Simple random acts of kindness 365 Days of Calm, Happy and Kind by Becky Goddard-Hill 365 Days of Kind is a new activity, affirmation, and quote book for children by wellbeing author, psychotherapist and dear friend Becky Goddard-Hill, who you can also find blogging at Emotionally Healthy Kids.  It is colourful, fun and packed with inspiration which it delivers in tiny, bite-sized chunks each day of the year. This beautiful little hard back book with colourful page marker ribbon is the perfect size to stuff in a stocking or give as a gift to a child or young per ..read more

So much of what makes us human goes on behind bathroom doors Not just a room with a loo, but one with a view; a bird's eye view to the primal experiences that make us human as we visit many times each day. Within those wipe-clean walls we spend hours pondering life's junctions and milestones, prepping for hot dates, rehearsing our job interviews.  We cry over ended loves, hormone-induced spots on the face or our self-perceived perfect imperfections.  It's a teenage sanctuary, a place to hide, pluck, prune, tear your hair out.  Or spew out and flush a ..read more

We've moved house recently and Natty had some very strong ideas about her bedroom decor - one cherry pink wall it is then!  Moving house can be fun! It never will be a perfect Insta-ready room I can tell you. Her habit of hiding small objects in purses which then get hoarded in multiple handbags will ensure of that... But just as every teen has their own ideas about decor, and their room layout will be determined by their physical and cognitive needs as well as being led by the space you have available, there are a few tips and tricks you can use to make their lives easier ..read more

Georgina Durrant interviews me for her Twinkl SEND in the Experts podcast Powerful Podcast It was a huge privilege to be interviewed recently for the cutting edge Twinkl SEND in the Experts podcast, hosted by author, teacher and The SEN Resources Blog host Georgina Durrant.  You can listen here as we chat about Natty's journey through education, debate mainstream and specialist school placements, discuss what inclusion really means, unpick what constitutes equitable education and healthcare and signpost best practice for educators and medics alike. "A lot of pare ..read more

A Road Less Travelled One common experience that most parents of a baby with Down's syndrome recount is wanting to know what their entire lives hold for them while they are still a babe in arms. I was no exception, trying to envisage whether infant Natalia would get a job, have friends, marry or live independently, and all within the first few hours of her life. I worried too whether she would ever experience a holiday or even visit our local Cornish beaches again. That all seems ridiculous now, Natty being a beach babe par excellence! Natty's friendships are very precious to he ..read more

 #AD Spoiler alert - look away now if you are Natty's teacher! It's time to start thinking about teacher gifts for the end of the Summer term Not Home School Heaven I'm not sure about you, but since the endless stretched-out days of home schooling during the Covid lockdowns, where time stood still, we all lived on banana bread, snacks and short walks, and where our calendars hung empty on the kitchen wall, I've found that we are cramming our lives full of more fun than ever now that the global pandemic has eased. My home school teaching skills were a bit under par ..read more

Inclusive Advertising I so fervently believe in diversity and inclusion in advertising.  We all need to see ourselves represented in the media, regardless of our ethnicity, gender, sexuality, genetic makeup or ability.  Almost a decade ago Natty became one of the first models in the UK with a disability, working on a national Back to School campaign among other projects. Natty, model with Down's syndrome The news went global, and not just within our Down's syndrome community. Newspapers and TV shows were all discussing what shouldn't really have been hot news. A ti ..read more

Sarah Pylas who wrote Grenglish A Blogger's Legacy This week saw the passing of a supremely talented writer and much-adored and respected member of the blog community, Sarah Pylas. She was one of The Originals, a well-established influencer when I started out over a decade ago.  Sarah's blog was called Grenglish, a beautifully honest account of life married to a Greek man, her husband Pan. Sarah's devotion to Pan and their son Zachy radiated from her work. I urge you to go and have a little read in her honour.  Sarah joked that behind every Greek man there was a woman rol ..read more

D Day.  Or should I say T Day.  Natty is having her tonsils +/- her adenoids removed. Bye bye tonsils Yes, I know it's routine, and my head also knows thousands of children have it done each year. I had it mine out when I was 4. My mum wasn't allowed to stay with me. I do remember a lot of ice-cream though, and my Grandma buying me a new red overnight case. None of that makes me feel any better. But Natty's ear nose and throat consultant has advised it to help with her sleep apnoea and to widen the small passageways between her ears and throat which often get ..read more

A Captivating Public Speaker A good speaker, be it at a conference, after dinner at an awards ceremony, or via a traditional platform like TedX, holds a lot of power in their hands.  The right words, delivered well, have the ability to move us to tears, shake us with laughter or make us stop in our tracks and think deeply about an area of life that we have never before contemplated. Words quite literally shape our thinking and can stay with us long after the talk is over.  Empathetic, relatable and passionate after dinner speakers* will make you feel as if you are walking their path ..read more