Turning Challenges into Triumphs: A Personal Journey and an Invitation

I wanted to tell you about something that happened to me last week.

I was in the middle of work on Friday when my phone went, glancing down at the phone, my heart missed a beat, then began to race… I guess you know what I’m going to say, the phone call was from my daughter’s school.

Immediately, my mind also began to race...

• What had she done?
• Was someone hurt?
• Was I going to have to go and pick her up?
• What mood had she been in when she left this morning?
• Was she having to wear wrong uniform that had annoyed her and agitated her, raising her sensory needs?
• What was the menu today?
• Had she not been able to eat what she wanted?
• Who had experienced the fall out from whatever had gone wrong?
• How could I get out of work to pick her up, if they were saying she could no longer stay on the school site?

I’m sure you know the drill – the 100 questions that go through your head, before I had even answered the call.

I was reminded of the many times when I’d received similar calls from school before.

You know the ones, “I’m really sorry to have to contact you Mrs Dennis, but….”

The feelings of disappointment, shame, worry, sadness, anxiety, anger, frustration, all rolled into one gurgling mess in my stomach with each phone call.

The feelings of helplessness and stress as I try to juggle my daughter’s needs, the school’s demands, and the demands of my business and clients.

There have been times in the past when I have not known where to turn. Times when I have felt so alone with the stress, anxiety and worry – loving my daughter immensely yet feeling so frustrated that things were not going well for her and feeling that there was nothing I could do to help.

But there was, and things have turned around hugely. There are still blips…

But the call on Friday was not to say about something she had done wrong, but how she had been kind to another pupil, beyond anything the staff could really imagine, and how the senior leadership of the school felt that I really needed to know.

I’m not sharing this to big up my daughter – although I am beyond proud of what she did on Friday – but to reassure you that however bleak things seem right now, there is hope.

Things will improve, you will find a way.

I feel so passionately, that all of our children should have the right support and be able to thrive and develop their full potential.

I don’t want any parent to feel alone in this journey.

I don’t want any parent to feel that they have not got the tools to support their child.

So for this reason I’ve created the Thrive Family Membership.

In the membership each month you get:

• a group Q&A session, with me, a Clinical Psychologist with 20 years experience in intellectual disabilities and autism (as well as lived experience as a Mum of 2 autistic children)
  
  
• a family activity
  
  
• an audio relaxation recording
  
  
• an online forum with other parents also going through the same challenges; and
  
  
• some journalling prompts to help you focus your thoughts.  

All of this for less than the cost of a Costa coffee and cake each week.

For more information click here….

It would be great to have you as part of the community. There is hope!