The Unsung Hero

Special needs dad, he’s the unsung hero.

You always read articles and hear people talking about the special needs mom. How hard it is for us, what we have to go through, all the juggling that we do. But, many of us don’t do this life alone. Where there’s a special needs mom, there’s a special needs dad.

He might not be at every doctor’s appointment, every IEP meeting or teachers meeting. But he is the backbone of this family. He’s our superhero.

He’s the one that leaves for work every morning and being in the military sometimes work means being gone for a few days, weeks or months on end. No matter how long his work day is, he comes home and jumps right in helping out, never complaining. Some days it’s calm and everyone has done homework, been bathed and ready for dinner. Some days it’s me calling with a screaming toddler in the background telling him to get drive-thru and that my son and I are still trying to get homework done. He walks in with dinner and takes the screaming toddler while I finish helping with homework.

He’s the one who takes our 13-year-old with autism, who’s almost bigger than him, to get his blood drawn.

He’s the one sitting at home with our other children when one of them needs to go to the ER, a specialist or to the doctor. He’s the one waiting for the text or phone call to know what the doctors say.

He’s the one who’s always up for a new adventure with our three-ring circus and telling me “It’s going to be fine, no matter what day we have. We won’t know until we try.”

He’s not afraid to sit in an airport and make Cookie Monster sounds to his 13-year-old son on facetime because his son is still obsessed with Sesame Street. He’s also not afraid to make facial expressions back and forth with him either.

He’s the one that gets most of my attitude because some days I have nothing left for him. But he calmly listens to me yell at him about my day, knowing that my frustration isn’t towards him. He lets me fall apart and he picks me back up. He supports our kids and me no matter what.

I thank God every day for sending him to me to do this life with. I couldn’t have imagined a better father or husband than the one I have. He’s the calm to all of our storm.

Special needs dads are just as important as special needs moms and deserve recognition too. They are out there loving their babies, supporting them and advocating for them too.

So next time you see parents out with their unique, amazing children and want to tell the mom how great of a job she’s doing, tell the dad also. He’s right there in the thick of it with her doing a great job.

Happy Father’s Day to all of the special needs dads out there. You rock, you’re amazing, you’re doing a great job and you are loved and appreciated more than you will ever know.