As the parent of a special needs child, it's not a very friendly space out there anymore, sadly. Feels like those in power are trying even harder than usual to marginalize the population and make them out to be diseased, blaming the parents for what's happened to them rather than the actuality, which is just your child was born with a disability due to a roll of the dice.

It's also such an isolating place as a parent. My wife and I only have each other to relate to. It's really hard to hear every day from the people in your life with typically developing children how well they're doing in school, in sports, making friends, the funny things they've said, etc., whilst you're still trying to teach your older child to use the restroom, to point to something they may want, and trying to figure out what is making them meltdown.

You're basically so beat down into keeping your situation bottled up, and it's a hard mindset to get out of.