by Joan Celebi, Ed.M., CLC
Founder, SpecialNeedsParentCoach.com

Last week, I spent the hour with my Coaching Club members introducing the topic of Getting Help.  Help is something we hesitate about as parents of children with special needs - but it's absolutely crucial to keeping life manageable and balanced - for you, your children, and your family - when you have a child with special needs.

Getting help is a topic that sounds simple enough, but can actually be quite complicated.  During our call we talked about why getting help is so hard, and where to begin as you start to get more help as a regular part of your life.  Here are some thoughts from our discusion:

1. Getting help - in all kinds of ways - will help you lighten your load without letting things go.

2. When you ask someone for help, you're not necessarily imposing. In most cases, you're actually giving them a gift.

3. When asking for help, whether from family members, friends, neighbors, etc., make the request as specific as possible. 

4. Systematize the help you're putting into place, so you don’t have to keep asking.

5. Keep an open mind. When you allow someone to help you, they may do the task differently than you would.

6. Help with even the smallest tasks can really add up, save u significant amounts of your time and energy.

7. Action step: What can you get more help with? Choose one thing to ask for help with this week.

More ideas coming soon!   Sometimes you have to get creative in the ways you get help.  Later this week I'll post some examples of they ways you can get help -- and some tips for free or low-cost help that you may not have thought of!

Tell us what kind of help you have in place already -- and how you feel about it! Click on the cloud link below to post a comment.