Care for Children with Special Needs

Food and shelter

Children cannot acquire their own food or sustain any reasonable shelter. The initial responsibility of their parents or carers is this to provide a roof over their heads and food in their stomachs. Physical safety

Children cannot protect themselves from aggressive adults (and other, stronger, children). They thus need others to provide physical safety, keeping them from harm and defending them when they are threatened or attacked.

Basic needs

Emotional security

As their minds are developing, there is much that children do not understand and even the most innocent situations can be deeply distressing.

Basic needs

Social skillsChildren develop into people who must live and work

with others. For this they need to learn the rules of society. They need to be able to communicate their ideas and desires. They need to persuade and change minds.

Career abilitiesTo become functioning adults, children need to learn

all kinds of things, both at school and outside -- many abilities that are useful in developing careers are not taught at school.

This can be very much an exploratory activity as children discover their talents and the things that motivate them (unsurprisingly, these often overlap).

Developmental Needs

Spiritual Needs

This is the quiet need inside that wants to know and believe in a higher spiritual power than ourselves. This need increases our awareness and sensitivity to the greater aspects of life. Creative Needs

This is the need to express yourself in any manner you desire. This can include the arts, dancing, acting, and writing - almost anything that allows you to feel imaginative and inspired.

Developmental Needs

internal skills

Children also need to learn to be happy in themselves and to cope with the difficulties and traumas of life. They thus need to learn self-confidence and emotional maturity.

Developmental Needs

Abraham’s Maslow Hierarchy of Needs

Children with Special Needs

require special care. However, that is putting the situation into very vague terms. Often, parents may find that their child is diagnosed with a condition that they have never even heard of. When that happens, they have to start at the very beginning of learning what the condition is and what they can expect from their child.

Children with Special Needs

Having the resources you need to

understand your child’s special needs is one of the most valuable tools you can have.

“Special needs” doesn’t have to mean the end of plans for the future. What it means is that you will have to make some adjustments to give the child the best possible outcome. 

Children with Special Needs