Having a special needs kid puts you permanently on the defensive. You learn to approach every task already knowing the scenarios that could go wrong.
When I build a site, I’m not just thinking about launch day. I’m thinking about the client six months in, trying to update a page on their own. I’m thinking about future maintenance, security, and who’s actually going to use it, and what they’re comfortable handling themselves. Each scenario I’ve lived through taught me to build with the next one already in mind.
Same instinct shapes how I work with AI. A good prompt isn’t just about the output—it’s about the security risks, the server load, and the edge cases of how a real user will actually behave. You think it through before you ship it, not after.
You don’t turn the defensive mindset off. You just channel it into better work.
Turns out reading a room for your kid teaches you to read a codebase the same way.