Raising a child with special needs is never easy. But this mom proved that love can overcome all the challenges that come in the way of parenting.
The families raising kids with special needs have tough lives but what makes it even tougher is the lack of empathy and acceptance by our unsympathetic society.
Rather than being bogged down by society, some strong and courageous parents are making sure that they give their kids the best chance at life.
One such parent is this mom, who shared how society’s attitude towards her son used to break her heart but she refused to give up!
While recalling her parenting journey on HOB, this mother shared how her son with special needs was judged by society at every step:
“When I was pregnant with Rudra, everything was perfect. All of the check-ups, tests, were normal. We were nervous and excited, as any first time parents would be.
When I finally gave birth to Rudra, we were so happy. But when he was born, he wasn’t breathing — they immediately shifted him to the NICU. We didn’t know what was happening or how to deal with it.
That’s when a doctor came to us and said, ‘Your son’s got water retention in his brain, he’s going to be a vegetable his whole life, if he survives’. We were devastated.
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For 9 days, Rudra couldn’t breathe on his own. And everyday the doctor would inch us towards ending his life. ‘There’s no point’, ‘He may not survive through the night’ is what we’d hear all day. Although our entire family stood by us, we didn’t know what to do.
But on the 9th day Rudra started breathing on his own! For me it was a sign, he was meant to be by our side. So we got him home and started equipping ourselves with all the information that was needed to take care of him.
Even something as simple as breastfeeding was a problem, because he couldn’t hold himself up. But we regularly took him to therapy and did exercises at home.
I remember he was a diaper baby till he was about 8 years old, and he couldn’t even sit up straight. Once I’d put him on the bed, and was looking in the other direction. After 5 minutes when I looked at him again — he sat up by himself! Small things like this, were the biggest milestones for us.
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But things were not always rosy. He never had any friends.
I remember when I used to take him to parks, I actually had parents come up to me and say, ‘Please don’t get him out, it’s not good for our kids to see him.’
It used to break my heart, but I couldn’t let it get to me.
Now that Rudra is older, there are still things he can’t do but we’re trying everything to give him the best life possible. Recently we took him on his first ever trip to Kerala. We thought he’ll get overwhelmed and we may have to leave the trip and come back. But it was the opposite! He didn’t complain or cry at all, he was enjoying all the sights and was always so happy!
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My husband and I work, and Rudra goes to a special school. In the evening when we come back, we read his favorite stories or watch his favorite movies — and that’s the best part of our day. Because when I see all of us being so happy together, I feel grateful.
More than us, he put up a strong fight, he powered through and is still doing so every single day.
He deserves a shot at life just as much as we do and I’m glad that we didn’t give up on him — he’s my warrior.”
At IFORHER, we applaud the strength and courage of every parent raising a kid with special needs. And, we feel it is high time that our society, rather than judging the families raising kids with special needs, starts applauding their courage and strength.
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It is the least that we all could do for these real-life heroes. #Don’tJudgeRatherSupport
