Does anyone have a child with special needs and has to wear braces on their legs/leg?

I have to wear a brace on my leg in order to walk normal. I only need one and I have only one pair of shoes to fit it. They are tennis shoes, so I can't wear them to church. My mom won't get me dress shoes. So when I go to church without my brace, I walk funny. Yesterday, Mom told me that my walking emmbarreses her.

I really don't think what she said was nice. I am already her most sensitive child. Does any other parent belittle or make fun of the way their child walks, runs, dances, talks or does things?

How old are you? Does your church actively ban tennis shoes or is that just your mom's rule? From my experience in Catholic churches, dress codes have gone way down hill compared to say 40 or 50 years ago and no one would blink at someone wearing sneakers. Do others wear tennis shoes to church? Could you wear a long skirt that covers the tennis shoes and no one knows you are wearing them? Even if they did know, I doubt they would care because they know you have a health reason to require it. I went to a school with a strict uniform but there was one kid who wore braces and he was allowed to wear sneakers when the rest of us weren't. No one complained about even when we were in 3rd grade, it wasn't a big deal to us that he got "special treatment". Now of course that does not help with the issue of your mom belittling you, or if it's her rule that you can't wear tennis shoes to church. I will leave that up to the parents and medical professionals on here that probably have better advice than is I do. Though, I do have one more question, are you involved at all in other church activities like youth groups, choir, anything like that. Do you think you could talk to the leader of one of those groups or perhaps another leader in your church about this issue? They might be able to help you and talk to your mom. Try not to let her get you down. Good luck and I hope everything works out.

I will admit to in fairly equal measure making fun of, being openly irritated by*, and outright ignoring my five year old cry. But that's because he cries rather than speak most of the time, so he spends alot of time crying. It's like the boy who cried wolf - if he NEVER cried, I'd treat the times he does alot more seriously. But because he cries 57 times a day, I can't take it seriously anymore. Seriously, about a half hour ago, he almost cried over a peanut butter and jelly. Who the heck cries over peanut butter and jelly?! MY KID!

*Yes, really. He was having a full on meltdown over a video game, complete with jumping on the couch, screaming at the top of his lungs, and full on yelling at me when I tried to get him to calm down. After five minutes or so, I went "I can't stand this noise for another second, when you're ready to calm down, you let me know." and walked away. He was quiet before I got to the top of the stairs.

I am 20, but a little slow on growing up. I am still very much a child on the inside. At my church, which is Catholic, I am in 2 choirs. We do stress that we are dressed properly since we are part of the service. It is like being on stage. You need to be dressed accordingly. You need to set a good example for the congregation. My mother would go crazy if I wore my sneakers to church. I, myself might go crazy too. I'm a girl and need my shoes to match my dress.

So if given the option to wear sneakers to church you wouldn't take it? A long dress would cover the sneakers. If you were able to find another pair of shoes that appeared more dresser that fit your brace, would you be willing to wear the brace to church? I'm just having a hard time figuring out what you consider to be the worse problem, walking "funny" in "nicer" shoes, or walking more steadily in not as nice shoes. There are a lot of specially made shoes out there now, I bet somewhere you could find a pair of black (or another neutral color) shoe that matched your dress and fit your brace that don't look like tennis shoes. Talk to your orthopedic doctor or podiatrist about options. I still think you should also talk to some leaders in your church about how you feel about these problems: the shoes, the brace and your mom. You must be in a different country or at least a different part of the country than I am (North East/Mid Atlantic), because everyone wears jeans and sneakers to Catholic services I've been too, even at the National Shrine Basilica in DC.

Yes but if you need to wear the brace, you should be able to wear the brace. If I were the choir director I wouldn't care, someones health/safety is more important.

Have you looked for dress shoes that fit over the brace? I am not sure how bulky your brace is, but surely there has to be something that works with it.

www.walkingonacloud.ca . . . something like this type of shoe would work.

I think that all parents make fun of their kids at some point, it's just how far we take it. I do it in a friendly way and granted my kid is only 19 mths...

I don't have any money to get new shoes, but I have been begging my mom to take me shopping to get dress shoes to fit my brace. I'd rather walk funny, than wear tennis shoes to church. I live in MD. My choir directors have said they want people dressed modestly. No jeans, sweats, cleavage, mini-skirts. I don't care if I walk funny. I only care that Mom makes fun of me and hates the way I walk.

Than the only solution is to tell your mom that what she is saying is hurtful.

Yeah, I think you need to let your mom know that her statement hurts your feelings. If she still does it, feel free to let her know that this is how God made you, therefore He is perfectly ok with the way you walk in church, and if it embarrasses her, she is welcome to take it up with Him.

Some parents don't think before they speak and don't realise what is a "funny" comment for them can be really hurtful to you.
Perhaps your Mom can't accept that you have to wear a leg brace. some parents find it hard when their child isn't perfect. We're all different that is what all of us special.

Queenie xx