Navigating daily life can be challenging when caring for a loved one with special needs. Whether they’re a child or an adult, you’ll have to put in extra effort to keep up with their abilities while ensuring they are safe and happy. The techniques that offer the most comfort for them and your family will vary, so here are a few to try.

How Families Can Manage Loved Ones With Special Needs 

1. Essential Oils

Essential oils come from distilling a plant’s leaves, flowers, stems, roots, and bark. Though they were originally used for aromatherapy, they now also work as an alternative treatment for adults and children with mental abilities. 

For many families with loved ones that have special needs, essential oils have helped reduce challenging behaviors, such as anger, anxiety, hyperactivity, sensory overload, sleeplessness, and meltdowns. Lavender, mandarin, peppermint, cedar wood, and bergamot are some of the best options because of their calming effects.

2. General Counseling

People with special needs often face learning and behavioral challenges, which frequently involve issues with attention and concentration. Counseling provides assistance and intervention to help them deal with these difficulties.

These professionals can also help your loved one change their behavior. They can use various counseling methods to help an individual with special abilities improve their social, emotional, and behavioral skills. One common approach is the distraction technique, which allows your loved one to cope with agitation by focusing on another matter—usually related to their interests.

3. ABA Therapy

Applied Behavioral Analysis or ABA is a therapy for developing a person’s social, communication, and learning capacities through reinforcement strategies. This solution involves multiple phases and is structured to meet the individual's unique needs. 

The therapist will do a Functional Behavioral Assessment (FBA), where they observe and talk with your loved one. This step helps them discover an individual’s strengths, abilities, and challenges. Once they’ve determined the proper interventions to address the problematic behaviors, they’ll create a formal plan with specific strategies. For ABA to be effective, caregiver training and frequent evaluation is necessary. The latter allows therapists to modify their approach based on what works and doesn’t.  

If you have a family member with special needs, you can get help caring for them, and a bit of pampering yourself. Harbor Unlimited O’Fallon, MO, is a nonprofit organization that helps residents in St. Charles County and the surrounding areas with abilities like autism and Down Syndrome through therapeutic recreation. This organization provides services to people of all ages and abilities, as well as their family. Learn more about their role in the community online or by calling (314) 856-2665.