Ah, thanks so much for sharing that. I love Kelley and Jessica and really feel we all need to listen to them and learn from. And let's be honest, Substack is really the only place where I could do an interview like this...such is the care-unaware world.
This was so moving and encouraging and empowering. I had multiple sentences I wanted to copy and share from almost every paragraph. Yes and yes and yes to everything they said! I have a son with a developmental disability who we adopted from foster care. Because of his involvement with that system, we have access to more resources than I think others might. I'm aware of our privilege in that regard AND I wish that every parent to a disabled child had all the resources they need. We're a wealthy country. We could make that happen.
I just stayed with a dear friend whose daughter is disabled. One of the things we talked about is how different she feels from people whose children are the same age--because of her daughter's disabilities. Often, she noted, other parents will try to gloss over the difference (ie "oh yeah potty training was SO HARD for us too" "it takes us forever to get out of the house too, I get that") and how much she dislikes that. That she knows people mean it well, but it feels as if they're trying too hard to smooth over what IS different about her family--which makes her less visible. Anyway, thanks for this piece!
Elissa, thank you so much for this interview. I just started reading your book and am so appreciating all your work, including as an example to follow in my own writing. (You better believe WHEN WE CARE is right at the top of my list of comps in my book proposal). I have some conversations coming up with parents of kids with special needs and I am definitely going to be referring back to this interview as a model and touchpoint for those posts. Again, thank you so much!
Such an important conversation Elissa.
thanks!
I love this conversation! So many good, insightful, compassionate, loving thoughts and ideas. Thank you!
thanks for reading!
I feel so SEEN by this conversation. Thank you for your honesty and warmth on this topic. It really does help knowing we're not alone.
Ah, thanks so much for sharing that. I love Kelley and Jessica and really feel we all need to listen to them and learn from. And let's be honest, Substack is really the only place where I could do an interview like this...such is the care-unaware world.
Beautiful piece. So sad that there have to be 'admin and paperwork days' for caregiving that take away from the human to human experience piece.
Love the sentiment about community and the desire to instill that in us all. It's really what living is all about. Xo
This was so moving and encouraging and empowering. I had multiple sentences I wanted to copy and share from almost every paragraph. Yes and yes and yes to everything they said! I have a son with a developmental disability who we adopted from foster care. Because of his involvement with that system, we have access to more resources than I think others might. I'm aware of our privilege in that regard AND I wish that every parent to a disabled child had all the resources they need. We're a wealthy country. We could make that happen.
Thanks so much for sharing this conversation.
I just stayed with a dear friend whose daughter is disabled. One of the things we talked about is how different she feels from people whose children are the same age--because of her daughter's disabilities. Often, she noted, other parents will try to gloss over the difference (ie "oh yeah potty training was SO HARD for us too" "it takes us forever to get out of the house too, I get that") and how much she dislikes that. That she knows people mean it well, but it feels as if they're trying too hard to smooth over what IS different about her family--which makes her less visible. Anyway, thanks for this piece!
Elissa, thank you so much for this interview. I just started reading your book and am so appreciating all your work, including as an example to follow in my own writing. (You better believe WHEN WE CARE is right at the top of my list of comps in my book proposal). I have some conversations coming up with parents of kids with special needs and I am definitely going to be referring back to this interview as a model and touchpoint for those posts. Again, thank you so much!
Thank you!! For your work and your kind words. ❤️