That baby of yours creates a love beyond what you could ever imagine. There are so many dreams and then that feeling comes. It is as if you had been punched in the stomach. Your child isn't as typical as you thought. There are some red flags that cause you to do some testing and then he receives a diagnosis. No matter what it is, it doesn't match a mother's dreams. Am I speaking your language? It is emotional. Logic is thrown out the window. It's your baby or big girl by now!
Fast forward past the initial emotion and grief you feel. It's time to obtain the help this child needs. YOUR CHILD!!! But how? Over the years, I have found that meetings regarding my child and his needs are more productive if I speak to his needs in a logical manner. It is not easy because I tend to either become emotional or go off course with tangents. The bottom line was...not much was accomplished.
At one point, I began to make out an agenda of the areas that I wanted to address. In the early days, I made this agenda very detailed. It helped me stay on course. Often, the meeting was for a limited time. I wanted to make sure time didn't run out before I talked about all the important issues. If a school employee took the discussion in another direction, I had the agenda in front of me to help me see that I need to bring the discussion back to the agenda items.
This small tweak of bringing an agenda of my concerns has been a big source of lowing emotion, staying on topic and getting more done. My son has been the big winner in this process.
Posted with Blogsy