Raising A Child With Developmental Delays

Parenthood in and of it self is challenging but when you have a child with developmental delays, it's even more challenging. The world looks at you and your child with a different set of eyes because they can't figure out why your child isn't doing what other children his or her age are doing. This can be extremely frustrating and you find yourself constantly defending your child and explaining why your child does what he or she does or does not do. I say this because this has been my life for the past seven years.

My son at birth was diagnosed with a hearing loss in one ear. As a result of his hearing loss, the State of New York ordered a series of evaluations and found that he hadn't hit any of his developmental milestones and he had low muscle tone. At this point, he couldn't support himself whether on his belly or in a sitting position and couldn't roll over. Also, his speech and language were delayed as well. As a result of these evaluations, my son was diagnosed with global developmental delay at age 1, meaning that he was delayed in all aspects of his development.

My son's diagnosis was hard for me and my family to digest. I immediately began to feel guilty and wondered if I genetically passed this on to my son or if I did something wrong during my pregnancy. But as time went on and I began to understand my son's issues, I decided that I wasn't going to let my son's delays stop me from giving him the life he deserved. I was determined to do everything in my power to make sure he got the help that he needed. I took full advantage of all the services that were before me and fought to have him placed in a fully-inclusive private school (where typically developing students and special needs students learn in the same classroom) where he receives therapy. I worked with him at home and have established a relationship with all of his therapists, teachers and doctors. Because of my determination, my son is functioning close to his peers and is no longer considered developmentally delayed. He still requires therapy today but he is a fully functional independent little boy that has captured the heart of everyone.