Adapt: From Human Doing to Human Being

I’m Suzanne—a mum, occupational therapist, and long-time listener to the quiet wisdom that families carry. Lead Together is a space where parents lead, services follow, and your vision for your child’s life is honoured from the start. You are the expert. I’m here to walk beside you.

Dear fellow parent,

Welcome back. Maybe you’re here in the middle of an email reply, with the washing machine beeping in the background, or between the 27th and 28th reminder of the day to put on shoes. However you’ve arrived, I’m glad you’re here.

We’ve moved from Engage into Adapt, the third pillar of the LEAD Together framework.

Adapt is often framed as “adjusting to keep going.” And yes, as parents of children with developmental differences, we adapt all the time — to schedules, to moods, to unexpected curveballs. We’re experts at reshuffling the day so it works.

But here’s a different question:

What if adapting wasn’t just about doing more efficiently… but about doing less, so we can be more?

Modern life rewards the “human doing” — the checklist completer, the problem solver, the one who never drops the ball. And while some of that is necessary, it can quietly edge out the part of us that simply exists. Breathes. Notices. Feels.

This week, I want to invite you to adapt by pausing the doing and tending to the being — even for a few moments at a time.

It might look like:

• Letting the dishes sit while you listen to your child’s story — even if it’s the tenth time you’ve heard it.

• Sitting on the grass together with no agenda.

• Taking three deep breaths before you respond to a request.

• Walking without checking your phone.

When we shift toward being, we send a quiet but powerful message: that our value (and our child’s and family’s) is not measured in productivity. That who we are matters as much as what we do.

Try this: Once this week, notice when you’re in “doing” mode. Pause. Ask yourself: What would being look like right now? Then give yourself permission to try it, even if just for a minute.

Choose being over relentless doing. It’s a way of saying: I am more than my output. My child is more than their milestones. We belong here as we are.

A Glimpse Ahead:

Next time, we’ll move into Discover: An Seomra Ciúin.

Until then:One breath for the person you are.One breath for the child you love.And one for the life that happens when we remember to be in it.

Take all of the care,

Suzanne

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