Group offers parents special support

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Stefanie Torres
  • 35th Fighter Wing public affairs
MISAWA AIR BASE, Japan --  She knew something was wrong with her five-year old son when he hid under the table from his best friend because she wasn't wearing pink.

"We noticed he was having meltdowns and they were not the average temper tantrums," said his mother, Ms. Melissa Rogers. "Sometimes he would just have this sensory overload and trying to comfort him made it a lot more difficult for him."

Francis Rogers was in the process of being diagnosed with a pervasive developmental disorder (autism type) when his mother started looking for support groups for children with special needs.

"When you are going through it, you don't know what it's supposed to be," said Ms. Rogers. "A lot of times you feel like people are staring and asking why don't you do something to stop their fits?"

She "looked online and made calls around base" to look for anyone in the same situation.

But to no avail, Ms. Rogers decided she would make her own.

"I wasn't quite sure how to start one but I had a lot of help on the way," she said. "I just kept making calls and used the spouse's connection to get the word out about starting a new group."

The support group she started, called Parents with Children with Special Needs, gives parents an opportunity to discuss each other's ideas on dealing with special needs children.

"You have to teach yourself and educate yourself already and it's that much easier with people helping you. It's what the support group is all about."

This was also an opportunity for those who don't have special needs children to learn why the children act the way they do.

"We can teach other kids how to interact with our kids," she said.

The next step was to get the information about the support group out to the general public, she explained.

It has been more than a year since the program has been running, but more recently, Educational and Developmental Intervention Services (EDIS) has been involved.

"EDIS personnel are available to provide valuable information to families to help them in caring for their special needs children," said Navy Lt. Andrea Merrell-Woods, EDIS social worker. "Support is provided to parents who may become stressed and overwhelmed due to the demands of parenting a child with a special need."

The parents can use EDIS office space on a monthly basis to conduct their meetings.

"EDIS said they were interested in the cause and it has been so helpful. Now the children have somewhere to play in a safe environment," said Ms. Rogers.

Early Intervention Services are designed to meet developmental needs of children 0 to 3 years old that have a disability in the following areas of development: physical, cognitive, communication, social or emotional, and adaptive.

Related Services are allied health services provided to children 3 to 21 years old. These services are required to determine a student's eligibility for special education, and the services specified in an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that are necessary for the student to benefit from the educational curriculum.

The support group has various people around base available to come speak with parents.

"Legal came to talk to us about setting up our wills. There are different things that have to be done when setting up for special needs children," said Ms. Rogers.

The school system has also set up "1, 2, 3 Magic," a disciplinary approach to get the kids to listen and follow directions that is explained at the group meetings.

"It's a simple counting type technique that is used at home and is consistent. It's not counting like your parents did as a child," she said.

Getting started was not easy when starting from scratch, explained Ms. Rogers. "But with everyone on base behind my cause, it made it a lot easier."

"My husband gets a lot of credit for helping me out. He gives a good male perspective and is a very involved father."

The group meetings are usually held the second Saturday of the month but change due to schedule conflicts. Individuals can join the support group online at: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/PCSN_supportgroup/.