What's it like to be a special needs parent?

If there was one thing I wish I could make the world understand about special needs parenting, it would be the amount of stress that comes along with it.

Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of amazing things as well.

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However, the thing that most people just can't seem to wrap their heads around the extreme levels of stress that special needs parents have to function under.

I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that special needs parenting is far and away the most difficult thing I have ever faced.  I used to be a firefighter/paramedic and the stress I faced in that job pales in comparison to what I feel each day of my life as a special needs parent.

Please don't mistake this as a reflection  of my kids because it's not meant to be....

It's just that special needs parenting is a *constant. *

I'm constantly on the go.

I'm constantly worried about my boys and their future.

I'm constantly dealing with behavioral issues.

I'm constantly worried about chronic and acute health issues.

I'm constantly fighting for services that my kids desperately need.

I'm constantly going on little or no sleep.

I'm constantly putting both my needs and those of my wife aside for those of our kids.

I'm constantly bouncing from crisis to crisis.

I'm constantly feeling overwhelmed and frustrated.

I could go on forever and this doesn't even include all the things that the rest of the world deals with that we face as well.

Unless you are doing or experiencing this to at least some degree, you probably can't understand what it's like to be a special needs parent.

My hope is that by reading this, you have at least a little better understanding of what it's like to walk in my shoes.

What would you want the world to know about special needs parenting and why?

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