By Nadine Briggs and Donna Shea
Parenting can be a lot like trying to solve a complex puzzle. When raising a child who has specific challenges and it can seem as though there are always issues to assess and problems to solve. These struggles are rarely straightforward. You will likely visit many experts and professionals who will weigh in on what they think is best and, as a parent, you are left with ultimately choosing the course of action. Here is a list of times when you might want to trust your parental instincts:
1. When you think a problem is bigger or smaller than the professionals think it is;
2. When you think someone does not have your child’s best interests in mind;
3. When you think your child is under or over medicated;
4. When you think your child might have an undiscovered diagnosis (that feeling that there is more to the story);
5. When the diagnosis your child was given seems like the wrong one;
6. When you suspect that someone is being unkind to, or bullying, your child;
7. When you know in your heart that your child is capable of more but that something is getting in the way;
8. When the school your child attends seems like completely the wrong setting for him or her;
9. When you think that someone might be lying to you; and
10. When someone who interacts with your child gives you the creeps.
Gut instincts might not always be right, of course, but that niggling feeling that something is off could be the very thing that points you in the right direction for your child. Trust your gut, follow up with that feeling to tease out if you are right, and create a different plan if action that speaks to you as the right one.
