Since Mother’s Day is almost upon us, I wanted to shift the focus onto the “Special Needs Moms”. I feel (and I am probably biased because I am one) that Special Needs Moms don’t get enough affirmation or credit for what they do. Being a mother to any child brings its challenges. With ups and downs and the way our world is today, it is difficult to navigate even when all is going well.

A Special Needs Mom is a very unique person. This kind of mom has to navigate and do everything else that a regular mom would do, but they have many more obstacles to overcome in the course of a day. Special Needs Moms have to plan everything with contingency plans A, B and C in case things don’t go as expected. When we used to come to church with our two children, we would have to bring 2 cars in case some kind of situation happened and one of us had to leave, so the other child would be able to stay. We also had to strategically sit in a certain spot in case our daughter needed to exit quickly.

The life of a Special Needs Mom IS very difficult; from extreme meltdowns, to lack of communication ability, to people in the community talking in front of you or behind your back making comments. There are also non-stop ongoing school issues and communication happening nearly every single day. Even to this day with our son still in high school, there are still so many things that need to be communicated, supported.

There are endless emails going back and forth - some that are important and some that are ridiculous. One time I got a phone call in public school that I needed to come and bring some canker treatment as our son had a canker. It’s crazy. I’ve learned from this to make sure he has everything he needs in his backpack, including canker treatment, Vaseline, and Kleenex so that he doesn’t need to worry about anything.

The amount of paperwork that has to be dealt with is unbelievable. If you get any kind of funding for anything, you have to make sure the expense is eligible, take pictures, upload the expense into a program and submit it and sometimes they come back to you with questions which takes even more time to process. Don’t get me wrong, I am extremely grateful for any money that we have received. The amount of money that has to be spent for things such as therapy or devices that your child needs to communicate is outrageous. If you don’t live in this world, it is hard to comprehend and some people cannot afford the things that they actually need to support their child so they are successful.

I want to commend and praise all of my fellow “Special Needs Moms” out there.

I hear you when you don’t get any sleep.

I feel your pain when your child is crying.

I see the look of panic in your eyes when you are out in public with your child.

I want to hug you and tell you that everything will be okay, and it will.

I want you to know you are doing such a great job!

I want you to know that you are loved.

I want you to know that our community cares about you.

I want you to know that God loves you and sees everything that you are going through.

I know I can always lean on God. My faith has helped me through some rough times and God has put people in my life for me to lean on. I know that my children are exactly as God wanted them to be. I know God has a plan for each and every person’s life and that includes our children, whether they have special needs or not.

I love the verse Isaiah 66:13,
“As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you.”

So for all the Special Needs Moms out there, I want to wish you a very Happy Mother’s Day! Enjoy the day and celebrate your child as they are a gift from God!

Shelly Wedge
Exceptional Family Ministries Coordinator
Amberlea Church
www.amberleachurch.ca