S.E.N.D Support for Dads

Support before, during and after your child's diagnosis

S.E.N.D Gin & Cheese CIC is an organisation founded to support maternal mental well-being at the point of a child's diagnosis and beyond. There is a mums only space where women can discuss issues around parenting but also relationships, body image, confidence and a range of other issues. 

Dads deserve a space too; a community to share the challenges and the wins with others who will truly understand. A place to be more than a dad, partner or colleague. A space just to be yourself again.

Introducing, S.EN.D Support for Dads, a free Facebook group just for you!

Join us on Thursday 12th October at 8:30 pm where the dads will be sharing:

  • Their experiences of being the dad of a child with SEND.
  • The challenges that dads face in this space.
  • Their thoughts around what support is most needed for dads. 

Meet the dads

Meet the dads who will be the admins of the Facebook community and will be sharing their parenting experiences on the 12th of October at 8:30 pm.

david

James

I’m a dad of two boys, Tommy and Jude, who are both autistic. Jude, is 15, and has autism and global developmental delay diagnoses. He’s non-speaking, and spends most of his time listening to music, and watching Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and Special Agent Oso. Tommy, is 12, and has autism and ADHD diagnoses. Tommy's also non-speaking but has a lot more word like sounds and a great understanding of language. ⠀Tommy loves routines, books, sensory play, trips to the park, daily drives, and of course YouTube. ⠀As for me, I spend most of my time with my boys, caring for my dad, and trying to find that tricky balance of being a single parent/carer whilst also making a living and looking after myself. We all live in a little town called Burnham on crouch, in Essex, in the UK.⠀Finding and connecting with other dads who get it can be difficult, so I’m hoping this group goes some way to changing that. 

bob

Michael and Paul

We are Paul and Michael Atwal-Brice, fathers to two sets of identical Twins; Levi, Lucas, who are disabled with complex medical conditions ,and Lotan and Lance. We all live in South Yorkshire.We are no experts, no-one is but we have come across many situations, from battling the local authority for the right educational provisions for Levi and Lucas to challenging the government to make access to cannabis based medicine accessible to more family’s who desperately need it , along with working along side organisations and charity’s that can provide practical and emotional support. We’d like to be a shoulder you can really on for real help advice and information and if we don’t have the answers we have a vast network of contacts who probably will. We look forward to supporting you.

sarah

Andrew

I'm Andrew, dad to Benedicta & Harrison and step-dad to Oliver and Harry. Harry (shown above) has a rare craniofacial syndrome and is autistic. Before I met Harry & Oliver's mum (now my wife), I had no knowledge or experience of disability at all and it was quite daunting to enter the world of SEND  but I have learnt that with the challenges, comes great love and lessons. 

As we have blended two sets of children, I have had to be mindful of everyone's needs for time, attention and support and its been a delicate balancing act at times but it's paid off and I am really proud of our family unit.

We are based in North Staffordshire and as much as I never expected to parent a child with complex issues like Harry has, I do think it's made me a better man. 

Join the group
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