My Inspiration/ Introduction
Having a child with exceptionalities can happen in any family, not just the rich or the poor, the educated or the uneducated; from a philosophical point of view, one may think everything happens for a reason whereas another would say, it is the way you cope with it that makes it what it is. It is through Mr. Loewenstein's way of thinking that inspired me to spread the way people perceive things in life. Mr. Loewenstein went on to share:
I had always considered myself to be both a happy and accepting person. At 35 years of age and with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, I had spent years helping other people to cope with and to navigate the unfortunate twists and turns of life. On the faculty of a major medical school, my research on Alzheimer’s disease and related brain disorders was gaining national recognition, and I was on the fast track for promotion to Full Professor. More importantly, I had married the woman of my dreams who was finally pregnant. We were looking forward to the exciting possibilities that lay before us.
At 23 weeks gestation, my wife experienced a tear in her amniotic sac and gave birth to my daughter, Rachel, born premature with a collapsed lung and weighing a mere 18 ounces. Over the next several weeks, her weight fell to 14 ounces as her life hung in the balance. For nine agonizing months, my daughter remained in the neonatal intensive care (NICU) unit, suffering a series of setbacks including the loss of several fingers on her right hand, removal of a significant part of her small intestine, bleeding within the brain, and retinopathy of prematurity, which threatened her eyesight. At a certain point in her hospitalization, Rachel’s condition was deemed by her physicians to be hopeless, and she was placed in “comfort care” with an order not to resuscitate, so that God could take her.
Rachel miraculously survived her ordeal, and we were so excited and grateful to finally take her home. In these past 11 years, my daughter has shown equal courage in dealing with subsequent developmental challenges, including mild cerebral palsy, difficulties in chewing food, visual deficits, and hearing impairment that necessitated bilateral hearing aids. In the process, I have learned more about love and acceptance than all of my years of advanced graduate training. As a psychologist and a father, I have also come to know the parents of other children with special needs and what is expected of these courageous children and their families. I better appreciate that acceptance is frequently one of the most challenging aspects of parenting. Accepting the limitations of a child whose life was supposed to be imbued with endless possibilities requires us to come to terms with expectations of ourselves and the world around us.
It is for such reasons that some helpful strategies for fostering acceptance and strengthening family relationships were created. Those of which are:
· Remember that parenting is a marathon not a sprint
· Nurture ourselves
· Recognize the importance of collaborative relationships
· Focus on strengths
· Contemplate what really is important
· Live in the here and now
· Focus on the positive
I had always considered myself to be both a happy and accepting person. At 35 years of age and with a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, I had spent years helping other people to cope with and to navigate the unfortunate twists and turns of life. On the faculty of a major medical school, my research on Alzheimer’s disease and related brain disorders was gaining national recognition, and I was on the fast track for promotion to Full Professor. More importantly, I had married the woman of my dreams who was finally pregnant. We were looking forward to the exciting possibilities that lay before us.
At 23 weeks gestation, my wife experienced a tear in her amniotic sac and gave birth to my daughter, Rachel, born premature with a collapsed lung and weighing a mere 18 ounces. Over the next several weeks, her weight fell to 14 ounces as her life hung in the balance. For nine agonizing months, my daughter remained in the neonatal intensive care (NICU) unit, suffering a series of setbacks including the loss of several fingers on her right hand, removal of a significant part of her small intestine, bleeding within the brain, and retinopathy of prematurity, which threatened her eyesight. At a certain point in her hospitalization, Rachel’s condition was deemed by her physicians to be hopeless, and she was placed in “comfort care” with an order not to resuscitate, so that God could take her.
Rachel miraculously survived her ordeal, and we were so excited and grateful to finally take her home. In these past 11 years, my daughter has shown equal courage in dealing with subsequent developmental challenges, including mild cerebral palsy, difficulties in chewing food, visual deficits, and hearing impairment that necessitated bilateral hearing aids. In the process, I have learned more about love and acceptance than all of my years of advanced graduate training. As a psychologist and a father, I have also come to know the parents of other children with special needs and what is expected of these courageous children and their families. I better appreciate that acceptance is frequently one of the most challenging aspects of parenting. Accepting the limitations of a child whose life was supposed to be imbued with endless possibilities requires us to come to terms with expectations of ourselves and the world around us.
It is for such reasons that some helpful strategies for fostering acceptance and strengthening family relationships were created. Those of which are:
· Remember that parenting is a marathon not a sprint
· Nurture ourselves
· Recognize the importance of collaborative relationships
· Focus on strengths
· Contemplate what really is important
· Live in the here and now
· Focus on the positive
(Loewenstein, 2007, p.28)
You have been blessed in a special way. You are already ahead by reading this because you know what you are faced with and know what you are looking for. We are all different and this is what makes us unique and different. Some people are different through their height, the color of their hair, or the size of their nose. Other features may not be as visible such as our reading ability or intellectual ability. Although most people prefer to blend in with the norm and be thought of as “normal” or “typical” for others this may not be the case. It is in such cases where people are labeled as exceptional or special thus requiring a special education program.
A special education program is based on and modified according to results found from the child’s assessment and evaluation; and includes a plan (called Individual Education Plan) which contains specific objectives and an outline of the services that meet the needs of that specific child.
When faced with challenges, we must use our best knowledge to work in certain situations to facilitate the process of reaching our final goal. With the right tools and resources, one can always find their way around life more easily. Such instruments are highly effective when facing unfamiliar situations that require extra energy and commitment to understand our circumstances. One can only imagine what families with exceptional members have to go through to make the best use of resources available. When children are first diagnosed with special needs, where are parents supposed to go next? Finding out your child has a disability is a challenge in itself, let alone identifying and then having to locate resources that are available. This website is about exceptional children and the steps that parents must undergo in their journey.
More precisely, this website serves as a guide which explains the move towards understanding and serving all children with exceptionalities within an international and Lebanese educational and cultural system. Developed on the basis of research, it is intended for use by parents. The purpose of this handbook is to provide procedural steps for parents and assist them in giving their child the best and most suitable way of learning.
It can assist parents in advocating and ensuring that their rights are being implemented/ met, raising awareness as well as thriving for most recent interventions and programs.
As special education services, laws and believes evolve, readers must note that this information is mostly credible in the year of 2014-2015.