Review: Different Dream Parenting - Jolene Philo

Are you a parent ?
Looking for a parenting guide that could help you ?
Do you have a child with a disability ?

Review: Different Dream Parenting - Jolene Philo- November 2011

Are you a new parent ? Finding it difficult to raise your child ? Does your child have a disability ? Well, look no further with Jolene Philo's new book "Different Dream Parenting" which discusses all the up's and down's and the how-to's when raising a child with a disability. Looking back, I'm sure if a book like this was released when my sister and brother were born it would have saved a whole lot of troubles for my parents as having siblings with disabilities were bad enough, raising them is a whole new level and I am proud of parents as they managed and though when you have someone with a disability - being physical or even mentally , it is a continual process in the parenting - it never really stops. 

Jolene Philo's guide takes you from the first steps of diagnosis to the countless hospital visits as more often than not when you have a child diagnosed with a disability , it means countless hospital stays as when my brother was little up to about 11 or 12 , he used to spend every single winter in hospital and the occasional summer as he would catch pneumonia through swimming which would turn so bad he would end up being hospitalized. It moves through to juggling the two worlds , the world of having children with disabilities and those without. Growing up, I know what this was like and trust me it was so difficult as you find yourself missing out on a lot of things and receiving less but unintentionally attention from your parents as the sibling or in my case siblings with disabilities are demanding all the attention and of course, the focus always turns to them. Nowadays though, as the disabilities in children become more recognisable there are organisations that help with the siblings and one of them is Parent 2 Parent NZ - where we run sibling workshops and camps and they have the opportunity to give the sibling without the disability the focus, the other awesome thing is that they are run by Siblings as I myself am a leader for the SibSupport Network. 

It also discusses about the Long -term care and sometimes this can result in putting them into a supported living assistance when they get older like SILC or IHC. It then moves on to talk about the loss of the child which can happen more often than not with a child with a disability as their life spans always prove shorter. Though of course miracles can occur as the doctor's told my parents that my brother wouldn't live past his second birthday and he will be turning 20 this year in December and last but not least , being a survivor as I think that anyone who goes through having a child with a disability whether you are the parent or a family member deserves a medal as though you love them to bits, they can make your life hellish sometimes.

Different Dream Parenting is the perfect guide to any parents out there who have discovered that their child has a disability and just wanting that little bit extra support and guidance to help them push through to the other side :)

P. S - This is a picture of my adorable nephew Connor Lionheart.