“Splat The Cat Goes to The Doctor” … “Franklin Goes to the Hospital” … “Dora Goes to the Doctor” …

A realization hit me while looking through a pile of my daughter’s books the other day: when you are the parent of a child with special needs, it’s easy to let her care and therapy permeate all areas of life – even those areas that are meant to be fun.

Yes, it is critical that our children receive the best medical care; research-based interventions; physical, occupational and speech therapy; and psychological and social care. But we also cannot allow life to become a series of doctor, therapist and counselor visits.

Joy is such an important part of childhood. So how can we ensure that our children experience fun, friendships, exploration and activity amidst their therapy and care?

Here are some tips for adding a little more fun to your every day:

• If you have time between appointments, or a free moment after school, allow your child to have a “joy” break. Stop at the playground. Dig in the sand. Splash in a water table. Do something completely off-schedule and amusing.
• Celebrate completed appointments. For every 5 therapy visits, consider visiting a favorite museum or park. Allow your child to keep track of visits and choose the reward.
• Use fun as therapy. Could a day spent running back and forth in the field, or riding waves at the beach, be equivalent to a visit to the physical therapist’s office? Is going to the pool with friends a “social skills group”?
• Reinforce lessons with family time. Baking cookies with your child emphasizes working memory and gross motor skills, practices measurement, strengthens 1:1 correspondence … and creates a messy memory for you to share.

As a special education teacher, I know the importance of timely intervention. Proper interventions applied as early as possible lead to the greatest possible outcomes. I am not suggesting for a moment that any of these should stop.

Yet as a dad, and a human being, I also know the importance of fun and love. Our children need both. We need both. It’s up to us, as parents of children with special needs, to remember that our children are kids first and students and patients a distant second and third.

So from now on, try to balance visits to the occupational therapist with time on the playground swing. Skip the homework for one night and throw the ball around with the dog. Laugh together. Create memories. Have fun.