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Happy Mother's Day to My Fellow Special Education Warrior Moms

Categories: Parenting

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Happy Mother's Day to all of my fellow moms, but especially to fellow special education warrior moms. I see you.

I see the worry in your eyes and hear the concern in your voice. Maybe you are early in the journey. You see a delay. Something that isn't quite as the books say it should be. Other moms may even brush off your concerns, but you know. You know in your gut.

So you research. First, you may mention in passing to friends or family. Then, your child's teacher. Eventually, the search broadens. You want to know how to help, and you worry you aren't doing enough.

Enough.

You learn more about interventions, therapies, or special tutoring. You fight with your insurance company over things they will not cover. "Schools should pay for that as it's educational," says the insurance person on the phone. "Insurance should pay for that as it's medical," says the school.

You are in the middle. Stuck.

So, you branch out and you find a way. Maybe it's through the help of a nonprofit. Or a friend. Or an extra job. Or a loan. Or going back to school to get certified yourself, but you will not give up on helping your child.

I see you.

We gather in communities. We vent. We praise! We praise all steps - from finally reading a restaurant menu to discovering the joy in audiobooks!

We speak a different language. FAPE, IEP, ADHD, APD, 504, ESY - we know it. We are fluent in this language we didn't know before.

Before. What was it like before? Before all of this time spent researching, learning, trying new things .....loving.

That's what it all is about. Loving.

I see you.

You know who else sees you? Your child.

"I had the best mother in the world!" - Max Brooks, author of World War Z, dyslexic

"Mama was my greatest teacher. A teacher of compassion, love, and fearlessness." - Stevie Wonder, Singer/Songwriter, Blind

“My mother was the making of me. She was so true, so sure of me; and I felt I had something to live for, someone I must not disappoint.” - Thomas Edison, Inventor, dyslexic

Happy Mother's Day!

JulesJules Johnson is the parent of two children who have learning disabilities. She is also the social media communications leader for the nonprofit Learning Ally, co-founder of Decoding Dyslexia, TN, and she is a blogger on Diary of a Deelexia Mom.