Coping With / Understanding Your Child's Diagnosis

When your child is first diagnosed with a disease or disorder, you could feel like your world has been turned upside down. It is normal to feel grief, sadness, anger, anxiety and even relief at having a name to put to your child’s symptoms. These emotions don’t typically end a few weeks or months after the diagnosis.

Although no parent has any guarantee their child will grow up and live a "normal" life, most parents move through life with that assumption. A devastating diagnosis challenges the most basic assumptions of parenthood.

At Families By Design, we help parents adjust to their child’s new normal and there will be periods of relative stability. However, when your child develops a new symptom or a visit to a doctor brings more disturbing information, you are likely to experience another grief reaction. Our team of professionals is here to help you cope with – and understand – your child’s diagnosis.