Keeping a childs disability hidden from others is a personal decision. However some disabilities such as physical disabilities cannot be hidden so this really isn’t an option. Some mental or learning disabilities may be hidden  but the chances are that at some stage the child will say or do something to draw attention to their disability. Of course it does depend on the level of the childs disability. Some children may have very mild disabilities and their parents may make a conscious decision to say nothing as 99% of the time their child will pass as any other child their age. Again this does depend on the childs disability.

I know some people who have not accepted their childs disability and they will defend their childs actions and behaviours as being normal for a lively child, or that they are going through a rough patch at the minute, they are overtired, overstimulated, or just that their child is strong minded, highly intelligent, or that their child was provoked into doing what they did.

The may turn a bling eye and keep making excuses for their child. Sadly I have seen this happen. However this really is doing their child no favours. Children need clear boundaries of what is wrong and right and what is acceptable and unacceptabile regardless of their childs disability.

I have also seen parents turn down offers of help and refuse  an official diagnosis for their childs disability thus the child has no entitlements for specialised support services.

It is easy to point the finger and judge others but sometimes all you can do is step back and wait for the family to acknowledge that things are not quite right. They may not verbalise this but there will be a form of realisation at some stage of their childs disability. We all are guilty in some way of putting our hopes and dreams into our kids and the realisation of some dreams and hopes never being realised is hard to bear

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