Originally Posted by Thriftylady:
Is it just me or does it seem parents are getting the attitude of "my child has a diagnosis so I don't really have to do the hard work of parenting"?
It's not just you ... and I say this because I've been seeing a lot more of the same negative behavior from children that don't have any special needs or diagnosis. I spend more of my time correcting and reminding kids of what appropriate behavior is than I do in an actual activity.
My daughter has ADHD but we as a family have put in the hard work of changing our diet, following a routine, going through individual and family therapy and being consistent in our discipline and although we have some off days she's come a long way and I've been clear with her that she shouldn't think of it as a handicap or use her diagnosis as a crutch, it just means that she has to work a little harder than other kids on certain tasks.
Then I get a child who has a physical/medical condition who happens to also have behavioral problems and a mom that means well but complains that "they" are making things difficult because "they" won't give him occupational therapy because "they" say he doesn't need it (she clearly thinks he needs it, his assessments say otherwise) and then something like this happens ...
It's lunchtime and 5yo DCB (not potty trained btw) doesn't eat ANYTHING healthy (not even fruit). The only thing I can get him to eat that's remotely close to healthy is chocolate Nutella sandwiches on wheat bread (I finally got him off of white bread) so that's what he eats every day.
DCB one day says he wants a hamburger for lunch out of the blue and then has a full blown tantrum because I won't take him to McDonald's. The tantrum lasts for about 45 minutes. DCM comes to pick up and I explain what happens. Her response, not joking:
"Aww, that's ok bubs. I'll take you to get a burger"
