3 Tips for Raising Teens With Special Needs

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Raising teens is hard. This is the point in time when hormones run high, logic is often low, and eye-rolling is real. Raising a teen with special needs means that you are parenting with your child’s specific needs and parenting in a way that helps them to build their sense of self and sense of self-confidence as a person. Adolescence is a time of immense physical and emotional growth, and wanting independence, and a teen with special needs is no different. Sometimes, the timing may be different, but the process is the same.

Your Teen May Be Ready Before You Are

Your teen may be asking you to acknowledge him or her de ella as an adolescent, but you have n’t progressed to that phase yet in your own mind. Many times, this comes from our own anxiety about what we think our teen can handle and how we don’t want them to be disappointed or embarrassed by their struggles. As parents, our natural instinct is to protect our child; it’s okay for your child to feel frustrated or disappointed. This is what builds grit and resilience.

Set the Rules and Stick to Them

Teens thrive on consistency even though they will push your rules and limits hard. Set your rules and household guidelines and consistently hold your child to them. It’s okay to be flexible and make an exception if you feel like your child is having a difficult day or moment but stick to the guidelines that you’ve set. Those guidelines and expectations will be internalized for your child as her or her own.

Give Them Responsibility

You may think, ‘My teenager doesn’t have the will or the ability,’ but every teenager needs a sense of responsibility and accountability, regardless of abilities. Gradually increase your teen’s responsibility and encourage and support him or her. I know this may be tough for you, but curb your tendency to protect. By not giving your teen responsibility, you are subtly giving him the message that he “can’t do it” or “doesn’t have the ability.” Although unintentional, that is the message that your teen will absorb.