Variety Pod-Ability is a podcast for parents and families of children with disabilities and special educational needs (SEND).

What financial relief can families with disabled children in the UK get? And how should they go about accessing it? Does a child need a formal diagnosis for a family to make a claim? What changes have there been to the benefits system since the pandemic? To explore these questions and more, Variety Pod-Ability host Dave King is joined by Carlos Hagi, a senior welfare benefits adviser, and Mark Arnold, whose son James has a range of additional needs.

We explore what impact the coronavirus crisis is having on the mental health of children with disabilities, and how parents can look after their children’s emotional wellbeing at home during the lockdown, while responding in a way that builds their children’s emotional resilience. 

What impact is the current coronavirus lockdown situation having on your child with sensory difficulties? And how can you manage these issues at home? Pod-Ability host, Dave King, is joined remotely over Skype by Zoe Mailloux, an occupational therapist and internationally-renowned expert in the area of sensory integration, and Michael and Paul Atwal-Brice, parents to twins Levi and Lucas, both of whom have autism.

While some children’s disabilities, like cerebral palsy, are visible at first glance, others, such as ADHD, are not immediately apparent. And of course, many disabled children have a mix of both. Some would argue that disability ultimately sits on a spectrum with regard to how noticeable it is. In this episode, we explore how you can go about finding the parenting approach that fits best, wherever your child sits on the visible/invisible disability spectrum.

Caring for a child with a disability can be overwhelming. Alongside this, parents and families of children with disabilities tend to be faced with a continuous barrage of complex challenges. These include social isolation, difficulty finding resources and major financial strain. But what is the impact of non-stop care-giving on their mental health? And how can they ensure their psychological wellbeing?

When disabled children want to shop, or enjoy leisure activities like the cinema, they face barriers like blocked aisles, a lack of wheelchair ramps, buildings without lifts, inaccessible toilets and no step-free access.  Meanwhile, for learning-disabled children or those on the autistic spectrum, a city environment can be a sensory minefield. In this episode we look at what parents of disabled children can do to get their child the best access to leisure activities and shopping experiences.

What school you send your child to is one of the most important decisions any parent needs to make. But if your child has special educational needs and disability, or SEND as it’s more commonly known, this decision is even more daunting. Mainstream schools and SEND schools both have their pros and cons. In this episode, we’re going to look at education for disabled children and ask how you can decide what’s best for your child.