Professional Parent

In a recent appearance on Good Morning Central Oregon, I heard myself use a term that I haven’t used before Professional Parent. In Parenting Your Complex Child I talked about working with professionals more as a professional to professional but never really used that term.

I have been thinking about it since then. It is possible that unknowing encourage the “dumb parent treatment” by walking into a setting with various professionals in awe of their expertise. We should respect their effort to gain expertise and expect respect for our expertise with our children.

Doctors and educators, for example, have education and experience working with children with special needs. However, they don’t have the same opportunity to know our children as we do. Our job as professional parent is communicate our child as he or she is to the professional.

Thus, in a real sense it is professional to professional not the parent in awe of the doctor, etc. Both roles have some important things to add. You as parent can give important information to the doctor about your child so they can use their expertise to the best advantage. When they know our child best, recommendations will be the most appropriate for the child.

In the course of a child’s life he or she will deal with many professionals. The longest lasting relationship will be with the parents. Thus, it is the most important role in a child’s life.

Until next time,
Peggy Lou Morgan
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www.parentingyourcomplexchild.com
www.lighthouseparents.com
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