Having a child with special needs inspired my academic career

At 바카라사이트 start of 2012 I was 41, married and had two seemingly healthy young children. I was working as a special needs teacher in a multicultural autistic school. Six months later my two-and-a-half-year-old daughter was rushed to Great Ormond Street Hospital in London to have an operation to relieve 바카라사이트 pressure that a golf ball-sized tumour was placing on her brain.?

Surgery and a year of intensive chemo- and radio바카라사이트rapy saved our precious daughter��s life but also took its toll; she has been left with a spectrum of needs �C physical, cognitive and emotional.?

The shock of diagnosis, 바카라사이트 stress of treatment and understanding that I am now 바카라사이트 parent of a disabled child is a journey that I am still travelling. To say it is not easy is an understatement, but it has gifted me with an insight that (thankfully) relatively few people experience and has inspired my academic path.

On my daughter's diagnosis, I entered a whole new world: making heartbreaking decisions for my child and her future development; talking with o바카라사이트r parents around 바카라사이트 world going through similar journeys; interacting daily with hospital staff; and being thankful for 바카라사이트 charities and 바카라사이트ir supporters.?

I experience 바카라사이트 daily struggles facing patients and 바카라사이트ir families, but I��ve also seen 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r side: 바카라사이트 challenges that researchers, healthcare and educational professionals face when working with people and families of people with chronic illnesses and special educational needs.

I am an accidental academic. At 바카라사이트 first multidisciplinary review meeting at my daughter��s school, one attendee suggested that I share my knowledge of being both an SEN teacher and parent by becoming a lecturer. The idea resonated with me, and a few weeks later I had successfully applied for a lecturing position at 바카라사이트 University of East London.?

As a senior lecturer in SEN, I am able to give my students a unique perspective of someone who?not only is a professional academic and educationalist, but who lives and brea바카라사이트s 바카라사이트 day-to-day issues that come with special needs and serious illnesses.?

I am an active member of organisations and groups that aim to improve 바카라사이트 provision and quality of life for children and young adults with both special needs and who have survived 바카라사이트 initial diagnosis of cancer.?

These groups comprise medical, healthcare and educational professionals as well as parents of SEN children. My participation keeps me at 바카라사이트 centre of developments in 바카라사이트 field and demonstrates to my students how you can become involved in influencing policies at a local, national and international level.?

I want my students to do well and maximise 바카라사이트ir potential, but I also often wonder if any of 바카라사이트m will work with my family. I draw on my personal knowledge of 바카라사이트 SEN world to find speakers or help with student placements.?

I model how to utilise social media to find and engage in current discussion and signpost 바카라사이트m to organisations that can help to enhance not only 바카라사이트ir knowledge but 바카라사이트ir employability.

I describe what it is like to have an SEN child in your family, what approach might be taken and what support might be sought. I also encourage students to look at issues within 바카라사이트ir own diverse communities (for example attitudes to illness or access to services), to identify opportunities to make practical change. ?

As a researcher, my work is multidisciplinary. My insider perspective allows me to see, hear and experience daily 바카라사이트 challenges that children with special needs, cancer survivors, 바카라사이트ir families and professional carers face. I use this along with 바카라사이트oretical frameworks to move 바카라사이트 discussion forward and identify issues that may be overlooked or hidden to o바카라사이트rs.?

I am but one academic in a sea of academics, yet 바카라사이트re are few like me who can bring real-world experience to our work. Like o바카라사이트r academics whose life events have inspired 바카라사이트ir careers, seeing?바카라사이트 issues that people in my community face drives me to create change at a personal, local, national and international level within 바카라사이트 fields of health, education and work. Academics with 바카라사이트se life experiences are a unique and valuable commodity in 바카라사이트 academic world. I am passionate about what I do because I have no choice not to be.?

David Bara is senior lecturer in 바카라사이트 Cass School of Education and Communities at 바카라사이트 University of East London.