Siblings
(i) My life with my older brother
Ethel
(ii) My job as a Project Worker for a sibling support service
Emma Dobson
Reflections of a Year 11 school leaver with Asperger’s Syndrome: an interpretive account
Pat Bennett
John has an autistic spectrum condition and was admitted to a mainstream school during Year 8 after a number of exclusions from other schools. This essay reports John's memories and opinions of his experiences in that school and identifies factors which helped him cope with his identified problems. John left at the end of Year 11 with some GCSEs and a place in the local FE college.
Our first two years with Bertie
Mary
In this essay Mary reflects on the first two years with her baby Bertie. She describes unhelpful attitudes and practices she encountered in some professionals and contrasts her experiences in the NHS with her experiences in a hospice. The names are not real.
Lead article - When parents are in denial
Shirley Young
Parents, extended family, friends and professionals use a variety of coping mechanisms in their lives with disabled babies and children. One of the most helpful, but seemingly least understood and most maligned, is denial. It is essential that parents are supported to adopt coping mechanisms or strategies which are healthiest for them and their child.
