Challenging society’s negative narrative to understand the positivity of caring for a child with disabilities

I’m enormously proud to have been a part of the Positive Family Connections project with the University of Warwick since 2022. My work as a family carer facilitator with Positive Family Connections has been deeply meaningful to me and I wanted to share some information about the project:

‘The Centre for Research in Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities at the University of Warwick focuses on research to support people with Intellectual (learning) and Developmental disabilities and their families. One such project is Positive Family Connections, a new online six-week programme for families who have a child with additional developmental needs (learning disability, autism, or both) aged between 8-13. It was co-produced with family carers from the start.

Positive Family Connections is a positively-oriented, family-focused programme aimed at enhancing relationships within families with a child with a learning or developmental disability. Our relationships with those closest to us are key for the wellbeing of the whole family and that is no different when there is a disabled family member…The programme adopts a positive narrative to having a disabled child, challenging the predominantly negative narrative that exists in society and academia.’

The above is an excerpt from the article 'Challenging society’s negative narrative to understand the positivity of caring for a child with disabilities' published 20th Dec 2023 by Special Needs Jungle: https://www.specialneedsjungle.com/challenging-societys-negative-narrative-understand-positivity-caring-child-disabilities/