Seminar: 'Bringing up babies/infants with very special needs - a better deal for families'. FREE to pairs of practitioners and parents. Manchester, UK. December 2018
“I attended the seminar last week, and I found it very interesting…that we do not always need multiple responses to a child’s needs…a vivid reminder of the barriers and challenges that parents can face” *
Practitioners are caring, hard-working and doing their best. But many parents still say they get more stress from how support is provided than they do from their child’s condition. Babies and infants can get stress from too many practitioners and then attachment is impeded. Long-term stress in any of us affects our mental health.
This informal seminar will start with the proposition about new families:
- The first concern is for the new child’s survival.
- The second concern is for the new child’s bonds of attachment to mother (or other primary care giver).
- The third concern is to meet the needs of child and family together, keeping quality of life as a priority.
A major theme of the seminar will be about parents being in the driving seat, asking for help when they need it and saying what they want help with. It is the parents’ job to bring up their young child. It is the practitioners’ job to offer relevant support when they need it.
Where? Friends’ Meeting House, 6 Mount Street, Manchester M2 5NS - https://www.manchesterquakers.org.uk/
When? Wednesday 12th December 2018. 11 am to 2 pm. The start and finish times are to help parents attend. Babies welcome.
No food or drinks are provided. You can bring a snack and there are local cafés.
Cost: FREE for pairs of practitioners + (unwaged) parents. Managers, practitioners, academics and others coming without a parent - £25.
For a booking form, e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Tel: 01497 831550
Please pass this information to local parents, parent groups and parent associations
We intend to repeat this seminar in London early next year. Please e-mail to say you are interested.
The seminar can come to your team. The cost will be around £350 (UK and Ireland). Please apply for cost if you are in another country.
* Comments from two Salford practitioners who attended an ‘Early Childhood Intervention without Tears’ seminar in Salford this year:
“Hi Peter, I attended the seminar last week, and I found it very interesting. Many of the things you discussed, resonated with me, in particular the consideration of terminology e.g. from Multiple needs to Multifaceted- and the notion that we do not always need multiple responses to a child’s needs. I agree that practitioners from different disciplines could still support children, but the delivery of this could be managed by fewer professionals or perhaps a single practitioner, and hopefully lessen the time parents are taken away from normal life.
“Another point you raised was in relation to siblings; and this is an area where I feel more work could still be done; family life is often severely compromised when a family has a child with complex needs to look after-parents often feel guilt and anxiety over how to balance their time between a poorly child and other children. I often witness families doing social activities separately or not at all.
“It was wonderful to have a parent present at the seminar; and I agree parents do have a powerful voice; sadly, not all parents are able to express themselves so well; so how do they get their voice heard? I guess we still have a long way to go. The seminar was a vivid reminder of the barriers and challenges that parents can face; on the other hand austerity measures and depletion of services pose a challenge to service providers… With thanks for a thought-provoking seminar.”
“I felt that this seminar has much more scope for discussion and looking at problem solution within services. Discussion regarding how different services can work together when they each may have their own set of targets etc to meet as this seems to be a recurring stumbling block particularly getting the nhs side to work less to their own agenda. Perhaps a parent speaker to give first hand experiences we were lucky and had a parent voice other groups may not and I felt it brought alive some of the discussions. The book is a huge resource and was well received.”
New books by Peter Limbrick:
Early Childhood Intervention without Tears: Improved support for infants with disabilities and their families (2017)
Primary Interventionists in the Team Around the Child approach: A guide for managers and practitioners supporting families whose baby or infant has a multifaceted condition (2018)
Contact: Peter Limbrick, Interconnections. E-mail: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.Tel: 01497 831550
