I Can Be that Mom – My Child’s Steps to Independence

Hey Transition Parents! 

Author: Lindsay Beal, Parent of aKSSB Transition Student

Date: 4-3-2019

Or maybe you’re a momma wondering if a transition program is the right choice for your child.  I remember all the  questions, I didn’t even know to ask. All the emotions of leaving my child the first day!  

What a journey the last two years have been. I wish there had been another mom there that had some years of experience to walk me to the car that day!  Or maybe a conversation in the parking lot.  Instead our family sat on a bench in the yard of the school just looking at each other.   There was some unease and excitement mixed with a little fear.

In a short time my son was doing his own laundry, cooking, reading and starting to talk about the possibility of living alone some day!  We were shocked but so happy.

As the weeks carried on he began participating in conversations and sharing his opinion on topics. All of the fear and unease washed away in these weeks. My son that I dropped off that August day that struggled socially in the past and has visual impairments, had begun to change in all the good ways.

In the two years that would follow he would live in an on campus apartment a few times and an on campus cottage. He planned his meals, went grocery shopping and cooked for himself and his roommate. He had a cleaning schedule and their little space was always clean.

I can’t even begin to list all of the accomplishments and opportunities the transition program has opened up for him.

If I could be the mom that walks you to the car or has that conversation in the parking lot. I would tell you, take a deep breath everything is going to be ok.  Life for your child is going to change rapidly. There will be some growing pains but in the end this will be the best years invested in a future of independence and happiness. Brace yourself because they aren’t going to need you. They are going to start forming opinions of their own and making their own choices. So take a deep breath and be ready for greatness, your child has it in them.