Upon accepting our daughters special needs referral, I began the process of seeking answers on her medical condition through any number of sources. I took a lot of time trying to make my own assessment about our child’s condition. I spent hours reading online and attempting to make a diagnosis. Though our family doctor had given us insight on causes and future medical care, I felt I needed to verify information. Of course, this is a great idea, but there is a point when it becomes too much. As my eyes watered and strained, I looked at ambiguous medical photos, asking why can’t I find ANYTHING similar to our child’s health condition. Probably because I am not a trained medical professional! Part of my radical search was in China when our daughter had an undiagnosed medical need. During this time, I learned a parent can research all the medical information in the world, but until I physically took our children into the proper medical specialist, nothing was certain. Rather than look up anything and everything online, wasting my time, I found the internet more beneficial after our first visit to the specialist. Once we had a specific diagnosis, it was possible to use search engines to find factual medical information. That being said, the words “factual” and “internet,” in combination with one another online, are perceived as somewhat of an oxymoron. I used the internet to read basic information off sites like Web MD.
I joined online groups and chat boards with families of children with similar special needs. This was actually most valuable for its insight on daily life. Rather than focusing energy on the realities of life inside of a short window of time needed to treat our child, we focused on the normalcy of raising a special needs child. It also allowed me to find a community of people for support.
For this reason, the internet has been a positive in our adoption experience. It is hard to imagine not having this source of support from other families at the touch of a button.
No comments:
Post a Comment