In Carers Week, my guest is Penny Wincer. Penny is a mum of two and she is carer to her 10-year-old son Arthur who has autism and learning difficulties.

Penny talks to me about spotting the signs that Arthur was struggling with certain things when he was little, getting the diagnosis of autism when he was three and balancing caring for Arthur with parenting his 8-year-old sister Agnes.

She talks about how her caring journey started at age 11 when her mum’s mental health started to deteriorate, and with a dad living in the States following divorce, caring for her mum was left to Penny and her two brothers.

We discuss what self care looks like for her as a carer, what her support network looks like and how we can care for carers that we might know.

Penny’s brilliant book Tender: The Imperfect Art Of Caring is out now and in it, she describes her journey in a beautiful way, talks to other carers about their experiences and answers many of the questions we didn’t even know we had about caring.

You can buy Tender here and follow Penny on Instagram and Twitter.

Not Another Mummy Podcast is brought to you by me, journalist and blogger Alison Perry. I'm a mum of three and I love interviewing people on parenthood on the podcast. Go check out my other episodes and you can come chat to me on Instagram: @iamalisonperry or on Twitter: @iamalisonperry. You can pre-order my book OMG It's Twins (out March 2021) now.

Music: Epidemic Sound

Artwork: Eleanor Bowmer

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