While making your own New Year’s resolutions, you may want to keep your child’s therapy goals in mind.
Go to the gym more, save money, spend more time with family. It’s that time of year when we set a few New Year’s resolutions for ourselves that we will (hopefully!) stick to. If you are a parent of a child with special needs, then you may be considering your child’s goals when making your own. Here are a few good ideas for New Year’s resolutions that parents of children with special needs can make.
Organize Your Paperwork
The beginning of the new year is a great time to get organized. While you’re organizing your own bank statements, bills, and other paperwork, take some time to also organize your child’s paperwork. This can include their medical records, IEPs, behavior plans, and helpful resources.
If you already have all of your paperwork strictly organized, then it may be a fun idea to look through it to see what has changed over the years. Seeing how your child has progressed towards their therapy and behavior goals can be a great boost of motivation with which to begin the new year!
Try a New Activity
It can be easy to get stuck in a rut of the same activities that your child will agree to do. Either your child feels reluctant to try out new activities or you feel like there isn’t enough time to find a new activity. But what better time than the new year to put aside a little time to try something new?
Work a new activity into your schedule and try to commit to doing it several times. Who knows, maybe you’ll find your child’s new favorite activity!
Find a Support Group
If you don’t already visit a support group, now is the time to find one. Everyone needs someone else they can talk to, especially parents of children with special needs. Having a community of parents who are experiencing the same thing you are can be invaluable. Other parents of children with special needs can offer advice and support. In a world where you are constantly advocating for your child, it’s important to have others who “get it” whom you can talk to and lean on for support.
The Connections Therapy Center
The Connections Therapy Center serves families of children and adolescents with disabilities and special needs. We are a team of experts in the fields of pediatric speech, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology, and behavioral sciences. As a team, we offer intensive hands-on therapy for children and adolescents, as well as informative and useful resources for families. If you are interested in learning more about what we can do to help your family, visit us online or give us a call at (202) 561-1110 (Washington, D.C. office) or (301) 577-4333 (Lanham office). Want to get more information on how to help your child thrive? Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Google+, and Pinterest.