After reading all those books, brochures, guidelines and after listening to all those lectures during seminars that intend to help us cope with the daunting task of raising these children, more and more parents, myself included, have arrived at one conclusion. All these interventions only work when we finally come to accept the fact that each and every child is different.

Society has labeled them special because they do not fit the norm. In other words, they do not do what society expects at certain stages. As such, we always seek for a way so that they can cope and thus be considered normal. But then again, according to whose standards do we want them to conform?

Dissecting the spectrum of what is normal is not the issue here. There is no question about it, change and deviation characterize this stage in a person's life.

We need only to realize that our children are "special" is the initial step towards our journey of helping these children become effective members of society.

Our children need a little more attention from us and additional help from other individuals trained in managing them.

Let us learn to wait for their time to bloom. It might be much later than the rest of their peers, but surely it will be worth the wait.

No one can really tell what lies in the future, but one thing is certain. To have a child is to celebrate life. To raise a child is to participate in the Creator's gift of life to us. And that certainly includes our special children.

Lastly, let us continuously hope and pray that our love, understanding and support will help them reach their full God-given potentials.

After all our endeavors, we may come to realize that our children may not be that different after all.

That is the never-ending challenge. Let us thank Him for the special gift. Let Us thank Him for the special challenge.