Day by Day: Emotional Wellbeing in Parents of Disabled Children

As the parent of a child with complex needs I have felt overwhelmed so often these past few years. Overwhelmed by the responsibility, by worry, by the sheer work involved navigating the complex world in which we find ourselves dealing with multiple professionals and services. This book helped me find a way to learn to cope with it all much better! Local mental health services don’t always understand the realities we face, so can’t always support well, this helped for me to plug that gap.

This book will help you to see that you are amazing and worthy of happiness and self care. The quotes from other parents are so helpful, the book is easy to read and you can read any of the chapters in any order and still get so much from it. Buy it and keep it nearby at all times :-)

This book is a wonderful balance of care, compassion and clinical research findings. It is so bewildering becoming a parent carer, or starting out the journey of parenting a disabled child, and this book helps to map out all the feelings and make sense of how to take care of ourselves along this challenging journey.

This is brilliant. This is the book I needed when my son was first diagnosed. Thank you.

I found this the most helpful book I have bought regarding our special needs journey. I use it regularly. The author’s lived experience and psychological expertise gives the book a level of practicality and pragmatism that has gotten me through quite a few “wobbles”. I highly recommend buying a copy and reading it!

If you are a parent of a child with additional needs OR you love a parent of a child with additional needs OR you work to support a parent of a child with additional needs….BUY. THIS. BOOK.I have worked with parent carers for 25 years, I also have a son with additional needs. In all that time I have not read such a comprehensive, expansive and accurate deep dive into the emotions that hit you, why they hit you and most importantly, what you can do to help your emotional well-being.86% of parent carers are emotionally unable to take-in or action ANY of the support, information and advice they are given. 86%! Just too exhausted and overwhelmed.Surely then, the only way to support families/yourself is to first support their emotional well-being?!This book does that perfectly. Well written. Clear explanations. Easy to navigate. Empowering and resilience building.Five. Stars!

As a mother to a daughter with a rare syndrome this book covered so many thoughts that I've had over the years. It is told with such honesty and always tries to put a positive slant on things. During a difficult time, this book allowed me time to regain my strength and find support networks that were missing.For anyone who needs a little bit of comfort, from a wonderful lady who understands then this book is a must read for you.Thank you so much Joanne - you will never know the difference you have made.

Having gone through the continuous ups and downs of having a disabled child, this book supports and answers many of the feelings and questions that often make you feel so overwhelmed and alone.I especially liked the part about siblings and the useful comments from other parents, siblings and practical links for support at different ages.This book understands the guilt and anxiety that many parent carers feel, it felt like a trusted friend and was extremely useful for me to process some of the emotions I wasn’t even aware were a problem.A must read for anyone in the same situation.