ABSTRACT
Common problems seen by children's specialists—such as feeding and sleeping difficulties, separation anxiety, or temper tantrums—have well-rehearsed solutions, but these are harder to apply when a child is developmentally delayed. Children are not born with any understanding of how the world works, and no child has the mental ability to make sense of his relationships with his parents for several years. Good mental health demands a well-functioning mind, which is able to maintain a balance between our inner needs and others' demands, and we do this by adapting to and integrating our learning and experiences. Often it is life experience and good-enough parenting that will help our children achieve quite extraordinary advances in mental stability and maturity, despite their intellectual limitations. Help should be readily available from primary-care counsellors, child and family mental health services, family therapy clinics, or learning disability specialist teams.
