is something off - the child is apparently trying to communicate something and I think that they are afraid to find out what the problem might be. This is understandable. Although, I am sure that everyone would agree that if there is something to find out - the earlier the better! On the other hand, I can't help but feeling for Joe and his wife - because the constant nagging is obviously not getting the desired result...for anyone.

So, tell me...what do you think?





Follow us on Twitter!
Join us on
Facebook!

Write a REVIEW of your favorite restaurant, hotel, book, etc as to how well suited it might be for special needs. Click Here!

4 comments:

Judy said...

It is hard to take advice when someone is nagging. However, Joe is probably thinking about it in his head and will hopefully have his daughter checked out. Better safe than sorry.

Heather said...

I wear 2 hats in my life. I'm the mom of a son with a sensory processing disorder and I am a developmental specialist working with children birth to age 3.

I come across a lot of parents like Joe. Many families get to the Early Intervention stage (my services) but will not go forward to specialists. Everyone takes things at their own pace. My job is to give all of the options and support the family wherever they are at. Sometimes that means allowing them to not move forward.
I agree that Joe should have his daughter looked at. However I also feel that Penny needs to stop the nagging. Give the advice and then walk away. It's ok to check up on the family by asking how the child is doing. But, let the family come to their own realizations. Admitting there is a problem with your child begins the stages of grief. And, who REALLY wants to go through that willingly?

Jo said...

I tend to face things head - on when it comes to Monkey Boy. If there's a potential problem, I get it checked out immediately. If there is indeed a problem, I do all I can to get him help for it.
My husband is the opposite. If there's a potential problem, he likes to try to ignore it and see how things pan out. When Monkey's neurologist and I agreed that we should do an EEG just to rule out small seizures, Hubby was quite upset and insisted that there was no need to put Monkey through a test when we had no reason to think he might be having seizures (Monkey is a stroke survivor, for those who don't know). When things get too real for him, he sometimes has to cover his ears and close his eyes.
You know, I don't think either of us is wrong or right in our approach. While we tend to react in opposite ways, things somehow work very well for us. We both love Monkey Boy and want to do everything we can to help him, and that's all that matters.

Anonymous said...

I would never bury my head in the sand...but I can understand not wanting to accept that something is "wrong". It's hard.

Post a Comment