P
rofessionals who work with children with special needs echo the same advice for preparing them for independence: start now. “Parents shouldn’t wait until their child is a teenager or in their last year of high school,” says Doreen Byrd, parent educator with Exceptional Children's Assistance Center in Davidson. “Leaving it up to fate is not the way to go.” Helping a child with special needs prepare for living on his or her own is not unlike the guidance parents provide typically developing children. Learning life and jobs skills may take more time and specialized assistance, but for many children with special needs, independence is an attainable goal. And like many typically developing children, many children with special needs desire selfsufficiency as they mature. “They want to have independence,” says Deborah Hofland, executive director of Philips Academy, a school that provides students with special needs the skills to be self-reliant. “There’s an enormous sense of pride when they are able to start doing things for themselves.” Continued on Page 4 CharlotteParent.com
|
EXCEPTIONAL CHILD 2013
3