In today’s episode, Sarah Billingham is joined by Lauren Fenton and Rina Teslica, the hosts of the podcast F**king Normal. In this episode, Lauren and Rina share their journey of navigating the challenges of parenting a child with special educational needs (SEN) while balancing self-compassion and guilt. They explore the importance of seeking outside support, managing the mental load, and the role of self-care. Tune in for an honest, heartfelt, and sometimes humorous conversation about the realities of raising children with SEN.

Here are the Highlights:

04:34 Parenting and caring for special needs children.

08:28 Struggling with delegation and need for support.

12:06 Seeking a rational voice and combatting loneliness in SEN parenting.

13:01 Grieving process and denial in the parenting journey.

17:24 Challenges of advocating for a disabled child's needs.

25:24 Logistics and admin take up time.

27:14 Raising a SEND child requires significant effort.

35:27 Parenting Lua led to a career shift and satisfaction.

37:52 Describing everyday parenting experiences and finding joy.

About Sarah Billingham:

Sarah Billingham is a specialist speech and language teacher with a focus on emotional regulation. Her service, Confident Kids, equips parents, carers and practitioners with expert knowledge and the practical tools they need through training, coaching and group programmes. 

Becoming a parent changed Sarah’s perspective on parenting and early childhood development and deepened her interest in understanding the regulation needs of both children and their families. 

Qualifying in 2004, she initially worked in mainstream primary education and went on to lead a specialist speech and language resource base. She worked as Assistant Headteacher at a specialist SLCN school for five years and went on to lead their independent multidisciplinary assessment service until December 2021. 

Sarah was a committee member of NAPLIC (National Association of Professionals Supporting Language and Communication Development) for five years. She is a Regional Makaton Tutor. 

Connect with Sarah:

Website -  https://www.confidentkids.co/

Facebook -  https://www.facebook.com/confidentkids.co

FB community -  https://www.facebook.com/groups/ConfidentTransitions

Instagram @confidentkids.co

Free downloads: 

Choosing a School for a Child with Additional Needs

https://www.subscribepage.com/z1k2j3_copy

Easing Your Child’s Communication Frustration

https://www.subscribepage.com/z1k2j3_copy_copy

How do I know if my Child’s Emotional Outbursts are ‘Normal’?

https://www.subscribepage.com/z1k2j3_copy_copy_copy

About Laura Fenton and Rina Teslica

Lauren Fenton and Rina Teslica are the hosts and two of the founders of the F**king Normal Podcast. 

Along with a larger group of parents of disabled children they wanted to reach out and create a community of support for parents and carers who share their experiences. 

Lauren’s youngest daughter Bea was born in 2015 with 18q deletion syndrome, a rare chromosomal abnormality that affects Bea both physically and in her ability to learn and communicate.

As well as hosting the F**king Normal Podcast, Lauren is a runner, pond swimmer and very amateur pianist! She is passionate about connecting with people and building community and hopes the F**king Normal podcast will, above all, help other parents out there on this less typical parenting path feel less alone.

Rina is mummy to Lua and a fellow North Londoner. It was on a cold January morning in 2016 that her world was turned upside down with the arrival of her daughter, and it was there that she was thrown into the unknown. Although an incredibly difficult period in her life, she was able to connect with other wonderful mums in similar positions, making her feel less overwhelmed. It’s because of this that she is so passionate about bringing the F**king Normal into the world and helping connect others who need a lending ‘ear’. 

Produced by winteraudio.co.uk