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Parents desire what’s best for their children, looking for the appropriate parenting style that caters to their needs the most.
Most parents already become aware of their children’s condition at over 1.5 years old.
Although this might make the responsibility more intimidating, it can also make it as plain sailing as possible. An early awareness gives parents enough room to adjust themselves and become more comfortable and acquainted with their circumstances. This gives them ample opportunity to discover an appropriate parenting style that allows them to aid their children’s growth effectively. The earlier they recognize their children’s needs, the earlier they can seek assistance regarding how they can provide.
Children with special needs require special effort and patience. While parenting, in general, is an intricate trial and error process, doing so for children is equipped with more hurdles to overcome. It all boils down to choosing and practicing an appropriate parenting style to succeed in this pursuit.
The Appropriate Parenting Style Is Key For Development
Thousands of parenting materials are made to help parents understand how parenting styles influence their children’s growth. After all, it’s universal knowledge that child-rearing serves a massive part in molding and preparing children for the world.
It’s no surprise that society pays attention to helping parents play their roles.
However, most of these materials assume that all children need the same thing and follow the same development progress. They address a singular pattern of child rearing and tackle a particular path of children’s needs. Only a handful focus on the appropriate parenting style for children with special needs or those experiencing developmental problems.
One of these limited books is by Lynda Drake, The Power of Imperfect Parents. This is a practical parenting tool catering to children with disabilities. With her honest and vulnerable perspective, Lynda wishes to help parents battle and overcome parenting struggles, especially since she’s experienced it herself. Again, children with special needs require more thorough and complex parenting. What’s commonly advised to parents may not work when facing children with disabilities.
Instead, they would need a new system that caters primarily to their needs. Finding this appropriate parenting style may take time, detours, and a lot of starting from scratch. But what it contributes to children’s development will be well worth the effort.
A Parent’s Role Matters For Children With Disabilities
Society has long discriminated against children with developmental problems. They’re typically seen as weird and unusual and are often victims of bullying and injustices.
To combat this, parents and allies have fought to raise awareness and encourage society not to treat them differently. While this is at the heart of their advocacy, it still doesn’t allow complete ignorance of their needs and people’s understanding of their situation.
Treating them similarly to others means not looking at them like they’re a spectacle or a distinct character. But this doesn’t dictate that society shouldn’t cater to their unique needs.
Children with disabilities can develop behaviors different from other children. Their response to their environment will be unusual, and approaching them similarly to others may need to be more effective. With this, parents must understand what separates them and take steps to address these that promote growth and individuality in their children.
This is why choosing and mastering the appropriate parenting style is a crucial decision every parent must consider. Multiple studies have pointed to positive or authoritative parenting as the most beneficial and effective parenting style for children with developmental disabilities. They require more time, coping skills, and close family support to aid in their development. Hence, parents must adopt a more positive rather than consequence-driven parenting approach, encouraging children to engage socially and develop independence.
What Positive Parenting Entails To Child Development
Throughout multiple studies, children exposed to positive parenting have experienced a decrease in their symptoms and erratic behaviors. Ultimately, this positively influences how these children cope in their environment.
Positive parenting uses positive reactions to children’s behaviors. It banks on frequent and kind eye contact, positive affirmations, and a profound understanding of these children’s motivations. It’s an appropriate parenting style, especially when dealing with children with uncertain behavioral patterns and stubborn or stringent mindsets. As a result, positively reacting to their actions allows them to feel understood and seen, which leads to confidence and social competence.
Regarding their communication processes, positive parenting may practice kindness but also includes a firm and commanding presence. It gives children space to express themselves emotionally but also reinforces necessary boundaries. Sometimes, parents succumb to their children’s explosive tantrums, letting them be when they shouldn’t be. And while they may command limitations and boundaries, this doesn’t automatically mean disrespecting their children’s feelings.
Boundaries can exist alongside honoring children’s emotions. It’s not an either-or situation; by finding the balance, parents can better support and react to their children’s needs.
The Learning And Relearning Curve
Finding the appropriate parenting style will be challenging. No parent has ever uncovered the perfect path to child rearing at the first attempt. It will most commonly be a trial-and-error process. However, parents must allow themselves to learn and relearn procedures until they find one suitable. They must learn to adjust how they interact and react to their children to align more with the latter’s needs.