How to Cope With Raising a Mentally Retarded Child

The first thing that most doctors will tell you is that your baby is mentally retarded and will never be normal, so you should think of finding a good institution. Most parents however choose to bring their baby home. For the first few years of a handicapped child’s life, many parents wonder if the problems will outweigh the joys. 

There are hundreds of children that are born mentally defective. The first thing that you must do as a parent is relax. Sit down with your spouse and take the time to work things out. If needed you can involve loving family and friends in the conversation. Children that are retarded feel love and they express it. Most parents feel that the introduction of retardation is very sudden, and badly informed. This is an experience that nobody plans to have.

One of the first things that you will want to do is inquire about what facilities are available in your town. Such as nursery schools, home nursing care, even specialty trained doctors and nurses. These people are specialty trained to handle children with this type of disability. The majority of these services are also offered without charge. The next thing you will want is to check on what schools are available. Transportation is usually provided. Just because they have a disability does not mean that your children are unable to learn. You will still want to take the time to teach and train them. 

Love however is the most important thing that you can give a handicapped child. Love does more than all of the special training, schools, doctors or institutions can do. If you love your child they will love you. While limited in so many ways, the retarded child seems endowed with a superabundance of love. To emphasize on particular point, I would concentrate on the simplest thing of all love of their children. Regrettably, perhaps the greatest problem faced by parents or retarded children is the lack of understanding on the part of uniformed persons.