In this post, I have the pleasure of hosting Gwen Payne of Invisiblemoms.com who shares great tips for parents to restore their energy from caring for their kids with special needs. I appreciate her fatigue indicators and holistic strategies for improvement. Gwen concisely identifies various ways to recover a healthy sense of self. Her approach reflects the wisdom of radical wholeness, a topic I will talk about in my next post. Enjoy!
Family Connections Coaching article discusses strategies for identifying and managing parental fatigue in parents of special needs children.
Parental fatigue causes parents of special needs children to question their parenting effectiveness and negatively impacts physical and mental functioning. Establishing healthy coping mechanisms for parental fatigue is critical for improving parenting outcomes.
Assessing Parental Fatigue
Consider these questions to evaluate parental fatigue.
Sleep Quality: Do you get enough sleep, fall asleep easily, and sleep through the night?
Moods and Stress: Do you experience depression and anxiety symptoms, for example, excessive worry, agitation, difficulty relaxing, or feelings of helplessness and hopelessness?
Caregiving Burden: Does parenting cause you to neglect other duties, interrupt personal time, or strain relationships?
Self-Efficacy: Do you feel present and capable as a parent, or like you lack control or fall short of expectations?
Coping Strategies for Parental Fatigue
How can parents of special needs children increase wellbeing and lower fatigue?
Address sleep quality
Sleep skills, or “sleep hygiene,” promote quality rest and improve parents’ capacity to interact positively with children. Parents may also utilize supports like respite care to mitigate fatigue.
Adopt healthy habits
Poor health is correlated with higher levels of fatigue. Positive health behaviors like eating well and exercising increase energy levels and help parents cope with stress and fatigue.
Improve parenting skills
Parenting skills help manage problematic behaviors to reduce parental fatigue and improve self-efficacy. For example, parents who have a child with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) can take courses and classes that can help them address negative behaviors, increasing self-help skills, and other strategies.
Identify reliable social support
Parents of special needs children struggle to access adequate social support. In addition to formal supports like parenting classes and respite care, parents should prioritize informal support from family and friends.
Goal Setting and Self-Improvement
Parenting goals provide a framework to identify effective interventions, celebrate parenting successes, and improve overall self-efficacy. Parenting goals should be achievable and observable; for example, measuring a child’s ability to complete routines independently.
Meanwhile, personal goals preserve a sense of identity outside caregiving. Barriers to achieving personal goals can be overcome with practical strategies like pursuing a self-paced college degree from an accredited online institution or seeking a flexible remote job. Family Connections Coaching supports parents in defining goals and staying accountable.
Striking a Healthy Balance
There’s also a risk of overcorrection when addressing parental exhaustion and fatigue. Scheduling time for self-care and personal goals prevents disruptions to caregiving routines.
Parents should also be mindful of overburdening support networks. Rather than relying on one or two people, parents should seek different types of support from support groups, places of worship, and community organizations in addition to family and friends.
The causes of fatigue aren’t entirely within parents’ control. Nonetheless, effective coping strategies reduce the negative outcomes of parental fatigue. For more insights into overcoming challenges and addressing parental fatigue, contact Family Connections Coaching.