Raising a Special Needs Child: Finding Strength, Purpose, and Meaning

A mother pours so much love, patience, and emotional strength into her special child, and faces many complex challenges along the way.

How can we strengthen and infuse meaning into the journey of raising a child with special needs?

A Letter of Strength and Perspective

Rabbi Moshe Shapira sought to encourage parents facing these challenges — to give them strength for the demanding path they walk, and to instill confidence in the unique mission entrusted to them from Heaven. To that end, he wrote a heartfelt letter aimed at uplifting every parent, especially those blessed with a special child.

“I feel a need to share some of what is in my heart,” he begins, “since the birth of your son, may he be blessed with good fortune. I have been thinking that the Almighty will help you succeed and stand strong in the role given to you. For you have been given a gift beyond compare.”

“This child has the power to draw out from within you immense and wondrous strengths from the deepest places of the heart, that nothing else in the world could ever bring forth.”

The Unique Soul and Its Mission

The rabbi continues with a profound insight into the nature of every soul, and the unique role of a special child:

“Every soul is sent into this world to fulfill a specific purpose. Most people are sent primarily to refine themselves, and to influence their surroundings according to their abilities. However, there are souls that do not need to ‘fix’ themselves in the usual sense. If such a soul is sent into this world, it means that it is of an especially elevated nature. It does not require personal correction; rather, its entire mission is to elevate and transform its environment.”

A Challenge That Is Also a Privilege

Rabbi Shapira does not ignore the real difficulties involved in raising a special child. At the same time, he emphasizes the profound privilege, alongside the responsibility:

“This elevated soul has been sent into your home. Receive it with great love, and help it fulfill the purpose for which it was sent. May God assist you, so that you are able to fulfill its mission — and your mission, in the proper way. I pray that you merit abundant divine assistance, and much joy and blessing from all your children.”

Raising a special child is not a simple path. But within its challenges lies the rare opportunity to uncover deep inner strength, to live a life of meaning, and to take part in a mission that reaches far beyond the ordinary.