A parent recently made a suggestion to me that I hadn’t ever thought of before. I was speaking about Reimagining Family Life with Disability and the importance of connecting to community.

There are lots of reasons why parents of kids with disabilities feel alone. It’s hard to navigate the maze of agencies who might support you. Parents of typically developing kids don’t understand what it’s like to know the way to the local children’s hospital by heart. Sometimes it feels like the very people who are supposed to help you—the doctors, therapists, and teachers—are making it impossible for your child to thrive.

It’s easy to feel alone and overlooked and overwhelmed. Which is why it is also so important for us to connect to community. There are all sorts of ways to connect to community, from taking a few minutes to linger after school with other parents at the playground or joining a book club or hosting a party or finding a support group online.

But what this parent offered was another way to connect to community—through advocacy. I loved her point because advocacy not only connects us to other people who care about the same thing, but it also makes a difference on behalf of our families.

So, with thanks for the suggestion to the mom who offered this idea, if you are a parent of a child with a disability who feels alone, maybe finding a group of people who want to work together towards a common cause on behalf of your family is just what you need.

MORE WITH AMY JULIA:

• Free Resource: From Exclusion to Belonging
  (a free guide to help you identify and create spaces of belonging and welcome)

Let’s stay in touch. Subscribe to my newsletter to receive weekly reflections that challenge assumptions about the good life, proclaim the inherent belovedness of every human being, and envision a world of belonging where everyone matters. Follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube and subscribe to my Reimagining the Good Life podcast for conversations with guests centered around disability, faith, and culture.