Join hosts, Lauren Fenton and Rina Teslica, both mothers to daughters with special needs as they and their guests share unique parenting stories and chat about the things they've learnt and are still learning. Prepare to sometimes laugh, sometimes cry, but hopefully leave with a shot of optimism in your arm!
The goal of the F**king Normal podcast is to extend the conversation and build a supportive community for other parents. We don't have the answers but want to create a safe space to share stories as we venture through parenting disabled children together.
Note: The F**king normal podcast is a parents perspective. We are not talking on behalf of disabled children or adults. We can't and we would never presume to. That's not our experience. We want to learn to parent and advocate better and this show is about our experience as parents.
For more information and transcripts for each episode go to our website at www.fkingnormalpodcast.com
The F**king Normal Team
Hosts & Editing: Lauren Fenton, Rina Teslica
Production team: Genevieve Porritt, Victoria Wason
Artwork: Sharon King-Chai
Music: Æ Mak - Listen on Spotify
Wider creative team: Mary Forrest, Clare Wright, Gemma Sherlock, Helen Gamble-Shields, Kathleen Javalla, Caroline MacPake, Evangelia Vasiliadou.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Join hosts, Lauren Fenton and Rina Teslica, both mothers to daughters with special needs as they and their guests share unique parenting stories and chat about the things they've learnt and are still learning. Prepare to sometimes laugh, sometimes cry, but hopefully leave with a shot of optimism in your arm!
The goal of the F**king Normal podcast is to extend the conversation and build a supportive community for other parents. We don't have the answers but want to create a safe space to share stories as we venture through parenting disabled children together.
Note: The F**king normal podcast is a parents perspective. We are not talking on behalf of disabled children or adults. We can't and we would never presume to. That's not our experience. We want to learn to parent and advocate better and this show is about our experience as parents.
For more information and transcripts for each episode go to our website at www.fkingnormalpodcast.com
The F**king Normal Team
Hosts & Editing: Lauren Fenton, Rina Teslica
Production team: Genevieve Porritt, Victoria Wason
Artwork: Sharon King-Chai
Music: Æ Mak - Listen on Spotify
Wider creative team: Mary Forrest, Clare Wright, Gemma Sherlock, Helen Gamble-Shields, Kathleen Javalla, Caroline MacPake, Evangelia Vasiliadou.
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
In this week’s episode, Rina and Lauren discuss the importance of connecting with people who share your experience, building a community (hello the fkingnormal podcast!) and just how valuable this is for providing a safe space to cope through difficulties — together. They interview Australian author and advocate Melanie Dimmitt on her journey to accepting her less typical parenting path, what she has learnt and what she has now done to support others in a similar position.
Mel shares her initial feelings on hearing her son’s diagnosis, her path to finding acceptance and how connecting with others in similar situations opened her eyes and prompted her to write her debut book. The group discuss their own routes to acceptance and how building support networks with others was the life line that they all needed. Mel speaks candidly about her own struggles, but also highlights just how relieving it was to find others that she could relate so deeply to.
Guest Biography
Melanie Dimmitt is an Australian freelance journalist. She is also a mother of two young children, one with profound physical disabilities and the other she describes as ‘medically boring’, but both cute as hell. She released her debut book ‘Special: Antidotes to the Obsessions that Come with a Child’s Disability’ and has written, spoken, podcasted and advocated far and wide for parent’s on similar parenting journeys. She currently heads up news and features at disability support organisation, Hireup, and publishes The Blend – an annual magazine for the tube-feeding community. She also hosts the NDIS Know-how podcast, where she aims to help parents navigate the difficult Australian disability insurance system.
Instagram- @the_special_book
Content Warnings
Diagnosis
Life Limiting Disabilities
Resources
The Blend Magazine -www.theblendmag.com
Book- Special - Antidotes to the Obsessions that come with a child’s disability
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Special-Antidotes-obsessions-childs-disability
The NDIS Know How Podcast - https://hireup.com.au/ndis-know-how/
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.