Our amazing neurodiverse children are worth every moment of care and attention we give them. Still, being a parent of a child with learning and attentional issues can be stressful. The research confirms this: Ongoing stressors experienced by parents of children with learning and attentional disabilities can take a toll on parents’ mental health and physical health. 

That’s why Mass General Brigham Hospital (MGH) has partnered with the Federation to learn how to help families de-stress and build resiliency. Over the past year, our FCSN-MGH team has met 22 times to coordinate and recruit participants for 7 parent listening sessions, 1 FCSN staff listening session, and 8 manual review sessions with FCSN staff. 

Input from these initial sessions enabled MGH to customize two types of stress reduction programs to better meet the needs of diverse families of children with learning and attentional disabilities. Sessions took place in Spanish and English, and the results of this parent and cultural broker input are ready to be put into practice. 

We are now recruiting participants interested in building their self-care and stress management skills through an 8-week group dedicated to stress management. There’s space for 20 English speakers and 20 Spanish speakers to take part in these weekly, 1 hour, virtual sessions. Participants will not only benefit from the program itself, but they will also help researchers understand what helps families manage the stress that comes our way. 

We look forward to updating you on the progress of this work in the months ahead. If you would like to learn more about the study or would like to  participate in one of the groups, please contact Karen Lopez at klopez@fcsn.org or 617.399.8343; or Renee Williams rwilliams@fscn.org or 617.399.8311.