How to deal with a special teen

MANILA, Philippines - Handling a teenage child is like driving towards uncharted territory. No matter how many guide books and research materials you read, they will always find a way to surprise you. Parents of special children are left in the dark more than others because for them, there are no road maps available.

“Parents of special children often forget that their kids grow up. They tend to overlook the fact that once they turn into adolescents, these kids are still teenagers who have huge amounts of curiosity about sex, alcohol, and cigarettes, and have an increasing need to fit in with the world,” says Ma. Therese Jalandoni-Macapagal, executive directress of St. Joseph Cupertino School for Special Children.

Most parents, as their child grows older, also feel the heavier burden of worrying about their child’s future. For parents of special children, the normal pace seems to be for them to hit a brick wall a couple of times before realizing a strategy that works. If before, the problems will only range from dealing with communication and reading body language — special teenagers present a newer challenge of telling them about the birds and the bees, in addition to constantly explaining to them about the harshness of society.

Center for Possibilities Inc. understands this difficult situation that parents of special children face. That is why they have invited Ma. Therese Jalandoni-Macapagal, also known as Mariter, to share her knowledge, experience, and expertise with parents about handling teenagers with developmental disabilities and the problems they face as they grow older.

Mariter says that education truly helped her deal with all the obstacles that came her way as a parent of a special child. When her first-born son Andrei got diagnosed with autism, she fought with the situation by enrolling in a master’s degree in special education at UP Diliman with a cognate on psychology.

“I feel that by educating parents on how to give support and instruction to their teenage children, they can fully identify their potentials and find out avenues in which they will excel in the future,” asserts Mariter. “We can fight this invisible adversity with positive reinforcement — that is motivating them to succeed and refining their interpersonal skills.”

Center for Possibilities, Inc. Support Group will be held tomorrow, Nov. 11 at 4 to 6 p.m. at Reach International School, located at 67 Paseo de Roxas St. Makati City. For inquiries, call 725-5132/723-1242 (look for Tina or Jeng).