As part of its ongoing research partnership with Pears Foundation, the Disabled Children's Partnership (DCP) of which I'm a member, surveyed roughly 300 parents in June 2021 in our final survey as part of the series. I had the privilege of being one of those parents. The findings, released today, reveal that whilst the rest … Continue reading Left Behind – Children With Additional Needs As We Emerge From The COVID-19 Pandemic
Who knew that when global pop icon Madonna’s third hit single, ‘Holiday’, hit the airwaves in 1983 that the words to this upbeat pop classic would become so iconic for the world some 38 years later. As we arrive at the second COVID-19 summer many families are looking for a much-needed holiday, but with so … Continue reading Holiday! Celebrate! – A Song For Additional Needs Families In 2021
We are surrounded by noise, whether it is the noise of people around us, the constant noise of technology, the noise of kitchen appliances, the noise of cars and trucks, emergency vehicles, planes and trains. There is noise everywhere and perhaps that is one reason why we've become less good at listening… listening to each … Continue reading Leaving Lockdown: Learning To Listen To Each Other, Our Children, And Ourselves
We will soon be at the anniversary of the beginning of the first COVID-19 lockdown, which began with Boris Johnson’s address to the nation on the 23rd March 2020. A year on, and still in the third lockdown, every day seems the same; many of us are feeling a weariness, an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. It … Continue reading Are You Feeling Exhausted?
Possibly like no generations before, our children have grown up with their whole lives being captured on camera. Whatever our views on social media, many of our children have had their lives broadcast to the world as every achievement, milestone or event has been posted on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or a hundred other platforms.As parents … Continue reading What Is Your Favourite Photo Of Your Additional Needs Child?
These times we are living in are hard, aren’t they? Living through the last 12-months has sometimes seemed like a never ending ‘Groundhog Day’, and the current lockdown has seemed harder that previously due to fatigue and the weather not being so good.It seems so dark, and I don’t just mean the still short days … Continue reading Looking For Light In The Darkness
James, my autistic son, gets cold feet. Sometimes this is because he often prefers to go barefoot, sometimes this is because his blood circulation isn’t as good as it might be, or maybe it’s a combination of the two. He likes to have his feet rubbed, to warm them up, but he has also enjoyed … Continue reading Washing My Autistic Sons’ Feet
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