I don't like the term "Special Needs Child"

Is there a single child out there that does not have a need for a little something extra? If that child is special to you, and you care about their needs is that need then not special? I really dislike the term "special needs child". I don’t discount that children have varying degree of struggles, and some have more unique needs than others. That is not the focus here. The focus is that just because some of my children have a diagnosis that puts them in the special needs category it does not make the needs of my children without a diagnosis any less special.

When we had our oldest enrolled in public school we started to notice that he could benefit from a little extra help and guidance in some areas pretty early on. It was first grade when we started to notice that he was struggling quite a bit. In second grade the need for some sort of extra guidance or attention was even more apparent. I had approached the school about an IEP, and they performed an in school evaluation and assessment. We did end up getting an IEP but only for speech therapy. I was frustrated because I knew this was not going to be enough help.

Come third grade we had our son evaluated for Autism. We honestly didn’t need the evaluation to tell us what we already knew, but we needed a diagnosis to take to the school to show he needed more help. With our diagnosis in hand we asked for another IEP evaluation and received much different results than the previous evaluation.

Now, before anyone jumps to the conclusion that I am bashing public school, let me make it clear, I am not. There is a set process in place for IEP evaluations and it's in place because resources are limited. I understand that.

My point is only that as a now homeschool mom a diagnosis written on a piece of paper from a professional does not determine to me which child's needs are more 'special' than another's. We now have two children on the spectrum, one formally diagnosed, and one not. We also have a child with physical impairments, and three children 'unclassified'. Each and every one of their individual needs are unique and special because they are unique and special to us.

#homeschool #autism #allmykidshavespecialneeds #specialneeds