After the sudden death of a mother, the elderly father reluctantly turned to his son and asked if carers would possibly help with his daughter. A lady who lives with a learning disability, cerebral palsy, epilepsy, anxiety and mobility issues. His son had spent the past 30 years working within Adult Social Care, to understand … Continued
My debut novel, Patience, was published in hardback in August. At its heart is a severely disabled woman, Patience, who understands everything, even though everyone around her thinks she can’t. It took me a long time to realise – well into the editing process for the novel, long after I’d been given a book deal … Continued
I live in Northern Ireland with my husband and we look after my mother-in-law who is in her 90s. My own parents are in their late 70s/early 80s and live in England. They are on a basic pension, and Mum has recently started having memory problems. My sister Emma has Down Syndrome and lives next … Continued
Join us in celebrating National Siblings Day on 10th April – a global awareness day recognising brothers and sisters! This year our theme is #SiblingStrengths and we spoke to three brilliant siblings who told us more about theirs. What are your #SiblingStrengths? What strengths do you admire in other siblings? Be part of the conversation … Continued
My sister, Mary Kaye, was born with cerebral palsy (CP). She has had a number of other health complications throughout her life which can go a long with CP. I am 70 years old and Mary is 5 years younger than I. Two brothers fill out our family of 4 children. In our family there … Continued
The day my sister was born, I had no idea this tiny baby would become the most important person in the world to me. Nearly four decades later, we are soul mates. As children, we could be silly together but we were too different to enjoy the same things. That all changed when I took … Continued
This pic was taken in autumn 2020 when my sister Carol had just had a hip replacement at Hinchingbrooke hospital in Cambridgeshire. It’s not the most glamorous pic but then, it’s not always glamorous being a sibling is it?! Carol has Apert Syndrome which for her means she has some physical and some mild learning … Continued
During covid my whole life changed. I work for the NHS on a critical care unit and am a single parent to a little boy. My dad and mum usually help out with adhoc care. My brother Mark has learning disabilities, and in December 2019 he had to move in with my dad as an … Continued
Where am I? Almost 2 years on – that is a good question and it feels like it is very difficult to answer. I really want to write this update and tell a story of everything being great – that I am back to doing the things I love. The reality is that I feel … Continued
Over the summer of 2021, many Covid-19 restrictions were lifted across the UK and many people returned to pre-covid activities. For some siblings, this wasn’t possible. Some continue to shield or take daily life extremely cautiously, in order to protect their clinically vulnerable brother or sister. Our shielding survey in August 2021 revealed the extent … Continued