Having a child with a neurodevelopmental disability can bring a variety of joys, challenges, and opportunities. When navigating the process of raising a child with a disability, questions can often arise about one’s child is ahead or behind “typical” developmental norms.
There is an unfortunate trend across many institutions such as the medical and public education fields that focuses on comparing the developmental expectations of “typically developing” children against the growth children with neurodevelopmental disabilities.
View the below handout to learn about potential dangers of strictly following typical development norms, how views about neurodevelopmental disabilities are changing, and the benefits of focusing on the personal growth of your child as compared to strictly following “typical” developmental norms.