Miscellaneous
No child expects to one day, to stop functioning, to no longer be in control of their mind or body. Taylor desperately tried to make her family, friends, school, and society understand she was not well. It wasn’t a behavioural issue, she just needed everyone to understand she was no longer in control. Why does a 14-year-old Taylor feel she was abandoned by the system that is designed to protect her. At 14 years old, the primary objective was to ensure Taylor went to school every day but did this overzealous encouragement impact the severity of her illness. …’ it takes a village to raise a child’ (African Proverb) but what happened to this community when a 14-year-old needed support, and no one believed she was ill. That happened to the support system that should safeguard the health of our children or are league tables more important than the mental health of our children. What happened to the safe and healthy environment? This is Taylor’s story, a brave young lady and who wants her voice to be heard… As a parent, how would you cope when your child is no longer accepted because of an illness no one understands, and you are helpless! How did Taylor cope! How would you cope! Key takeaways It is ok to continue to do what you love to do Learn to be sympathise and empathic of an invisible illness, learn to understand Learn to accept its ok for a young person not to do what is ordinarily expected of them Invisible illnesses have the potential to destroy life’s and future aspirations We need to listen, by not listening young people will struggle with their mental health Young people need to be given the opportunity to participate and feel included and Not feel excluded in the education system We may not be able to relate to an invisible illness, but that doesn’t mean we can’t learn to listen and understand A young person who is learning to understand their illness will have an impact on their behaviour For a young person, milestones are important, inclusion and a sense of belonging are important Education is really important, but there is still so much more you can do Every day we continue to struggle, but we have the strength to try everyday It is Ok, to learn to start over again, and to redesign a future that will accept our new limitations I know there will always be challenges and life will never be perfect, but we don’t know how far we can go until we get started, until we take the first step. This is our journey unlocking our visibility! Together we can still make a difference. Connect with me on Facebook and Instagram Visit our official website www.jak-group.co.uk Valuable resources: Action for ME and the NHS With thanks to: Taylor Lilly Jamie York and Rob Moore Oli Corse (Intro and outro) purple-planet.com (Music) braydesign.co.uk (Darren Bray – Graphics)