j roeber
Dear Friend: I used to teach preschool and worked with many wonderful children with special needs - a few of them did have Fragile X. It is time for you to be in touch with your local school system, since many of them have preschools that serve special needs children. Often, these are simply preschools housed within elementary schools that admit all children,regardless of need, but often, the teachers have special training in preschool/special education, and the schools usually offer financial aid. In fact, in most school systems, special needs preschoolers pay nothing. In my area, children must be 3 years of age by Oct. 1st of that year to attend for the first time. The real advantage here is that you will meet other parents, some with children very similar to yours, some not, but you will have a support group and people with good ideas for you to try. There are support groups across the country as well - one of the ones in Colorado is known as Parents Encouraging Parents (PEP) and they have yearly conferences that you can attend with tons of information and other parents to talk to. Yes, other families with special needs children do go on to have other children. Siblings are so wonderful in each others' lives - you find that the children are not nearly as tramatized by any "needs" as the adults are. I hope this is helpful to you - Many areas also have family resource centers with counselors that can serve as advocates for parents when school systems are difficult to deal with. Hopefully, this will not happen to you, but if it should, there is support out there! Also do some connecting online - do some searching for groups with children with special needs. I wish you much luck! ALL children are the most perfect, beautiful beings to their parents, and others who choose to truly see! Jenni