Special needs parenting


I'm sure you've all seen the video of Quaden floating around, I'm not going to share it because, to be frank, it's fucking horrible. Personally I would never be able to share a video like that of any child, I wouldn't be able to just film and not comfort my poor child. The poor boy wishing he was dead because he's being bullied endlessly at school. My heart breaks for him. No child should feel that way - NO ONE should feel that way. That being said, I don't blame the mother AT ALL for sharing. She's obviously at her wits end, and she's started a conversation that NEEDS to be had - to be quite honest, I admire her bravery. Looking at the comment section of anywhere these videos have been shared makes me sick - grown adults bullying this mother, who is obviously struggling. They're calling her all sorts of names, all while also being mad at the children doing the bullying! It's maddening, and it's a cycle that has to stop. It's not easy being different, and it's definitely not easy seeing your child being bullied because of those differences. I don't even really blame the kids that are doing the bullying, because in all likelihood its learned behaviour. (Although if it were Ella being bullied, I couldn't help but be livid at the kids too!) All of us adults sharing the hashtag #istandwithquaden isn't enough. It's the latest viral trend, and it will fade out, we will forget and move on with our lives, and this poor family will never be able to forget it. You NEED to have the conversation with your kids! You need to sit them down and tell them, bullying is NEVER ok. You need to have to conversation about kids that are different. Kids that look different, or act different. We need to be raising our kids to welcome the differences. We, as parents, need to DO better. #westandwithquaden #stopthebullying #stampoutbullying #dobetter