Couples With Children With Disabilities More Likely Too Divorce

I always liked the quote "life is what happens when you are busy making other plans". This statement is very true in the context of marriage especially when a marriage is tested, for example, when a couple is faced with the difficulties of raising a child with special needs. When a couple decides to start a family, often times they are 100% surprised if their child is born with autism, cerebral palsy or a number of other disabilities. The divorce statistics for couples raising a child with special needs are quite high, mostly due to the stress that caring for such a child puts on the marriage. In addition, men and women have different ways of dealing with stress and their different ideas sometimes clash and cause a stable marriage to crumble. Therefore, it is necessary for couples faced with challenges involving their children to seek help and to make sure they take time for each other. I encourage all couples with children who are disabled or mentally challenged to seek out help, either through support groups or therapy to help them deal not only with the care of the child, but also how to deal with the stress in a positive and constructive way in order to avoid ending up in divorce court.

To read a question and answer from a psychologist about how to deal with the stress of raising a special needs child, see: http://www.insidebayarea.com/bayarealiving/ci_6001093