PARENTING OF EXCEPTIONAL

CHILDRENSTRONG PARENTS CAN GO THROUGH A LOT OF THINGS

AND STILL NOT BE BITTER.

Lydia Betsy.M1st year MSc

Human DevelopmentMount Carmel College

WHO ARE EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN???

• According to Krik of the American National society for the study of

education, “An exceptional child he is who deviates from the normal

child in physical, mental and social characteristics to such an extent

that he requires a modification of school practices or special

education services in order to develop to his maximum capacity.”

CLASSIFICATION OF EXCEPTIONAL

CHILDREN

PHYSICALLY EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN

• SENSORILY DISABLED CHILDREN:

Children who are blind, deaf or dumb are classified under this.

• CHILDREN WITH MOTOR DISABILITIES:

Children with damaged parts of the body which makes the child’s motor movements of the body

irregular and uncontrolled.

• MULTIPLE HANDICAPPED CHILDREN:

Children who are suffering from more than one physical deformity.

MENTALLY EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN

• GIFTED CHILDREN:

The term gifted encompasses those children who posses a superior intellectual potential and

functional ability to achieve academically in the top 15-20 percent of the school population.

They have an I.Q of above 140.

• CREATIVE CHILDREN:

According to researchers, children with average intelligence has been found more creative.

• MENTALLY DEFICIENT CHILDREN:

Children having negative abnormalities are mentally deficient.

Their I.Q is less than average.

EDUCATIONALLY EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN

• EDUCATIONALLY BRIGHT CHILDREN:

They have a high adaptability to learning, understanding and assimilation of thoughts of high

standards.

Their I.Q is higher than normal children.

• EDUCATIONALLY BACKWARD CHILDREN:

Children who are educationally backward in their age group by 1 or 2 years.

• LEARNING DISABLED CHILDREN:

These children are educationally average or good but experience difficulty in learning any special

subject.

SOCIALLY EXCEPTIONAL CHILDREN

• DEPRIVED CHILDREN:

The state of deprivation arises among children due to some social, economic and cultural

deficiencies.

• MALADJUSTED CHILDREN:

Maladjusted children cannot make adjustment in the society due to family problems, personal

problems, health problems, emotional maladjustment.

• PROBLEMATIC CHILDREN:

These children create problems from very young age.

They create problems for everybody.

• JUVENILE DELINQUENTS:

Children who are involved in anti-social activities, breaking laws, doing destructive work like

murder, rape, violence, thefts.

• DEVIANT CHILDREN:

Deviant children are those who lack conformity to their role expectation in a given social situation.

• EMOTIONALLY DISTURBED CHILDREN:

The children are unable to maintain satisfactory inter-personal relationships at home, in the

neighborhood, school and society.

PARENTING

INTRODUCTION• When the parents identify that his or her child suffers from

disability or a chronic illness it becomes a challenging task for

them.

• Initially, parents will feel alone and isolated.

• Parents views when they first discover that their child has

disability:

◊The day my child was diagnosed as having a disability, I was

devastated and so confused that I recall little else about those

first days other than the heartbreak.

◊Another parent describes it has a “black sack” being pulled down

over her head, blocking her ability to hear, see and think in

normal ways.

◊Another parent describes it as “having a knife stuck in her heart”

COMMON REACTIONS OF PARENTS• DENIAL:

Denying how this can happen.

• ANGER:

Anger which may be directed towards the medical personnel who provided the information

regarding the problem.

• GRIEF:

something which they do not know how to explain or deal with.

• FEAR:

It is the immediate response shown by most of the individual. They usually fear for the

unknown than for the known. They fear regarding the child’s condition that it will worsen. The

fear almost immobilize the parents.

• GUILT:

Guilt regarding whether they are the reason for this.

Guilt feelings may also be manifested in spiritual and religious interpretations of

blame and punishment.

• CONFUSION:

Confusion marks the traumatic period.

Confusion leads to sleeplessness, inability to make decisions and mental overload.

• POWERLESSNESS:

The changes which are happening is very difficult to accept.

It is hard to rely on judgements, opinions and recommendation by others.

• DISAPPOINTMENT:

Threat to many parents’ egos and a challenge to their value system.

• REJECTION:

Rejection directed towards the child or towards the other family members.

Serious form of rejection, and not that uncommon is a “death wish” of the child.

SEEK THE ASSISTANCE OF ANOTHER PARENT

• They can seek the help of another parent.

• They may not realize the importance of the child today but there will be a time in the

parents life when they realize having a child with disability is a blessing.

• First, identify the another parent of a child with a disability.

TALK WITH YOUR MATE, FAMILY AND SIGNIFICANT OTHERS

• Parents usually do not communicate their feelings with others.

• One spouse is often concerned about not being a source of strength for the other mate.

• Trying to explain it to others.

• Talk to children.

• Identify others within the family structure who can establish a communicative bond

with them.

• Talk with significant others.

RELY ON POSITIVE SOURCES IN YOUR LIFE

• Positive source of strength and wisdom might be minister, priest or rabbi.

• Next could be good friend or a counselor.

• Taking the problem to God also would help them.

• When feelings are painful reach out and contact someone.

• TAKE ONE DAY AT A TIME:

Fears of the future can immobilize one.

• LEARN THE TERMINOLOGY:

When they are introduced to new terminology they should not feel hesitant to ask.

• SEEK INFORMATION:

Usually, parents seek the tons of information on the disability.

• DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED:

Do not feel inadequate in the presence of people.

Do not be intimidated by the educational background.

Do not bother about asking a lot of questions.

• DO NOT BE AFRAID TO SHOW EMOTION:

Do not repress the emotions.

• LEARN TO DEAL WITH NATURAL FEELINGS OF BITTERNESS AND ANGER:

Recognize the anger and learn to let it go.

Acknowledge and work through the negative feelings.

• MAINTAIN A POSITIVE OUTLOOK:

A positive attitude will be one of the genuinely valuable tools for dealing with problems.

• KEEP IN TOUCH WITH REALITY:

Accept the life as it is.

Accept the change.

• REMEMBER THAT TIME IS ON YOUR SIDE:

Time can heal many wounds.

REFERENCES• Kar Chintamani (2016) Exceptional Children: Their Psychology and Education Reprint Edition,

New Delhi, Sterling Publishers.

• http://www.familyvoices.org/admin/work_caring/files/nd20.pdf

• https://www.autismspeaks.org/blog/2014/09/02/15-truths-parenting-special-kids

THANK YOUCHILDREN WITH SPECIAL NEEDS AREN’T SENT TO

SPECIAL PARENTS BUT THEY MAKE PARENTS SPECIAL