just a little sister

I am Trudy’s mum first of all, but I also have almost 20 years’ experience teaching in France, England and Scotland, across a variety of sectors. I have taught for the last decade in a school for children with complex needs in Edinburgh, and worked with multiple councils.

This has given me a great deal of knowledge and understanding about how inclusion of people with disabilities can practically work. One of my main aims of this blog was to raise awareness and increase exposure to people living with disability. It aimed to be informative as well as a humorous insight into the crazy little life that we have now that Trudy is in it. It is hopefully realistic but also uplifting as I record the sometimes small instances of progress which make it all worthwhile.

As I not only understand the principles of inclusion through my training, work and studies, I also get the day to day. We live and breathe inclusion. It is part of our family life, our extended family and the friends we meet along the way. They must all have the patience to wait for Trudy, understand Trudy and ultimately get the true meaning of inclusion, which is often putting someone’s needs ahead of your own. We have had to learn this and we are still learning! There are some days when we just don’t have the energy to wait, but that’s okay. The important thing is to be kind and true to yourself, understand your fears and concerns and voice them appropriately.

In my training and workshops, I go over appropriate language to use, the theory of a person-centred approach, the importance of individuality and our own human response to difference. It is about the ‘how’ we include people with disabilities, and a little bit about the ‘why’.

Our Story

As with everyone’s story, our story is unique to us. But there are characteristics of our story which will mean something certainly to families of people with Down’s Syndrome, but also to families who are inherently different to others. We have found similar stories of frustration and unacceptance amongst all sorts of families and friends.

Our story then becomes one of possibility and potential, a story about what could be achieved because sometimes that knowledge and skills from my training has stood me in good stead to create a better life for Trudy. The two can go hand in hand if both parents and professionals are able to work together.

I feel passionately about bridging the gap between parent and professional; both enhancing the understanding of professionals to build on the expertise of parents, but also the skills of parents to deal with emotional and sometimes heart-breaking situations with diplomacy and patience.

Create anything

Welcome to a world of limitless possibilities, where the journey is as exhilarating as the destination, and where every moment is an opportunity to make your mark on the canvas of existence.

Create anything

Welcome to a world of limitless possibilities, where the journey is as exhilarating as the destination, and where every moment is an opportunity to make your mark on the canvas of existence.

Create anything

Welcome to a world of limitless possibilities, where the journey is as exhilarating as the destination, and where every moment is an opportunity to make your mark on the canvas of existence.