In a matter of weeks, the coronavirus has upended just about everything in our lives. So many things that we took for granted—our jobs, our health, the way our kids are educated, even the ease of getting together with loved ones—aren’t so certain anymore.
And yet for me, there is something strangely familiar about this sense of upheaval. In fact, it feels strikingly similar to what I experienced after my son, Noah, was diagnosed with autism. When you become a special needs parent, everything changes in an instant. After my son Noah was diagnosed with autism, I felt a tremendous sense of loss. Unlike that best-selling book for new parents—I had no idea what to expect.
If your child has special needs, you understand what this is like. But you somehow navigate through it all. You have no other choice. Little by little you learn to manage. And as time goes on, you find that you have learned a lot about how to cope with uncertainty.
In the wake of COVID-19, it’s been helpful to remind myself of some of the coping strategies I’ve learned as Noah’s parent. Here are three lessons that continue to help me feel grounded, even as everything around me is in flux:
Read more in Psychology Today