Do You Have a Child with Developmental Disabilities? Read This!

A 42-year old Chicago-based mother of four, Keesha Hall, is on a quest to help mothers learn how to help their kids who have developmental disabilities.

In an interview with Essence, Keesha, who has a child with developmental disability, admits that she lived in denial for about 7 years after her fourth child was born, but later became determined to learn how to become a champion for her son.

Through the help of non-profit organization Educare, she learned how to accept her son’s diagnosis and strengthened his social, emotional and behavioral health. This is her advice for young mothers who are facing a similar situation:

How to Care for a Child with Special Needs

You have to be understanding and have the patience to be able to live in a household with a child who screams all the time or have difficultly going through life himself. With my son, I’m always grateful for progression rather than perfection because he’s perfect in my eyes and in his own way.

The Challenges of raising a child with Special needs

I’m a mother of four, but I didn’t have this experience living with a child with special needs. I was in denial for a while. He’s 10 now and I was probably in denial for about 7 years. I wasn’t ready to accept the fact that he would struggle or that he would be behind academically. It took years of therapy and years of educating myself, learning more about him and developing patience.

Why she does what she does

If I can help the next person, then they can pay it forward and maybe they can help someone else. So it’s always important for me to give when I have and help the next person.

Advice For Young Mother’s With Special Needs Children

You’ve got to dig deep and you can’t give up. You have to be patient and try to see the world through your child’s eyes.

Managing Stress: I read, walk and I like to go to the gym to relieve stress.

Words That She Lives By: Fear is failure.