Parenting is a balancing act, one that means juggling listening to your child, respecting their needs, and setting the firm, structuring limits they need. Questions abound, and the “right” educational approach is anything but singular. When it comes to a child with DYS, ADHD, or ASD, the range of questions grows even wider, with recommendations that are sometimes contradictory, making everything even more complex. But know that parental guidance can bring you wellbeing and peace of mind. Here’s how.
What is parental guidance?
Parental guidance refers to all the advice and information given to parents by healthcare professionals to help them develop their own educational strategy. This support draws its strength from the diversity of those involved: psychologists, speech-language therapists, psychomotor therapists, educators, and more.
The wide range of disciplines involved brings expertise specific to each field, in order to give parents direction or avenues to explore. Through it, they can gain tools, skills, and techniques essential to their role as parents. To promote positive parenting, it takes into account each family situation and the child’s stage of development.
At the same time, parental guidance can also offer one-off support for a specific difficulty, such as helping a child with DYS (dyscalculia, dyslexia, dysorthographia…), ADHD (Attention Deficit Disorder, with or without hyperactivity), or ASD (Autism Spectrum Disorder). Note that this is an approach recommended by the French National Authority for Health (HAS) for neurodevelopmental disorders.
What happens during parental guidance sessions?
Parental guidance takes the form of a programme spread over several sessions with the healthcare professional chosen. During these sessions, the specialist listens to and takes note of the difficulties encountered in raising the child and in their relationship with their parents. They can then advise on attitudes, skills to work on, and educational strategies to put in place.
The success of this support depends largely on how involved the parents are. It often reveals skills parents already have but rarely use, whether because they aren’t aware they have them, don’t know how to apply them, or because the relationship is disrupted by other factors that get in the way of putting them into practice.
Over the course of the sessions, the professional tracks progress and the impact of their recommendations, adjusting them as needed.
How can you access this kind of support?
Parental guidance can be set up through specialised organisations such as Early Medico-Social Action Centres (CAMSP) or Special Education and Home Care Services (SESSAD).
But parents can also choose to contact trained professionals directly for this compassionate educational approach. If you’d like to find one for an in-person meeting, check the Dys-Positif directory, available on the association’s website. For remote support, which is just as effective, you can get in touch with a professional on the Ora-Visio platform, specialised in neurodevelopmental disorders. It’s a step well worth taking, both for the child and for the parents involved.
