E 28: Neurodivergence, Birth Injury & Cerebral Palsy: What Parents Should Know

And as you know, today starts our two-part miniseries looking at children who have neurological difficulties and disorders and neurodivergence.

And as I said, it's something I have chosen not to speak about on this podcast because I know I'm speaking to pregnant people and people with little babies, um, and it can make you really fearful.

And I know that firsthand.

And if you have been listening to this podcast, you will know that I'd been working as a pediatric physiotherapist for 20 years before I had my own child.

And what I don't talk a lot about is the fact that for the last 15 years of my career, it's been very much baby-orientated, and babies without major diagnoses, little things here and there that we can quite easily rectify a lot of the time.

But before that, for the 10 years preceding that, nearly all of my work was with children with significant disability.

And that is something that as pediatric physiotherapists we tend to work the most with.

Um, and it wasn't just work, um, it was a passion, it was a love, and it was something I couldn't keep doing [laughs] because as I got older it was really, really physical and exhausting.

And I had problems with my back and my hands, and so I purposely started to move towards children who were more able-bodied and smaller and less physically taxing on my body.

But for most young pediatric physiotherapists, this is a huge part of their caseload and a huge part of their thoughts, their loves, their passions.

What makes that therapist who they are is their relationships with these little children.

And so it's always felt a bit odd that I don't talk about that.

It doesn't feel honest, it doesn't feel true, um, when I'm focusing on slightly happier things and things that I can give you advice to so we can just correct it and help you.

But I think it's a really essential part of who I am as a person and my experiences and my knowledge.

And also, these little people I worked with are people, as I say, I have loved.

You know, when, when children have neurological difficulties, you don't see them once or twice, you see them for years.

And some physiotherapists will have seen children from the time they were born right through until they transition into adult services because they need ongoing therapy.

And in the 10 years preceding me working for myself, most of that time was spent working in one hospital.

So I stayed there, so I did see children for years.

And even when I started to work for myself, initially I did see a lot of children, um, with ... you know, older children with neurological difficulties.

And as I say, I've been doing it for 12 years, so some of the children I've seen for many, many years.

And with these children, you're always working with the family.

You ...

Because you are physical with them, you, you know, you're moving them, you're helping them to crawl, you're helping them to stand, you're on the floor with them, you're lifting them, there's- It's so close.

The contact is close.