Hi everyone, I'm Zoe, I'm married with three children, two daughters age 12 and 11, and a son age almost five who has suspected additional needs/severe behaviour problems. After spending the last three years trying to keep myself, my family and my marriage together I've sometimes felt the need to bottle up how I really feel about how our lives have been turned upside down and how much we've been impacted, so no to upset other people and its affected me so much I cannot tell you.
So I thought I would start a thread for myself and others in a similar situation to be able to vent freely and openly and to have a place where we can discuss our feelings around raising a child with additional needs/disabilities/learning difficulties. Ie what we cope well with, what we don't cope well with, what we really wish we could change, changes we've been able to implement for the better, how we deal with anxiety/depression (if you have either of these) due to all the stress and strain put on you and your family etc etc.
As far as I'm concerned my family are my world and I love my little boy as much as I do my daughters but I'll admit now, that I'm seriously struggling. I don't always understand him or his behaviours which makes me feel awful. I don't always have patience 24/7, I find it hard to understand why he wants to hurt me and his sisters and I'm generally fed up and can't cope with not being able to live a normal life.