Grief is not only a reaction to death; it can be a reaction to any form of loss. In this case, it is mourning the loss of an ‘ideal’. When you discover you are having a baby, you start to dream, hope and envisage the child that you will have and the life that they […]
Written by a respected friend and fellow ‘Therapy Mom’: As a ‘seasoned’ mother of a child with challenges, being in our 12th year of this journey, the lowest points on this road (by far) were those initial parent-teacher meetings. I wouldn’t sleep properly for a week before these meetings, I’d arrive there an absolute bundle […]
One of the biggest (non-health related) repercussions of COVID-19 and the 2020 lockdown was the closure of schools and the subsequent remote-schooling. Although N was only just 4 at the time and not necessarily in an academically ‘essential’ phase of schooling, he went from having specialised schooling and intensive speech and occupational therapy to having […]
No one has children in the hope that they will struggle or have special needs. No one plans their child’s formative years around therapy sessions, home-programmes and changing schools. It is hard to acknowledge and even harder to accept. By the August of N’s first year at playschool (which was tumultuous to be nice), we […]
On 31st March 2016 I gave birth to my beautiful son via C-Section at 1.86kg at 7:42a.m. He had stopped growing in utero and was delivered at 36 weeks. Perfectly formed, with thick dark hair, and oh so tiny. He could breathe. Whew. They placed him on my chest for a matter of minutes and […]
We put ice cubes in his tea (too hot), he only eats empty cones with no ice-cream (too cold) and he hates my cardigan with the textured polka dots. This is what mothering a child with complex sensory issues looks like. Clothing labels must be removed, cutting nails is a distressing and time intensive exercise, […]
I am not sure if my son is so visual because he couldn’t speak until he was almost 3, or if it is his natural aptitude (or both), but it has always been his greatest strength (that and dogged persistence). For the first approximately 3½ years, his communication was dominated by a system of symbolic […]
It’s like a Momager, but for therapy. To this day, I am uncertain if I feel that being a speech therapist has been a blessing or a curse on this journey. It is important to explain here that I have carefully crafted a near 20-year career without ever giving therapy to a child. This has […]