I am so, so, so very sorry for the experience your daughter (and the rest of her family went through)!!!! As a mother, I cannot imagine how you felt. I probably would have wanted to react like you wanted to, and immediately remove my daughter from that situation!!!
While this is not exactly the same thing, I went through a lot with my oldest son, Johnny. He was diagnosed as "speech and language delayed" at age 18 months and went to a special education public school when we were living on Long Island, NY. At the time, I honestly could not see (or accept) that my son was not perfect. I was a new, young and inexperienced mother. My then father-in-law (who was an educator, and was then a school superintendent) told me that I had to listen to the experts, and do what they said regarding Johnny. He kept telling me that "something is just not right" with him. So I stepped out on faith and did. Turns out, after many years of never giving up, that my son had a very difficult form of ADD to diagnose (which was finally diagnosed when he was 8 years old). His school tested him for special education (at my request) and he qualified, based on their formula. Because he tested with a 125 IQ, as his mother I did not feel he would be with his peers if I allowed him to be put in the school's special education program. So, I chose not to put him in it, and instead I hired a special education teacher from another school in our town to tutor him once a week for 2 years. That turned out to be the best thing for my son - not what the "experts" recommended. We, as parents, so often know in our hearts what is best for our children. Thank God, I made the right decision for Johnny. He is now getting ready to enter his sophmore year at a major university (4 hours from home) and is doing AWESOME!!! It's been a long road with my son, but he is so wonderful and will be successful in anything he chooses to do with his life. He is a wonderful young man! I never expected anything from my two boys - other than they always do their best, whatever that "best" may be. When Johnny was struggling in those early years, and bringing home bad grades, I always took them out to a celebration dinner - to celebrate report cards - because I knew he'd done his best!!! :)
I cannot imagine having a child with a life-threatening illness. I greatly sympathize with you!!! I believe when our children go through a life-altering illness or condition, it must be the entire family who stands next to them to help guide them through it!!
Please do not view my post as sad, angry, and full of resentment. Joanna Poppink has helped me and many, many others tremendously. I guess I just feel very protective of her because I've been the recipient of so much of her genuinely caring help and assistance. She has made a tremendous, positve difference in my life and many others, too.
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Dear Anne,
I am so, so, so very sorry for the experience your daughter (and the rest of her family went through)!!!! As a mother, I cannot imagine how you felt. I probably would have wanted to react like you wanted to, and immediately remove my daughter from that situation!!!
While this is not exactly the same thing, I went through a lot with my oldest son, Johnny. He was diagnosed as "speech and language delayed" at age 18 months and went to a special education public school when we were living on Long Island, NY. At the time, I honestly could not see (or accept) that my son was not perfect. I was a new, young and inexperienced mother. My then father-in-law (who was an educator, and was then a school superintendent) told me that I had to listen to the experts, and do what they said regarding Johnny. He kept telling me that "something is just not right" with him. So I stepped out on faith and did. Turns out, after many years of never giving up, that my son had a very difficult form of ADD to diagnose (which was finally diagnosed when he was 8 years old). His school tested him for special education (at my request) and he qualified, based on their formula. Because he tested with a 125 IQ, as his mother I did not feel he would be with his peers if I allowed him to be put in the school's special education program. So, I chose not to put him in it, and instead I hired a special education teacher from another school in our town to tutor him once a week for 2 years. That turned out to be the best thing for my son - not what the "experts" recommended. We, as parents, so often know in our hearts what is best for our children. Thank God, I made the right decision for Johnny. He is now getting ready to enter his sophmore year at a major university (4 hours from home) and is doing AWESOME!!! It's been a long road with my son, but he is so wonderful and will be successful in anything he chooses to do with his life. He is a wonderful young man! I never expected anything from my two boys - other than they always do their best, whatever that "best" may be. When Johnny was struggling in those early years, and bringing home bad grades, I always took them out to a celebration dinner - to celebrate report cards - because I knew he'd done his best!!! :)
I cannot imagine having a child with a life-threatening illness. I greatly sympathize with you!!! I believe when our children go through a life-altering illness or condition, it must be the entire family who stands next to them to help guide them through it!!
Please do not view my post as sad, angry, and full of resentment. Joanna Poppink has helped me and many, many others tremendously. I guess I just feel very protective of her because I've been the recipient of so much of her genuinely caring help and assistance. She has made a tremendous, positve difference in my life and many others, too.
Shelley
June 8, 2009 - 5:15pmThis Comment
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