Are you brave enough to ask for help?

Are you brave enough to ask for help? Some say that if you reach out for help you are weak and others say it means you are brave. I believe that asking for help is a sign of strength and courage. A trait that I wish more people had especially when it comes to helping their children.

I have several friends who know their child needs help, want to get them that help and either don't know where to go for help or are too afraid to ask for it. Some others go out and seek the help but are too scared to go and find out the results for fear of finding out that something is wrong with their child. Stating that this person or that person said they would help me get the answers but I am not getting any help from them. I share my experiences with all of these friends and tell them that no one is going to be able to help your child like you can, whether its helping them yourself or reaching out for someone with an expertise to help you help them. Whether or not You the parent asks for help is your choice. Keep in mind that either way you still are making a difference in your child's life. One that will either positively or negatively affect them for the rest of their years. It is your choice as it was mine to ask for help.

I read a post this morning that said something like, we all want to think our kids are awesome and perfect and there is nothing wrong with them. I actually found that comment quite interesting. If the parent thinks that to be the case then my opinion is that maybe they also need some assistance in seeing reality vs a world they wish they lived in. I agree with them that we all want to believe that to be the case but the reality of it is we all need help at some point in our lives. The outcome lies in whether or not we choose to do something about it.

It was extremely hard to let down my pride and ask for help but after seeing things in my son that I saw in other family members growing up I knew I had to do something and fast. The last thing I wanted for my child was for him to grow up with self esteem issues, anger management issues and the inability to make lasting friendships which is exactly what this family member has grown into as an adult.

The reason for my blog is this: I mentioned something about wanting to become an advocate for early intervention services to several of my friends and the early intervention team I work with for my son and their response was but you already are an advocate. This comment made me think......well if that is the case, why not blog about my experiences and see if I can help others out there find a way to get their child early intervention in whatever way they need it.

I will continue to share my journey and write about my past, my son's past, where we started, where we are today and where we go next. I am certain that some will enjoy reading what I write and some will have have very different opinions. Either way, they are just my thoughts and this is just my blog to do with what I want.

I welcome comments and questions as I am hoping this blog allows me to help someone quicker than I was helped. I lost a year and a half of early intervention services b/c I didn't know my rights as a parent. I am hoping that this blog allows me to help others figure out how to cut through the red tape instead of having to go through all of the headaches family had to endure to get to where we are today.