The
workshop went very well according to feedback from staff and parents (verbal
and evaluation afterwards).
Aurora
staff said that they were not aware of what parents of disabled children experience
and go through. It was the first time ever that they sat in a room and listened
to the challengges parents of disabled children face on a daily basis. They have
never heard parents talk so openly and honestly about the journey they find
themselves on. The experience was very enlightning for them they said. It was
also suggested that the workshop be presented to all staff at Aurora – and for
parents who could not make it on Saturday.
It
was appreciated that parents also made use of the opportunity to share their
experiences. Some of the inputs from parents include the following:
On
the blue cards, challenges – ‘Our daughter of 14 restricts us from doing things at the drop of a hat’.
‘Our son of 7 make me work hard and no rest’. ‘Our son of 8 – attention to
others (and self)’ (lack thereof because of the challenges to take care of
him). ‘Unfair’ son of 4. We
suffer ‘shame’ daughter is 1 year and 4 months old. ‘Sadness’ describe another parent’s experience,
where another one wrote ‘lonelyness’. ‘I
worry about finances it is a problem no body helping’ – said another. ‘the
future (when we are not around to look
after our child’. Child is 14 years old.
On
the pink cards, good things – parent of a boy of 7 – ‘it makes me love my family more’. ‘Our son of 8 make us more aware to others,
the innocence of actions of our child (is endearing)’. ‘The smile and laugh of our child of 4’. ‘our daghter of 16 months – time (princess)’. ‘uncoditional love from kid’. ‘Our daughter is still very young’. Our son of 12 is strong’. ‘Unconditional love from our 14 year old
child’. ‘progress on my grandson since he is at Aurora (good)’.
thank you for your time and effort!
ReplyDeleteyour journey and experience will help me so much!