The Non Perfect Parents Club: Chatting with Rachael

In this episode I am joined by Rachael, mum of 2. Rachael is really in the thick of motherhood with 1 teen and 1 child with Autism/ additional needs. We discuss how Rachael was 20 when she had her first child but didn't want the label of being a young mum, she just wanted to be a mum. Age gaps between children comes up again and the judgement so many of us face around this. Rachael tells us how it was a huge decision to have another child and she wasn't ready for a long time after having her first. We talk about Autism and additional needs and Rachael explains how before her son's diagnosis, she had no knowledge about Autism- it wasn't even on her radar- and she was quite naïve about it. Rachael has educated herself on Autism in order to help her effectively parent her son and has set up an Instagram account to talk about their journey and help/ support others. Through this she has found a hugely supportive community that have helped her. [Shout out to Rachael's Instagram community] Rachael shares information on her Instagram account as if she is posting to herself before she knew about Autism and shares an honest and quite raw account of their life. We also talk about being the parent of a teen and how Rachael feels like she's mourning the little years and how its really hard to let go of them but you have to. Rachael tells us how other parents can help parents of children with additional needs and how if we were all just more aware of other people's situations we could all be supportive of each other. We note how this could make a difference to having an accessible and inclusive world. Another honest conversation about parenting! You can find Rachael here: Rachael & Isaac (@isaacslittleworld) • Instagram photos and videos