5 Tips for a Healthy Marriage, Special Needs Style

by JoleneJan 16, 2014How-Tos, Special Needs Parenting2 comments

How can parents maintain a healthy marriage while raising a child with special needs? Here are 5 suggestions from special needs families.

Maintaining a healthy marriage takes work. Maintaining a healthy marriage while parenting kids with special needs requires even more work. So when posts surface with good advice about keeping a marriage healthy, they deserve to be passed along. So thank you to Enabled Kids, a Canadian website, for featuring the issue on their blog.

5 Tips for Maintaining a Healthy Marriage

The post was written by Janice Yeung, a journalist who frequently writes for Enabled Kids. Yeung says this to parents: “We asked some couples to give us honest insights into how parenting a special needs child has affected their marriage, and came up with a list of tips to help your marriage go from standstill to smooth.” Here are the tips the parents suggested:

Set aside time daily to chat one-on-one. Talk daily to eliminate frustrations and grudges that could build up.
Preserve intimacy. Hire a baby sitter and go on dates so your spouse remains a priority.
Face challenges as a team. For the child’s well being, a team attitude is imperative.
Stick to the positives. Dwell on the positives of parenting kids with special needs instead of the challenges.
Be around a supportive community. Surround your family with a positive group of friends who offer practical support.

What Advice Do You Offer?

How do you maintain a healthy marriage? What tips can you add to the list above? Leave them in the comment box. And if you’d like to read more on the subject, check out these other marriage-related Different Dream posts:

Special Needs Parenting and Marriage by guest blogger Amy Stout
12+ Ways to Make Your Marriage Strong Again by guest blogger Laurie Wallin
Special Needs Parent Asks, “What’s a Date?” by guest blogger Kimberly Drew

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By Jolene

Jolene Philo is the author of the Different Dream series for parents of kids with special needs. She speaks at parenting and special needs conferences around the country. She’s also the creator and host of the Different Dream website. Sharing Love Abundantly with Special Needs Families: The 5 Love Languages® for Parents Raising Children with Disabilities, which she co-authored with Dr. Gary Chapman, was released in August of 2019 and is available at local bookstores, their bookstore website, and at Amazon. The first book in her cozy mystery series, See Jane Run!, features people with disabilities.

2 Comments

Jolene on January 17, 2014 at 10:25 am

Hi Mary,

That’s excellent advice. Thanks so much!

Jolene
Mary Silenti on January 17, 2014 at 1:46 am

Be flexible.

If an intervention or treatment you favor is opposed by your spouse or will disrupt family life drastically, modify it or substitute it with one that appeals to everybody.

I blog about this and the many other challenges confronting parents of children with severe disabilities at thesoundofthesilent.blogspot.com