Kids With Special Needs Siblings – Do They Get Lost?

This guest post was written by Kathy Chlan from unfilteredmom.com.

 

I have 2 boys – 21 and 18.  The oldest, Casey , is my son with special needs.  Christian is the other one.  I have struggled with the notion that I hope Christian didn’t get lost.

Christian was born 8 weeks early and was always on the go.  My mom said it was like he was never a kid.  He just immediately knew he had a job to do.

When Christian was 4 years old and Casey was 7, we were at the park.  They were playing together and I soon watched other kids looking at Casey and laughing.  Casey lost all his hair at 2 years old and had alopecia.  I thought “oh God”.

It wasn’t because of the other kids or their ignorance, it was about Christian.  What was he going to do.  All of a sudden he said something to the kid and the kid continued to laugh.  Christian proceeded to move Casey out of the way.  Then, Christian punched him in the face and the kid hit the ground.

My friends and I stood motionless.  I sooo don’t believe in hitting, but on the other hand, I felt somewhat proud. I knew in that instance that Christian would ALWAYS be there for Casey!

Special needs kids are given to families that can handle the pressure.  But most importantly, that child also gets siblings who are strong and have convictions. In my opinion, these siblings soooo don’t get lost. They are the men and women that will always fight for the underdog.

So, I let the guilt go and realized that people are born with a destiny and sometimes that destiny will be filled with adversity.  But those are the individuals that will make a difference in the world.  And always remember that you made them!!!