Gentle guide to help parents enjoy their children By Dr. Susan Foster-Cohen, Champion Centre Director.
The early years
Dr Susan Foster-Cohen, Champion Centre Director.
The Champion Centre in Christchurch has kindly agreed to provide a regular contribution to CHAT 21 to assist parents of young people with Down syndrome. In this edition, Dr Susan Foster-Cohen, Champion Centre Director reviews the guide "Are You Worried About Your Child?" Are you worried about your child? A guide to support families of children with complex needs and the professional who care for them (This free guide can be downloaded from: http://www. tacinterconnections.com/images/Guide2-toSupport-Families-of-Children-with-Complex-Needs. pdf) A group of professionals from the UK, South Africa, Australia, Italy, Canada, and New Zealand, including The Champion Centre’s founder, Dr Patricia Champion, has compiled this 20-page guide aimed at supporting parents raising children with disabilities to feel less tired and stressed and to enjoy
CHAT 21 | Issue 77, Autumn 2019
life with their child. Written in an accessible style, it consists of five main sections, each one addressed to both parents and professionals and illustrated with comments from parents about their experiences. The introductory section ends with the following challenge that speaks to the hopes and fears of many parents: Wouldn’t it be nice… …if your child received the same welcome to the world as every child? …if you were seen as the expert on your child by everyone? …if you felt you were listened to and knew people who share you concerns about your child? …if you felt cared for and supported by an understanding community?(p.1) The first of the main sections “Let’s start at the beginning”, explains the guide is “to help you and your family manage everything without getting too stressed and exhausted” as well as “help you create enjoyable moments together with your child every day.” In other words, it aims to help parents achieve a better quality of life for themselves, their children and their family. Its call to professionals in this first section is to put their focus on supporting the family to promote the best possible relationship with their child and the wellbeing that it brings. The second section, entitled ‘Respect”, puts the focus on how families cope with the news that their child has an illness or disability and encourages them to celebrate their arrival as they would any other child. It reminds parents that all children need love, warm responsive predictable care from their parents, safety and fun, even while it acknowledges the sadness many parents feel. It encourages parents to find those friends, other parents, and sympathetic professionals who can support them. It then encourages professionals to recognise the multiple sources of stress in parents, to always ask them about their priorities and to work in partnership to plan a respectful way forward. “A quality of life”, the third section, addresses causes of stress in lives made overly busy by multiple
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