Mum campaigning for schools to raise more awareness of invisible disabilities
FEARS AUTISTIC SON MAY FACE BULLYING
A GRIMSBY mum who has endured tuts and stares when helping her autistic son in public is now campaigning for more education around invisible disabilities and is asking adults to take the opportunity to read up on the subject.
Corinne Bryan, 26, moved to Grimsby four years ago and lives with her fiancee Luke Finch, 36, and their three children; Caleb who is three, Roman who is two and six-month-old Hugo in the West Marsh area.
Corinne recognised the possible signs of autism in Caleb from a young age and he was diagnosed at just over two years old, the family documented the process on social media through their blog and Instagram - thefinchfamilylife. Corinne has previously told Grimsby Live how she has endured misunderstanding from people in the street when she is out with Caleb and is now leading calls for schools to do more and parents to take responsibility too. Corinne said: “There are two parts of it really, the first is to get parents to talk more openly with their children about disabilities and what this can mean for those kids growing up.
“I’m hoping we can spark some really good conversations between parents and their kids about invisible disabilities as well as the ones we can see.
“I realise this is the hard bit for us really though, I understand that a lot of adults even now aren’t that comfortable talking about disabilities for a variety of reasons.
“I’d encourage everyone that wants to know more to take a look on social media, I think that is one thing I can take away from the last year or so and I’m not wanting to blow my own trumpet here. “But if you just type in something like autism into the search bar you can get a lot of information from families like ours that are sharing their experiences and their advice one how to approach the subject. Of course there are more traditional routes too and there are loads of books on Amazon and places like that which help explain disability in a kidfriendly way.”
Corinne recognised the signs that Caleb might be autistic from a young age after growing up with two autistic siblings, she said it was clear early on when he wouldn’t respond to his name and often exhibited repetitive motions. Corinne had already started her social media campaign before Caleb’s diagnosis but after she began posting on Instagram and in her blog about their journey to that point she found herself inundated with messages from other parents going through similar processes. She said she is worried that Caleb might face bullying in school that comes from misunderstanding his disability and is calling on schools to make awareness a bigger part of the PHSE curriculum. Corinne said: “Myself when I was growing up, I don’t really remember there being much dis
cussion school.
“I remember citizenship lessons where we’d be learning about the government and councils but not really much about the people that make up our communities. “Since I started speaking about Caleb and about disability awareness on social media I’ve been in touch with a lot of parents asking how I think they could help their children understand a bit more about it.
“I just want to make sure that this will be properly covered in schools and that children will get the right information in the classroom.”
Corinne is now using her platform to campaign for more education and awareness for all children with disabilities, not just autism alone.
To read more about their journey you can find the blog at https:// thefinchfamilylife. wordpress.com/
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